5 ms·

I have experienced a similar thing while freelancing or design and web development. I used to work 16 hours some days and less hours others, but then sometimes

by err4nt 11y ago

I have experienced a similar thing while freelancing or design and web development. I used to work 16 hours some days and less hours others, but then sometimes I would need to work and found it hard to kick it into gear. I think creativity is like a well, and when you do creative work its like drawing that water out. If you use too much water one day, the well runs dry. You have to wait for the goundwater to fill it up again. Not only did I begin viewing creativity as a limited resource I create and have access to over time, but I noticed that some activities, like reading about science, listening to music, and walking around town actually increase the rate at which the well fills up. So now I have made it a daily habit of doing things that inspire me, and I also daily draw from the well like the author said - but Im more careful not to creatively 'overdo it' and leave myself unable to be creative the next day. Viewing it this way has helped a lot, for all the same benefits the author listed. Im in a rhythm where I dont feel I need a break on the weekend, I just still have energy.

katzgrau 11y ago
"Not only did I begin viewing creativity as a limited resource I create and have access to over time, but I noticed that some activities, like reading about science, listening to music, and walking around town actually increase the rate at which the well fills up." +1, many times over. Taking breaks and having fun are very important to maintaining high productivity and creativity when I am working. Unfortunately it's in stark contrast to the mantras I often hear suggesting "there's someone out there who is working harder than you on the same thing and they're going to win if you let up." That mentality is unhealthy and leads to depression/exhaustion.
- jonah 11y ago
  s/harder/smarter and it probably holds true.
  - ams6110 11y ago
    Yes. And course if you believe the premise, then working harder (i.e. more hours) is a net negative. I would imagine we've all been on death marches at some point in our careers. And yes it can work to meet a deadline but the long term result is usually burnout and piles of technical debt which is always less fun to work on even if you're motivated.
- artursapek 11y ago
  > "there's someone out there who is working harder than you on the same thing and they're going to win if you let up." I've heard Elon Musk say this a lot. It seems to work for him, at least. https://youtu.be/GtaxU6DZvLs?t=79 https://youtu.be/GtaxU6DZvLs?t=79
  - vmorgulis 11y ago
    Yes but he doesn't code. He is more a manager and a good one. Programming requires a lot of concentration that is hard to sustain for a long time (the author of the post is an iOS programmer).
    - tim333 11y ago
      He used to code and wrote his first product zip2 over the summer in 95. Not sure about the hours - I guess you can do long hours for a couple of months https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sLmeYNmZKY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sLmeYNmZKY (In the vid he's saying he used to sleep on a futon in the office as he couldn't afford a flat at the time)
  - tudorw 11y ago
    We'd need to discuss how you define winning ? I couldn't comment on Elon, I've not met him, I can say that it's not sound to base an assessment of an individuals 'happiness' or 'satisfaction' based on their public standing or wealth or achievements, life is not a jigsaw puzzle whereby all the pieces in the right place bring about the desired outcome.
  - err4nt 11y ago
    There is a world of difference between working hard, and working long. You can quit a job, but you can't quit a calling!
  - jdietrich 11y ago
    The training and diet regimen of an elite athlete would kill most of the population. What works for the 0.001% is not necessarily the best approach for everyone.
vram22 11y ago
Do you think this is related to biorhythms? I meant to post an Ask HN on it recently, then saw your comment. I know a lot of people will dismiss it as pseudo-science, but my reply to that kind of answer, is sometimes this: if we could go back in time and describe to a cave man or even a person of two or three or ten centuries ago, some of the inventions that we take as commonplace today, like airplanes, computers, land line phones, cellphones, fax, Internet, TV, credit cards, bikes, cars, satellites, CAT scans, X-rays, etc. etc., they would disbelieve us, think we were mad, and maybe burn us at the stake as dangerous witches. Apply the analogy to today. So, many of the things that are dismissed as pseudo-science, may just be things that actually work or are true, but we just don't happen to know how they work or the physical laws that govern them, as of now.
- vram22 11y ago
  >biorhythms Interesting, notice the word "rhythm" at the end of your upper comment, just now.
- err4nt 11y ago
  I have found a daily cycle of rest and work much easier to sustain for long stretches of time without creative burnout a lot easier than weekly work/rest cycles. Now I wake up on the weekends and fill note book pages with ideas and plans and concepts and I often go build them, where before it was all I could do to keep working when I had to work without running dry. I feel like great philosopher, Juicy J, "I'm still working while I'm on vacation, You can't tell me nothing 'bout my dedication" Well Said Mr. J.
- alchemism 11y ago
  It most likely is. Studies of published authors find that their writing is either done around sunrise at 6AM; or otherwise in the middle of the night, around 1-3AM. Mature creators fall into the morning producing group, while 'young geniuses' usually do their best work in the late-night hours.
- vmorgulis 11y ago
  In a similar comment of mine, someone points me the Theory of Complexity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complexity_theory_and_organizations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complexity_theory_and_organiza... > So, many of the things that are dismissed as pseudo-science, may just be things that actually work or are true, but we just don't happen to know how they work or the physical laws that govern them, as of now. I would say the opposite. Systems we use (like money, laws or politics) that we see as natural or inevitable are based on pseudo-science because we don't know their nature or rules. We use the discoveries of our ancestors and think we are better than them. We are still in the matrix waiting for the red pill without knowing it.
jsli 11y ago
Exactly. This reminds me of the book "Willpower" by Roy F. Baumeister.
mathattack 11y ago
I think some of the question is Research versus Development. If you're doing creative work, constraints and deadlines help, but working past coherent thinking doesn't. You hit this point later (but still eventually) in Development projects where the creative demands are lower.

by err4nt 11y ago

katzgrau 11y ago

"Not only did I begin viewing creativity as a limited resource I create and have access to over time, but I noticed that some activities, like reading about science, listening to music, and walking around town actually increase the rate at which the well fills up." +1, many times over. Taking breaks and having fun are very important to maintaining high productivity and creativity when I am working. Unfortunately it's in stark contrast to the mantras I often hear suggesting "there's someone out there who is working harder than you on the same thing and they're going to win if you let up." That mentality is unhealthy and leads to depression/exhaustion.

jonah 11y ago
s/harder/smarter and it probably holds true.
- ams6110 11y ago
  Yes. And course if you believe the premise, then working harder (i.e. more hours) is a net negative. I would imagine we've all been on death marches at some point in our careers. And yes it can work to meet a deadline but the long term result is usually burnout and piles of technical debt which is always less fun to work on even if you're motivated.
artursapek 11y ago
> "there's someone out there who is working harder than you on the same thing and they're going to win if you let up." I've heard Elon Musk say this a lot. It seems to work for him, at least. https://youtu.be/GtaxU6DZvLs?t=79 https://youtu.be/GtaxU6DZvLs?t=79
- vmorgulis 11y ago
  Yes but he doesn't code. He is more a manager and a good one. Programming requires a lot of concentration that is hard to sustain for a long time (the author of the post is an iOS programmer).
  - tim333 11y ago
    He used to code and wrote his first product zip2 over the summer in 95. Not sure about the hours - I guess you can do long hours for a couple of months https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sLmeYNmZKY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sLmeYNmZKY (In the vid he's saying he used to sleep on a futon in the office as he couldn't afford a flat at the time)
- tudorw 11y ago
  We'd need to discuss how you define winning ? I couldn't comment on Elon, I've not met him, I can say that it's not sound to base an assessment of an individuals 'happiness' or 'satisfaction' based on their public standing or wealth or achievements, life is not a jigsaw puzzle whereby all the pieces in the right place bring about the desired outcome.
- err4nt 11y ago
  There is a world of difference between working hard, and working long. You can quit a job, but you can't quit a calling!
- jdietrich 11y ago
  The training and diet regimen of an elite athlete would kill most of the population. What works for the 0.001% is not necessarily the best approach for everyone.

vram22 11y ago

Do you think this is related to biorhythms? I meant to post an Ask HN on it recently, then saw your comment. I know a lot of people will dismiss it as pseudo-science, but my reply to that kind of answer, is sometimes this: if we could go back in time and describe to a cave man or even a person of two or three or ten centuries ago, some of the inventions that we take as commonplace today, like airplanes, computers, land line phones, cellphones, fax, Internet, TV, credit cards, bikes, cars, satellites, CAT scans, X-rays, etc. etc., they would disbelieve us, think we were mad, and maybe burn us at the stake as dangerous witches. Apply the analogy to today. So, many of the things that are dismissed as pseudo-science, may just be things that actually work or are true, but we just don't happen to know how they work or the physical laws that govern them, as of now.

vram22 11y ago
>biorhythms Interesting, notice the word "rhythm" at the end of your upper comment, just now.
err4nt 11y ago
I have found a daily cycle of rest and work much easier to sustain for long stretches of time without creative burnout a lot easier than weekly work/rest cycles. Now I wake up on the weekends and fill note book pages with ideas and plans and concepts and I often go build them, where before it was all I could do to keep working when I had to work without running dry. I feel like great philosopher, Juicy J, "I'm still working while I'm on vacation, You can't tell me nothing 'bout my dedication" Well Said Mr. J.
alchemism 11y ago
It most likely is. Studies of published authors find that their writing is either done around sunrise at 6AM; or otherwise in the middle of the night, around 1-3AM. Mature creators fall into the morning producing group, while 'young geniuses' usually do their best work in the late-night hours.
vmorgulis 11y ago
In a similar comment of mine, someone points me the Theory of Complexity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complexity_theory_and_organizations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complexity_theory_and_organiza... > So, many of the things that are dismissed as pseudo-science, may just be things that actually work or are true, but we just don't happen to know how they work or the physical laws that govern them, as of now. I would say the opposite. Systems we use (like money, laws or politics) that we see as natural or inevitable are based on pseudo-science because we don't know their nature or rules. We use the discoveries of our ancestors and think we are better than them. We are still in the matrix waiting for the red pill without knowing it.

jsli 11y ago

Exactly. This reminds me of the book "Willpower" by Roy F. Baumeister.

mathattack 11y ago

I think some of the question is Research versus Development. If you're doing creative work, constraints and deadlines help, but working past coherent thinking doesn't. You hit this point later (but still eventually) in Development projects where the creative demands are lower.