41–50 of 101 posts
Not for long. It will be outsourced once we have proper verification and receipts for AI agents. But a human will operate multiple loops.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Probably because with fewer tabs, you actually get to do the deeper thinking that you enjoy? With more, you're constrained to quickly converging on the best way to keep the plate spinning
Yeah, I think that’s true, but that isn’t really my question. My question is why this seems easier and more natural for people with ADHD to do than people without. (That is also an unproven statement, obviously, but that’s what I’d want to study/test)
People who keep dozens of agent plates spinning all the time must have a broken understanding of productivity where they think more code = better regardless if anyone needed the code. In the old days engineers burned out when they got a promotion and thought they now need to write more code to compensate, maybe burnout in the agentic age looks different.
I find it interesting that so many of my friends resonate with this. I… don’t, really. I only ever have 2-4 opencode/claude tabs open at once. And I use them for consistent tasks. There’s no way I’d be able to keep track otherwise. I have an “email reviewer” terminal, and a “doc maker” terminal, and 1-2 “coding” terminals. But I don’t start a half dozen things simultaneously (which is ironic, because I have ADHD). I…
Pre-AI, I worked on projects where people tended to multitask and juggle many tasks at once. They felt productive, they worked a lot and hard and felt they are treated unfairly when outsiders complained about slow speed. Except that, their overall speed was extremely slow, really.
I find it interesting that so many of my friends resonate with this. I… don’t, really. I only ever have 2-4 opencode/claude tabs open at once. And I use them for consistent tasks. There’s no way I’d be able to keep track otherwise. I have an “email reviewer” terminal, and a “doc maker” terminal, and 1-2 “coding” terminals. But I don’t start a half dozen things simultaneously (which is ironic, because I have ADHD). I…
I am much more able to use fragmented bits of time now. Whereas before if I had 20 minutes here and there I would not be able to even read code or notes in order to get context enough to make a change let alone do real work.
I suspect personality matters. Often in discussions with AI or anyone I tend to take opiate position and constantly challenge and dig in. I don't go with the flow. With people this can be problematic. With AI it merely takes more time but probably a avoids some pitfalls.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, I think that’s true, but that isn’t really my question. My question is why this seems easier and more natural for people with ADHD to do than people without. (That is also an unproven statement, obviously, but that’s what I’d want to study/test)
I don’t have ADHD and also focus on 1 or 2 tabs, usually one is focused on the coding task I’m doing and the other on some research I need for planning future work. People who keep dozens of agent plates spinning all the time must have a broken understanding of productivity where they think more code = better regardless if anyone needed the code. In the old days engineers burned out when they got a promotion and thou…
This part resonates. AI has been such an accelerator that just yesterday I told Claude to make a brand new "Christian male meal planner with grace quotes from the Bible", bought a domain name, had the whole thing ready to go then thought "wtf am I doing, I already have half a dozen other side projects in the go, this is insane!" and just stopped it.
Human focus is a precious, finite resource. The productivity boom enabled by AI tools is probably going to benefit those capable of laser-like focus the most. Scattered thinkers (like myself, or perhaps the original article author) are in for a struggle at times.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's a lot of stuff that we just don't need to do. Not right now. Not ever. That's OK.
This has always been true. No?
LLMs provide you with the illusion of “free concurrency,” and it sucks people in.
"I have so many half-baked ideas for tools or services I barely need, sparked by a combo of unaddressed workaholism and techno-optimist wishful thinking." This part resonates. AI has been such an accelerator that just yesterday I told Claude to make a brand new "Christian male meal planner with grace quotes from the Bible", bought a domain name, had the whole thing ready to go then thought "wtf am I doing, I already…
I find it interesting that so many of my friends resonate with this. I… don’t, really. I only ever have 2-4 opencode/claude tabs open at once. And I use them for consistent tasks. There’s no way I’d be able to keep track otherwise. I have an “email reviewer” terminal, and a “doc maker” terminal, and 1-2 “coding” terminals. But I don’t start a half dozen things simultaneously (which is ironic, because I have ADHD). I…
Sometimes I'll get a neat little feature out while I feel inspired. This is great for doing something cool on a Sunday afternoon when priorities don't matter.
Sometimes I'll start something bigger and get halfway there, then I realise it's not what I should be doing, and it becomes another open tab that does not fit in my list of priorities.
Success depends on focus and saying no to most things. AI makes it easy to say yes to everything. Instead of making my todo list shorter, it just makes me add more stuff to it. It allows me to act on impulses instead of thinking carefully.