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> It's easy not to care how good you are at your hobbies when you're already really good at something else. I've seen that at play, and it can be a very signif

> It's easy not to care how good you are at your hobbies when you're already really good at something else. I've seen that at play, and it can be a very significant effect. The clearest instance from my personal experience was in self-studying mathematics. I began my regimen of study literally the day after finishing my CS degree. I'd had a 'repetitive strain injury' related to computer usage for years at that point, and had figured I would never be able to work as a programmer again (did a brief stint as a teenager). I needed to find something else and had been searching for a long time without luck—but now I had something: I'd just earn money doing mathematics somehow! It was grueling to work on at that time because it seemed like my last option for being able to do something that used my creative/technical abilities as a career (I was working at a grocery store then to put things in perspective)—and I just had no idea if I was going to be good enough with math for it to be a realistic possibility. So it was nerve-wracking anytime I attempted something that would test my ability. Several years later, after figuring out the computer use issues—I didn't need mathematics anymore. But I'd spent a lot of time learning, gaining proficiency, and developing interests in various areas; so at some point I got back into studying again. The difference is night and day—I'm far more productive, and it's just, by comparison to before, no big deal. Highly recommended if you can settle it with yourself that you're okay with things however they turn out in relation to some hobby/skill/whatever.

da02 8y ago
What injury did you have? How did you solve it?
- westoncb 8y ago
  I could never get a doctor to give a precise answer to that, just, "some kind of repetitive strain injury." It seems to have had psychological components to it also: I was so worried about it that I created additional tension there and never let it relax, and I was always super stiff/tense while using the computer. So whatever new ergonomics or exercises I tried, I continued clenching/worrying whenever using a computer. And then I could see that the tension was making things worse so I'd get worried and more tense because of that which created a bad feedback effect. Getting better was partly just learning to not freak out about it—the situation was manageable and I wasn't going to have to give up my favorite activity that I'd spent so much of my life training for etc. More exercise, better ergonomics, and taking breaks also helped. I've been practicing meditation for a couple years now too, and it's finally been getting to the point where I can use what I've learned to see and modify the bad mental patterns I established during 10 years of unpleasant computer use (including getting out of the feedback effect mentioned above).

da02 8y ago

What injury did you have? How did you solve it?

westoncb 8y ago
I could never get a doctor to give a precise answer to that, just, "some kind of repetitive strain injury." It seems to have had psychological components to it also: I was so worried about it that I created additional tension there and never let it relax, and I was always super stiff/tense while using the computer. So whatever new ergonomics or exercises I tried, I continued clenching/worrying whenever using a computer. And then I could see that the tension was making things worse so I'd get worried and more tense because of that which created a bad feedback effect. Getting better was partly just learning to not freak out about it—the situation was manageable and I wasn't going to have to give up my favorite activity that I'd spent so much of my life training for etc. More exercise, better ergonomics, and taking breaks also helped. I've been practicing meditation for a couple years now too, and it's finally been getting to the point where I can use what I've learned to see and modify the bad mental patterns I established during 10 years of unpleasant computer use (including getting out of the feedback effect mentioned above).