4 ms·

That's funny; I'm almost sure I've read the same basic idea somewhere else within the past year or two, but I can't for the life of me remember where. I thought

by m_myers 16y ago

That's funny; I'm almost sure I've read the same basic idea somewhere else within the past year or two, but I can't for the life of me remember where. I thought it was Joel on Software, but a little Googling didn't turn it up. Anyone else?

username3 16y ago
http://www.paulgraham.com/hamming.html http://www.paulgraham.com/hamming.html If you are deeply immersed and committed to a topic, day after day after day, your subconscious has nothing to do but work on your problem. And so you wake up one morning, or on some afternoon, and there's the answer. For those who don't get committed to their current problem, the subconscious goofs off on other things and doesn't produce the big result. So the way to manage yourself is that when you have a real important problem you don't let anything else get the center of your attention - you keep your thoughts on the problem. Keep your subconscious starved so it has to work on your problem, so you can sleep peacefully and get the answer in the morning, free.
- m_myers 16y ago
  Could be, but I'm remembering the specific example of a programmer's mind in the shower.
  - jcl 16y ago
    You might be thinking of an article that was on HN several months ago -- "The Benefit Of Being Naked": http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1244308 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1244308
    - m_myers 16y ago
      No, I wasn't even on HN then. Turns out it was a Paul Graham article after all: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1536852 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1536852
bootload 16y ago
"Ramen Profitable" ~ http://www.paulgraham.com/ramenprofitable.html http://www.paulgraham.com/ramenprofitable.html and "Ideas for Startups" ~ http://www.paulgraham.com/ideas.html http://www.paulgraham.com/ideas.html
- m_myers 16y ago
  Bingo, "Ramen Profitable" it is. At any given time there tends to be one problem that's the most urgent for a startup. This is what you think about as you fall asleep at night and when you take a shower in the morning. And when you start raising money, that becomes the problem you think about. You only take one shower in the morning, and if you're thinking about investors during it, then you're not thinking about the product.
bootload 16y ago
"Ramen Profitable" ~ http://www.paulgraham.com/ramenprofitable.html http://www.paulgraham.com/ramenprofitable.html and "Ideas for Startups" ~ http://www.paulgraham.com/ideas.html http://www.paulgraham.com/ideas.html

by m_myers 16y ago

username3 16y ago

http://www.paulgraham.com/hamming.html http://www.paulgraham.com/hamming.html If you are deeply immersed and committed to a topic, day after day after day, your subconscious has nothing to do but work on your problem. And so you wake up one morning, or on some afternoon, and there's the answer. For those who don't get committed to their current problem, the subconscious goofs off on other things and doesn't produce the big result. So the way to manage yourself is that when you have a real important problem you don't let anything else get the center of your attention - you keep your thoughts on the problem. Keep your subconscious starved so it has to work on your problem, so you can sleep peacefully and get the answer in the morning, free.

m_myers 16y ago
Could be, but I'm remembering the specific example of a programmer's mind in the shower.
- jcl 16y ago
  You might be thinking of an article that was on HN several months ago -- "The Benefit Of Being Naked": http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1244308 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1244308
  - m_myers 16y ago
    No, I wasn't even on HN then. Turns out it was a Paul Graham article after all: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1536852 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1536852

bootload 16y ago

"Ramen Profitable" ~ http://www.paulgraham.com/ramenprofitable.html http://www.paulgraham.com/ramenprofitable.html and "Ideas for Startups" ~ http://www.paulgraham.com/ideas.html http://www.paulgraham.com/ideas.html

m_myers 16y ago
Bingo, "Ramen Profitable" it is. At any given time there tends to be one problem that's the most urgent for a startup. This is what you think about as you fall asleep at night and when you take a shower in the morning. And when you start raising money, that becomes the problem you think about. You only take one shower in the morning, and if you're thinking about investors during it, then you're not thinking about the product.

bootload 16y ago