6 ms·

One thing I learned that after a while it gets super easy to convince yourself that just 15 minutes of playing outdated online FPS games is OK, then 2 hours lat

One thing I learned that after a while it gets super easy to convince yourself that just 15 minutes of playing outdated online FPS games is OK, then 2 hours later you're still playing, and nobody is there to say "What the hell?". Is this normal?

sharemywin 8y ago
of course it is but that's also a recipe for struggling to get by. if you don't master time management and money management your sunk on your own.
- erikrothoff 8y ago
  Sounds like you've been through similar things? What helped you master time management? We're bootstrapped so the only money management problems is really related to (wasted) time management.
  - thisisananth 8y ago
    I was addicted to browsing during my work. I knew I was wasting my time and it is not helping. I would resolve to not so it again. Then slowly I would fall back into my old ways. What helped was realizing that it is easy to do something 100% of the time than 95% of the time. Previously rationalized when I was getting distracted by telling myself it is just for 5 mins which inevitably resulted in more rationalising and realizing only after an hour. Now when I get distracted and realize it, I just stop it there and then and get back to work. I also made some changes like having specific internet time and strictly avoiding it during other time also helped. Read the book deep work by Cal Newport. It has these and various other ways to focus more. https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted/dp/1455586692 https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted/...
    - shinymark 8y ago
      I found the same to be broadly true for me. One small tip to break the habit - use your hosts file to straight up block distracting websites on your work PC. You can still read them elsewhere when not working. This really helped me break the subconscious habit of checking distracting news sources. And yes, I blocked HN on my work PC.
nickthemagicman 8y ago
Had to quit WoW. Was fun but took way too much of my life away.
- ghostbrainalpha 8y ago
  Video games are the addiction that really messed my life up. Exercise is the thing I never did that REALLY makes your life better. So I've decided to combine the two. I can play as much console games as I want, as long as I am peddling on my recumbent bike on a difficult setting. I started out I could only do 1/2 hour before not wanting to play anymore. Now I'm down 30 pounds and can bike hard for about an hour while I play Fortnite/Overwatch/Zelda. It's worked so well the only thing that I'm worried about now is maybe wearing out my knees or something.
  - mikekchar 8y ago
    > It's worked so well the only thing that I'm worried about now is maybe wearing out my knees or something. Over-training is a thing. Pay attention to whether you are making gains or not (i.e., going longer/faster at the same level of exertion). For me, 6 days a week is ideal. For cycling, you can probably manage 7 days a week if you are putting in 2 "light" days instead (low intensity). As you've been stationary-cycling for a while, you probably know the difference between "good pain" and "bad pain". "Good pain" is kind of misnomer -- really, if you get lactic acid buildup or something similar and you aren't doing your body significant damage, you can ignore the pain. But "bad pain" (which signals an injury) should not be ignored. Immediately get some rest. With over-training, you can get niggly injuries. If you think it is "good pain" and it doesn't go away in a week, or if it's getting progressively worse, then it could well be over-training. Make sure to have a rest day once a week. If you still get pain even with a rest day, then look at your setup/form. For cycling, having your knees go out at a weird angle when pushing is a common fault. Concentrate on maintaining a good position on the pedals (usually near the balls of your feed) and having a natural angle for your feet. But if you aren't getting over-training injuries or injuries cause by poor form, there is no particular reason to worry about wearing out your body. People cycle/walk/jog every day for an hour or two well into old age without problems. The benefits you get will vastly outweigh any problems.
nickjj 8y ago
Oddly enough I just wrote about how playing video games taught me more life / programming / business lessons than all of my formal education combined. https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/how-playing-video-games-can-teach-you-real-life-skills https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/how-playing-video-games-can-t...
- Kagerjay 8y ago
  I should really make a blog about that too. I got so ridiculously addicted to making money in MMOs in high school. I have some absurd stories where I partially was responsible for crashing the gaming economy, did insider trading while being a AAA game tester, did click-and-bait scams, manipulated stock markets, ran bots, ran my own guildhall, had 5000 followers at one point, did AAA game Q/A testing (had to sign NDAs), wrote gaming guides translated in multiple languages and read by 100,000 people+ and made the shittiest class in the game the most popular one. Those were some really fun memorable times. On paper I don't tell people I have any business experience though, not many people would appreciate that experience though sadly. Learned the hard way in college
  - nickjj 8y ago
    I would read that, if anything for the entertainment value.
    - Kagerjay 8y ago
      I'll make a write up later of it :))
  - cannonedhamster 8y ago
    Pseudonyms exist for a reason. Though I suspect those involved would know who you were, minus the NDA. It's not worth it to breach the NDA, but the rest? If you can sling together a coherent story, you've probably got solid book. You've got the start with an eager person getting into games out of love, turning it into an obsession where you strayed into the dark side, followed by how it made you feel empty and want to people "connected to people again (guildhall), and finally how this made you realize your passion all over again and turn it into a profession. This is a book people would read.
3pt14159 8y ago
If you want to play when you feel like playing and work when you feel like working you need to be ok with working at 8pm on a Saturday. Otherwise you won't get anything done. Also, exercise more. I swear I get more time out of exercise for my business than I put in.
- matwood 8y ago
  I agree that exercise is amazing. For me personally, exercising every day builds discipline that spills into every other part of my life.
- got2surf 8y ago
  Exactly - you have to hold yourself accountable for working hours, or hold yourself accountable for getting the work done. Agree on the exercise as well - no matter what time I go to the gym, my "best" working part of the day seems to come afterwards.
noelwelsh 8y ago
Left 4 Dead 2 is the greatest game is the history of games, so I understand wanting to spend some time exploring it's many riches. What I find useful is to set a timer. When the timer goes off, after, say, 15 mins, it's time to stop. It also helps to have enough sleep. My overall concentration and willpower are far greater when I've had enough sleep, and that leads to less unproductive games playing, or Internet browsing, or whatever. Finally, todo lists and well defined goals for the day put pressure on to Get Shit Done. Especially helpful if you can make yourself accountable to someone else.
elorant 8y ago
I used to be like that until I actually shipped a product. The realization that you're accountable for something works miracles. Especially if it's a B2B product where your user base is much smaller but they're all paying customers. If you fuck it you lose clients, simple as that.
- siquick 8y ago
  This has been the biggest revelation for me since I took my 5 year side project on full time. Up until this point I had worked hard sporadically on it, but as soon as I signed up my first customer my motivation has gone to a whole new level. Now I can see why companies that find customers before they even have a product are often the most succesful - both because it validates the product, but also because it instantly gives you accountability.
jasonkester 8y ago
I don't know about you, man, but that is the reason I took this job. The whole point of running your own business is that you can do exactly what you want with your time. If you're not feeling productive, you can down tools and blow off the rest of the day to do something you'd rather be doing. Your business will pay you exactly the same for those hours. I made this explicit when I built my SaaS business that its goal was "Maximize Jason's Vacation Time." It ticks away so well in the background these days that pretty much any day can be a day off. As can any month. So long as your thing is shipped and bringing in revenue, don't go beating yourself up for screwing off a bit. Screwing Off is your job title. You've earned it. Enjoy!

sharemywin 8y ago

of course it is but that's also a recipe for struggling to get by. if you don't master time management and money management your sunk on your own.

erikrothoff 8y ago
Sounds like you've been through similar things? What helped you master time management? We're bootstrapped so the only money management problems is really related to (wasted) time management.
- thisisananth 8y ago
  I was addicted to browsing during my work. I knew I was wasting my time and it is not helping. I would resolve to not so it again. Then slowly I would fall back into my old ways. What helped was realizing that it is easy to do something 100% of the time than 95% of the time. Previously rationalized when I was getting distracted by telling myself it is just for 5 mins which inevitably resulted in more rationalising and realizing only after an hour. Now when I get distracted and realize it, I just stop it there and then and get back to work. I also made some changes like having specific internet time and strictly avoiding it during other time also helped. Read the book deep work by Cal Newport. It has these and various other ways to focus more. https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted/dp/1455586692 https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted/...
  - shinymark 8y ago
    I found the same to be broadly true for me. One small tip to break the habit - use your hosts file to straight up block distracting websites on your work PC. You can still read them elsewhere when not working. This really helped me break the subconscious habit of checking distracting news sources. And yes, I blocked HN on my work PC.

nickthemagicman 8y ago

Had to quit WoW. Was fun but took way too much of my life away.

ghostbrainalpha 8y ago
Video games are the addiction that really messed my life up. Exercise is the thing I never did that REALLY makes your life better. So I've decided to combine the two. I can play as much console games as I want, as long as I am peddling on my recumbent bike on a difficult setting. I started out I could only do 1/2 hour before not wanting to play anymore. Now I'm down 30 pounds and can bike hard for about an hour while I play Fortnite/Overwatch/Zelda. It's worked so well the only thing that I'm worried about now is maybe wearing out my knees or something.
- mikekchar 8y ago
  > It's worked so well the only thing that I'm worried about now is maybe wearing out my knees or something. Over-training is a thing. Pay attention to whether you are making gains or not (i.e., going longer/faster at the same level of exertion). For me, 6 days a week is ideal. For cycling, you can probably manage 7 days a week if you are putting in 2 "light" days instead (low intensity). As you've been stationary-cycling for a while, you probably know the difference between "good pain" and "bad pain". "Good pain" is kind of misnomer -- really, if you get lactic acid buildup or something similar and you aren't doing your body significant damage, you can ignore the pain. But "bad pain" (which signals an injury) should not be ignored. Immediately get some rest. With over-training, you can get niggly injuries. If you think it is "good pain" and it doesn't go away in a week, or if it's getting progressively worse, then it could well be over-training. Make sure to have a rest day once a week. If you still get pain even with a rest day, then look at your setup/form. For cycling, having your knees go out at a weird angle when pushing is a common fault. Concentrate on maintaining a good position on the pedals (usually near the balls of your feed) and having a natural angle for your feet. But if you aren't getting over-training injuries or injuries cause by poor form, there is no particular reason to worry about wearing out your body. People cycle/walk/jog every day for an hour or two well into old age without problems. The benefits you get will vastly outweigh any problems.

nickjj 8y ago

Oddly enough I just wrote about how playing video games taught me more life / programming / business lessons than all of my formal education combined. https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/how-playing-video-games-can-teach-you-real-life-skills https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/how-playing-video-games-can-t...

Kagerjay 8y ago
I should really make a blog about that too. I got so ridiculously addicted to making money in MMOs in high school. I have some absurd stories where I partially was responsible for crashing the gaming economy, did insider trading while being a AAA game tester, did click-and-bait scams, manipulated stock markets, ran bots, ran my own guildhall, had 5000 followers at one point, did AAA game Q/A testing (had to sign NDAs), wrote gaming guides translated in multiple languages and read by 100,000 people+ and made the shittiest class in the game the most popular one. Those were some really fun memorable times. On paper I don't tell people I have any business experience though, not many people would appreciate that experience though sadly. Learned the hard way in college
- nickjj 8y ago
  I would read that, if anything for the entertainment value.
  - Kagerjay 8y ago
    I'll make a write up later of it :))
- cannonedhamster 8y ago
  Pseudonyms exist for a reason. Though I suspect those involved would know who you were, minus the NDA. It's not worth it to breach the NDA, but the rest? If you can sling together a coherent story, you've probably got solid book. You've got the start with an eager person getting into games out of love, turning it into an obsession where you strayed into the dark side, followed by how it made you feel empty and want to people "connected to people again (guildhall), and finally how this made you realize your passion all over again and turn it into a profession. This is a book people would read.

3pt14159 8y ago

If you want to play when you feel like playing and work when you feel like working you need to be ok with working at 8pm on a Saturday. Otherwise you won't get anything done. Also, exercise more. I swear I get more time out of exercise for my business than I put in.

matwood 8y ago
I agree that exercise is amazing. For me personally, exercising every day builds discipline that spills into every other part of my life.
got2surf 8y ago
Exactly - you have to hold yourself accountable for working hours, or hold yourself accountable for getting the work done. Agree on the exercise as well - no matter what time I go to the gym, my "best" working part of the day seems to come afterwards.

noelwelsh 8y ago

Left 4 Dead 2 is the greatest game is the history of games, so I understand wanting to spend some time exploring it's many riches. What I find useful is to set a timer. When the timer goes off, after, say, 15 mins, it's time to stop. It also helps to have enough sleep. My overall concentration and willpower are far greater when I've had enough sleep, and that leads to less unproductive games playing, or Internet browsing, or whatever. Finally, todo lists and well defined goals for the day put pressure on to Get Shit Done. Especially helpful if you can make yourself accountable to someone else.

elorant 8y ago

I used to be like that until I actually shipped a product. The realization that you're accountable for something works miracles. Especially if it's a B2B product where your user base is much smaller but they're all paying customers. If you fuck it you lose clients, simple as that.

siquick 8y ago
This has been the biggest revelation for me since I took my 5 year side project on full time. Up until this point I had worked hard sporadically on it, but as soon as I signed up my first customer my motivation has gone to a whole new level. Now I can see why companies that find customers before they even have a product are often the most succesful - both because it validates the product, but also because it instantly gives you accountability.

jasonkester 8y ago

I don't know about you, man, but that is the reason I took this job. The whole point of running your own business is that you can do exactly what you want with your time. If you're not feeling productive, you can down tools and blow off the rest of the day to do something you'd rather be doing. Your business will pay you exactly the same for those hours. I made this explicit when I built my SaaS business that its goal was "Maximize Jason's Vacation Time." It ticks away so well in the background these days that pretty much any day can be a day off. As can any month. So long as your thing is shipped and bringing in revenue, don't go beating yourself up for screwing off a bit. Screwing Off is your job title. You've earned it. Enjoy!