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I feel like for me, reading and writing articles like this are a major source of distractions. I often find myself reading articles like this, lessons of self-i

I feel like for me, reading and writing articles like this are a major source of distractions. I often find myself reading articles like this, lessons of self-improvement and tips of motivation and ways to be a better programmer, instead of doing what actually makes me a better programmer (actually programming). To extend upon the article, I feel like one of the easiest distractions from self improvement is constantly reading about self improvement. Not to say that the lessons in these articles are a sham, but that there's a point where the idea of and dream of improving yourself becomes a dangerously stealthy distraction.

moksly 6y ago
The thing about working on yourself is that it’s actually work. Reading an article, or a book on behaviour, self-improvement and what else doesn’t actually change you any more than reading Harry Potter does. It’s the years of applying Zen Buddhism, scheduling your chores or staring at the mirror telling yourself you’re a great person that changes you. I know because I recently recorded from a major depression and anxiety, and everything that I’ve done that has actually helped, like lying to myself in the mirror, or convincing myself no-one on the train was actually judging me, took 6+ months to have a real lasting effect. It’s the same with distractions. Just look at your screen time spent on your smartphone today. It’s probably a couple of hours by the time you go to bed. Like it is for the rest of us. Most of that time is frankly wasted, you know it. I know it. But reading a self-improvement article about how cutting down screen time is healthy for us isn’t actually going to change our behaviour one bit. Maybe for a day or two, but not next week and certainly not next month.
- xouse 6y ago
  The way I look at it, information is a force multiplier on action. If there's no action then 50 times zero is still zero.
  - mlthoughts2018 6y ago
    But then if there’s no information, zero times 50 is still zero.
    - the_af 6y ago
      I'm not sure I agree, because the situation is in my opinion not symmetrical. Work without reading about it: might work, and often does. Reading about it without doing the work: way less useful.
      - disgruntledphd2 6y ago
        Spend a week in the lab to save a day in the library?
        the_af 6y ago
        I should have been clearer: I was talking about motivational or self-improvement sort of books and articles, as is the topic of TFA. I wouldn't try it with lab work, though pioneering work sometimes was that way ;)
        disgruntledphd2 6y ago
        I was mostly being facetious, thanks for taking it so well :)
        maxwebdev 6y ago
        Worked for Edison
      - mlthoughts2018 6y ago
        My view is the opposite, basically the adage “measure twice, cut once.” Work without research often is actively harmful in addition to failing and wasting time & resources. Research at least improves knowledge while not wasting other resources besides time.
        6y ago
- mchan889 6y ago
  "The thing about working on yourself is that it’s actually work. Reading an article, or a book on behaviour, self-improvement and what else doesn’t actually change you any more than reading Harry Potter does." This is well put, and I think part of the reason so much self-improvement material is drivel. Generally, I've noticed that some of the most pathological people are the most into 'self-improvement' as an idea. That being said, their brand of 'self-improvement' generally does not extend beyond reading and quoting books by various gurus. On the flip-side, those I've met who are actually highly motivated and disciplined, have never picked up one of those guru books. Reading up on something is one thing, and in many cases, it's an important first step. There's no way to start using a new language without reading something. That being said, simply reading is not enough. On top of that, what you read has to be actionable. The self-improvement platitudes are not actionable. Reading a book on Python does not turn you into a python developer. Why should reading a guru book turn you into one?
  - afarrell 6y ago
    > I've noticed that some of the most pathological people are the most into 'self-improvement' as an idea. I've noticed that some of the people who spend the most time paying attention to their blood sugar are diabetic.
    - mchan889 6y ago
      My point is more that they are checking their blood sugar levels without doing anything about it.
      - afarrell 6y ago
        hard things are hard.
greyvmatter 6y ago
Programming isn't necessarily the best way to get better at programming, there are a bunch of related skills that also need to be improved. Thinking about how you program and behave as a human will unlock many doors
- jwilber 6y ago
  Programming is certainly the best way to get better at programming. Some other things may help improve your ability to program, but there is no substitute for the act itself.
  - collyw 6y ago
    Nah, I am agreement with the poster that you replied to. Our tech lead is a bit of a diva. He is smart but basically he just programs and doesn't bother with much else. He bangs out code quickly, but it can be buggy and its usually the rest of the team that fix the bugs, keep the infrastructure running, write the tests. He is good at tricky algorithmic stuff. His code is fairly well organised. I don't find his abstractions particularly good. The REST API he created is terrible (poor abstraction) and not RESTful a lot of it uses POST requests, 200 success contains errors. No tests. Terrible at explaining his work to other people. Poor at listening. Give me a good team player with average ability over a good programmer that lacks the other skills any day.
    - croh 6y ago
      Agree absolutely. I think real problem is our interview process. More focus is given on solving tricky questions than overall craft. In day to day tasks, how many times you have to implement those algorithms ? (I am not against knowing algorithms though). Good code is which performs requirement perfectly and MAINTAINABLE. Python's PEP 20/zen of python is one of the best guide for craft, imo. It works well for individual programmer as well as for teams. https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0020/ https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0020/
  - andrewzah 6y ago
    No. Programming -with intent- is the best way to get better. If I code up a 10k LOC main.cpp with stringly typed data structures, I'm not really better at programming, am I? It's like that saying: practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. Programming is not literally just typing, as we all know, nor is it simply getting a Thing to compile. A lot of it is educating oneself on different types of data structures, algorithms, math, architectural practices, and so on. Expanding our workbench of tools, as it were. And -then- putting that into practice when actually programming. I'm not good at Rust merely because I've worked with Rust a lot; I've also read books on Rust, and I've read many web articles on Rust (found from Rust Weekly) and various libraries, etc.
SkyMarshal 6y ago
Once you've read enough philosophy and psychology (both academic and pop), articles like this start becoming repetitive. You realize Jean Beaudrillard was right, and in the post-modern world there truly is nothing new under the sun, everything is just a variation of a variation of a variation of something that came before. A better use of your (professional development) time is thinking about and writing actual code.
- iambrj 6y ago
  “The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato” - Alfred North Whitehead
post_below 6y ago
It's ironic that the one of the best forms of self improvement is to get over yourself, while the act of self improvement is often entirely self focused. I think, though, that the author makes a really valuable core point: Most challenges are hard not because of the subject but because of our approach and perspectives. I can't think of anything important in life that doesn't benefit from the exploration of metacognition.
pritovido 6y ago
Applying self-improvement takes time, work and effort. You are applying it when you change as a result of reading and specially using what you learn. Change is essential, if you do not change anything you are not using it. It is easier to just (passively) read something than applying it. The problem with reading(or watching videos) is that it can be used as an excuse for procrastination as it is way easier doing something passive that active. The most interesting thing is that the problem is not in reading. I worked with a kid whose parents were worried as he used videogames to procastinate. They put the console out of the kid's reach and now the kid will just stare at the wall for hours just daydreamming. So my advice is for you to start applying what one book about procastination says. Select just one good book and start applying it on your life. It is very important that you just decide and pick one. I don't know "The Now habit" for example. Write down in a journal the difficulties you face, your emotions while doing so and work over it consistently.

moksly 6y ago

The thing about working on yourself is that it’s actually work. Reading an article, or a book on behaviour, self-improvement and what else doesn’t actually change you any more than reading Harry Potter does. It’s the years of applying Zen Buddhism, scheduling your chores or staring at the mirror telling yourself you’re a great person that changes you. I know because I recently recorded from a major depression and anxiety, and everything that I’ve done that has actually helped, like lying to myself in the mirror, or convincing myself no-one on the train was actually judging me, took 6+ months to have a real lasting effect. It’s the same with distractions. Just look at your screen time spent on your smartphone today. It’s probably a couple of hours by the time you go to bed. Like it is for the rest of us. Most of that time is frankly wasted, you know it. I know it. But reading a self-improvement article about how cutting down screen time is healthy for us isn’t actually going to change our behaviour one bit. Maybe for a day or two, but not next week and certainly not next month.

xouse 6y ago
The way I look at it, information is a force multiplier on action. If there's no action then 50 times zero is still zero.
- mlthoughts2018 6y ago
  But then if there’s no information, zero times 50 is still zero.
  - the_af 6y ago
    I'm not sure I agree, because the situation is in my opinion not symmetrical. Work without reading about it: might work, and often does. Reading about it without doing the work: way less useful.
    - disgruntledphd2 6y ago
      Spend a week in the lab to save a day in the library?
      - the_af 6y ago
        I should have been clearer: I was talking about motivational or self-improvement sort of books and articles, as is the topic of TFA. I wouldn't try it with lab work, though pioneering work sometimes was that way ;)
        disgruntledphd2 6y ago
        I was mostly being facetious, thanks for taking it so well :)
      - maxwebdev 6y ago
        Worked for Edison
    - mlthoughts2018 6y ago
      My view is the opposite, basically the adage “measure twice, cut once.” Work without research often is actively harmful in addition to failing and wasting time & resources. Research at least improves knowledge while not wasting other resources besides time.
      - 6y ago
mchan889 6y ago
"The thing about working on yourself is that it’s actually work. Reading an article, or a book on behaviour, self-improvement and what else doesn’t actually change you any more than reading Harry Potter does." This is well put, and I think part of the reason so much self-improvement material is drivel. Generally, I've noticed that some of the most pathological people are the most into 'self-improvement' as an idea. That being said, their brand of 'self-improvement' generally does not extend beyond reading and quoting books by various gurus. On the flip-side, those I've met who are actually highly motivated and disciplined, have never picked up one of those guru books. Reading up on something is one thing, and in many cases, it's an important first step. There's no way to start using a new language without reading something. That being said, simply reading is not enough. On top of that, what you read has to be actionable. The self-improvement platitudes are not actionable. Reading a book on Python does not turn you into a python developer. Why should reading a guru book turn you into one?
- afarrell 6y ago
  > I've noticed that some of the most pathological people are the most into 'self-improvement' as an idea. I've noticed that some of the people who spend the most time paying attention to their blood sugar are diabetic.
  - mchan889 6y ago
    My point is more that they are checking their blood sugar levels without doing anything about it.
    - afarrell 6y ago
      hard things are hard.

greyvmatter 6y ago

Programming isn't necessarily the best way to get better at programming, there are a bunch of related skills that also need to be improved. Thinking about how you program and behave as a human will unlock many doors

jwilber 6y ago
Programming is certainly the best way to get better at programming. Some other things may help improve your ability to program, but there is no substitute for the act itself.
- collyw 6y ago
  Nah, I am agreement with the poster that you replied to. Our tech lead is a bit of a diva. He is smart but basically he just programs and doesn't bother with much else. He bangs out code quickly, but it can be buggy and its usually the rest of the team that fix the bugs, keep the infrastructure running, write the tests. He is good at tricky algorithmic stuff. His code is fairly well organised. I don't find his abstractions particularly good. The REST API he created is terrible (poor abstraction) and not RESTful a lot of it uses POST requests, 200 success contains errors. No tests. Terrible at explaining his work to other people. Poor at listening. Give me a good team player with average ability over a good programmer that lacks the other skills any day.
  - croh 6y ago
    Agree absolutely. I think real problem is our interview process. More focus is given on solving tricky questions than overall craft. In day to day tasks, how many times you have to implement those algorithms ? (I am not against knowing algorithms though). Good code is which performs requirement perfectly and MAINTAINABLE. Python's PEP 20/zen of python is one of the best guide for craft, imo. It works well for individual programmer as well as for teams. https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0020/ https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0020/
- andrewzah 6y ago
  No. Programming -with intent- is the best way to get better. If I code up a 10k LOC main.cpp with stringly typed data structures, I'm not really better at programming, am I? It's like that saying: practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. Programming is not literally just typing, as we all know, nor is it simply getting a Thing to compile. A lot of it is educating oneself on different types of data structures, algorithms, math, architectural practices, and so on. Expanding our workbench of tools, as it were. And -then- putting that into practice when actually programming. I'm not good at Rust merely because I've worked with Rust a lot; I've also read books on Rust, and I've read many web articles on Rust (found from Rust Weekly) and various libraries, etc.

SkyMarshal 6y ago

Once you've read enough philosophy and psychology (both academic and pop), articles like this start becoming repetitive. You realize Jean Beaudrillard was right, and in the post-modern world there truly is nothing new under the sun, everything is just a variation of a variation of a variation of something that came before. A better use of your (professional development) time is thinking about and writing actual code.

iambrj 6y ago
“The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato” - Alfred North Whitehead

post_below 6y ago

It's ironic that the one of the best forms of self improvement is to get over yourself, while the act of self improvement is often entirely self focused. I think, though, that the author makes a really valuable core point: Most challenges are hard not because of the subject but because of our approach and perspectives. I can't think of anything important in life that doesn't benefit from the exploration of metacognition.

pritovido 6y ago

Applying self-improvement takes time, work and effort. You are applying it when you change as a result of reading and specially using what you learn. Change is essential, if you do not change anything you are not using it. It is easier to just (passively) read something than applying it. The problem with reading(or watching videos) is that it can be used as an excuse for procrastination as it is way easier doing something passive that active. The most interesting thing is that the problem is not in reading. I worked with a kid whose parents were worried as he used videogames to procastinate. They put the console out of the kid's reach and now the kid will just stare at the wall for hours just daydreamming. So my advice is for you to start applying what one book about procastination says. Select just one good book and start applying it on your life. It is very important that you just decide and pick one. I don't know "The Now habit" for example. Write down in a journal the difficulties you face, your emotions while doing so and work over it consistently.