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I think authors of advice like this underestimate the amount of exhaustion a lot of people have to cope with. I set out with the intention of getting into the h

I think authors of advice like this underestimate the amount of exhaustion a lot of people have to cope with. I set out with the intention of getting into the habit of being creative instead of consuming only to realize I Was putting myself under more pressure. I have to say though that simply doodling on a Synth and enjoying the sounds, playing an instrument without trying to make a song, can be very relaxing and satisfying. Especially when you are a beginner at it. Otherwise you might be trying too hard to create something meaningful, destroying the pleasure in the process. So my advice would be not to attempt to create, but to simply indulge in the act and enjoy the flow.

Hendrikto 6y ago
I think it is a similar situation to the people advising to have side-hustles and hone your skills in your free time. It’s great if that’s your thing. But it is not for everybody, and nobody should feel obligated.
sanedigital 6y ago
Agreed, although I’ve found that some of this pressure is due to the incredible amount of momentum towards consumption you have to overcome when trying to become a creator. When I’m out of my writing habit, sitting down and getting something out is a huge chore. My brain constantly wants to pick up my phone, check my email, read the news, etc. But once I’ve spent a few days limiting that impulse, I feel like the chains are off and I’m able to just sit down and write. Last year I participated in Nanowrimo, and it was insane how quickly the words came after the first five days. I highly recommend it to anyone who has felt similar friction in their creative practice.
- jsilence 6y ago
  Never heard about NaNoWriMo before. Great pointer! Relayed to my wife, who has let her writing talent lay dormant for quite some time.
  - sanedigital 6y ago
    NaNo is a blast, especially if you can find a group online or in person to work through it together. I'm a bit obsessed with it, if you or your wife have any questions about it don't hesitate to email me at james@sane.digital .
nicbou 6y ago
That's great advice. When going back to work after a few months, I had to shelve so many projects. I had no energy for anything. Sometimes, I could do little more than cook dinner. That's as a single, childless person with a low stress job. Let people relax. Stop appropriating every good thing and turning it into another competition. This reminds me of a lovely article I've read recently: an app can be a home-cooked meal. In other words, you can create small scale, short-lived things for private consumption. It's a lot more relaxing.
- mrmonkeyman 6y ago
  It's your life, but I'll give you some unsollicitated advice: that's not healthy. Either your job sucks or your stress tolerance and I suspect it's the latter. That can be trained. You should feel like this after 100 hours of work, not 40.
- wizzwizz4 6y ago
  Relevant thread (includes links): https://sunbeam.city/@tty/103297788574962594 https://sunbeam.city/@tty/103297788574962594
  - nicbou 6y ago
    The linked articles were worth a read. Thanks for sharing
- latexr 6y ago
  > an app can be a home-cooked meal. I second a recommendation to that article: https://www.robinsloan.com/notes/home-cooked-app/ https://www.robinsloan.com/notes/home-cooked-app/
KarimDaghari 6y ago
If I may: https://karimdaghari.netlify.app/blog/get-things-done/ https://karimdaghari.netlify.app/blog/get-things-done/
- arvinsim 6y ago
  > Conclusion > Q. How to actually get stuff done? > A. Give yourself permission to produce shit. This should be shown in a poster in my room!
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - jsilence 6y ago
    Yes, this! There is one musician on YT who said that he is simply doodling away on his groovebox frequently and that more than 90 percent of the results are shitty. But from those ideas that are somewhat decent he develops his music.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
  - nicbou 6y ago
    That's good advice. Before you learn how to make a dish, you must learn various ways to ruin a dish. You can read all the books in the world, but only dozens of bad omelettes will teach you how to make a good one.
ChrisMarshallNY 6y ago
I read the article, but started to get a bit disappointed, when it got to competing and advancing one's career/impact. It espouses a different motivation from the one that drives me. I'm not against these. After all, it's why most folks get into whatever they are doing. We all need to keep a roof over our heads, and food on the table. We also want to feel good about what we do. It's just not why I do what I do. I do what I do, directly as a love of the craft, and all my work is an act of creation. I get up early every morning, and walk a couple of miles. It's usually dark, when I do, and I use the time to sort through what I'll be doing that day. A lot of that "sorting" is a moral and motivational inventory. I figure out what I want to do, and also why I want to do it. If I can't come up with a compelling why, then I have to reconsider the what. I do enjoy writing. I've done a lot of it[0], and will do more. I don't have a schedule for writing prose. I tend to churn something out once a month or so, but I will sometimes do a couple of articles in fairly quick succession. I do them for myself. It's nice if people read them, but they really help me to clarify what and why I do, as well as how. Like everything else I do, I apply a lot of polish and refinement; even if I am the only person that will ever read it. One of my habits, is that everything I do, I do as "ship." When even my casual throwaway experiments consist of a level of quality not seen in many large-scale industrial apps, then the stuff I'm serious about, is likely to be fairly robust. The one daily thing that I like to do, is write code every day. Not just LeetCode (in fact, I never practice that stuff). I like to write "keeper" code, every day, 366 days a year. Of course, I'm not able to actually get that done every day, but I get most days done. My GH Activity Graph is pretty much solid green[1]. I've been at this game a while, and a lot of what I do is almost "instinctual." Basically, "muscle memory." When I'm working on a a project, I don't whip out my GoF Design Patterns book, and figure out which of the Basic Patterns I'll be using, or my copy of Rapid Development, to set out a project plan; I just start writing an OBSERVER or ADAPTER, without bothering to call it that. In fact, the only reason that I tend to use industry jargon, is when I'm trying to leave a trail of breadcrumbs for maintainers. Otherwise, I often make up my own terminology. I'm a bit "on the spectrum," and tend to live in my own world. It can be a massively productive world, but is insular. When I write -especially about how I do stuff, it often forces me to get out of "muscle memory," and into the same world everyone else lives in. I have to explain what I do to an audience that is larger than just myself. So, it's great if people like what I write, but it really doesn't matter that much (at, least, to me). [0] https://littlegreenviper.com/miscellany/ https://littlegreenviper.com/miscellany/ [1] https://github.com/ChrisMarshallNY#github-stuff https://github.com/ChrisMarshallNY#github-stuff
powersnail 6y ago
I've found that counter-intuitively, the best way to get over the hurdle of creating is to learn it seriously, at least for a while, to get over the beginner period. And not just just hobbies of creation, but also sports. It takes a beginner significantly more energy to enjoy an activity, but once you are proficient in the basics (like keyboard playing for improvisation) the mental barrier is much lower, and you are more likely to just jump into it and enjoy yourself. My father liked badminton, but was never good, and rarely played. Then, at some point in his busy life, he scheduled a lesson once a week, for two months. It made such a dramatic change; he started to play weekly, even after the lesson ended, and each time with rejoicing and cheerfulness. I've seen the same pattern on myself and my friends as well, in both arts and sports. So, I'd say if you think there's something you might enjoy doing often, schedule some time to study it (again, doesn't have to be long). Get better and get happier.
- nonbirithm 6y ago
  Same. I have found that I'm usually only interested in doing things I'm already good at, and cannot do well attempting to be an autodidact. The obligation of setting up and getting to an appointment on time means you have no choice but to have someone experienced see you work, and no choice but to have them guide you. If I am given a choice, as in left to my own devices without any other person to force or obligate me to keep going, I will usually end up stopping. My biggest problem is either not being able to tell if I have actually made any progress, or have made too little progress over too long a period of time. It seems to be accepted that if you put in a lot of effort then you'll get better, but they never mention how much better. I don't see the point in getting to point X in 10 years when being smarter about my resources would have gotten me to point X in 3 years, if getting there faster means getting to the point where I actually start enjoying it faster. Time is precious and non-renewable. Some forms of practice are simply better than others, and I believe that I can't always figure them out entirely alone.
- watwut 6y ago
  I had opposite experience. I always tender to take things seriously and felt like doing them just bit is wrong or weak and "unserious". Result was that I stopped those activities soon, because they were draining. Meanwhile, people who just unseriously dabbled in them, tender to learn and get habits. They were not drained by them and had fun.

Hendrikto 6y ago

I think it is a similar situation to the people advising to have side-hustles and hone your skills in your free time. It’s great if that’s your thing. But it is not for everybody, and nobody should feel obligated.

sanedigital 6y ago

Agreed, although I’ve found that some of this pressure is due to the incredible amount of momentum towards consumption you have to overcome when trying to become a creator. When I’m out of my writing habit, sitting down and getting something out is a huge chore. My brain constantly wants to pick up my phone, check my email, read the news, etc. But once I’ve spent a few days limiting that impulse, I feel like the chains are off and I’m able to just sit down and write. Last year I participated in Nanowrimo, and it was insane how quickly the words came after the first five days. I highly recommend it to anyone who has felt similar friction in their creative practice.

jsilence 6y ago
Never heard about NaNoWriMo before. Great pointer! Relayed to my wife, who has let her writing talent lay dormant for quite some time.
- sanedigital 6y ago
  NaNo is a blast, especially if you can find a group online or in person to work through it together. I'm a bit obsessed with it, if you or your wife have any questions about it don't hesitate to email me at james@sane.digital .

nicbou 6y ago

That's great advice. When going back to work after a few months, I had to shelve so many projects. I had no energy for anything. Sometimes, I could do little more than cook dinner. That's as a single, childless person with a low stress job. Let people relax. Stop appropriating every good thing and turning it into another competition. This reminds me of a lovely article I've read recently: an app can be a home-cooked meal. In other words, you can create small scale, short-lived things for private consumption. It's a lot more relaxing.

mrmonkeyman 6y ago
It's your life, but I'll give you some unsollicitated advice: that's not healthy. Either your job sucks or your stress tolerance and I suspect it's the latter. That can be trained. You should feel like this after 100 hours of work, not 40.
wizzwizz4 6y ago
Relevant thread (includes links): https://sunbeam.city/@tty/103297788574962594 https://sunbeam.city/@tty/103297788574962594
- nicbou 6y ago
  The linked articles were worth a read. Thanks for sharing
latexr 6y ago
> an app can be a home-cooked meal. I second a recommendation to that article: https://www.robinsloan.com/notes/home-cooked-app/ https://www.robinsloan.com/notes/home-cooked-app/

KarimDaghari 6y ago

If I may: https://karimdaghari.netlify.app/blog/get-things-done/ https://karimdaghari.netlify.app/blog/get-things-done/

arvinsim 6y ago
> Conclusion > Q. How to actually get stuff done? > A. Give yourself permission to produce shit. This should be shown in a poster in my room!
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- jsilence 6y ago
  Yes, this! There is one musician on YT who said that he is simply doodling away on his groovebox frequently and that more than 90 percent of the results are shitty. But from those ideas that are somewhat decent he develops his music.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- nicbou 6y ago
  That's good advice. Before you learn how to make a dish, you must learn various ways to ruin a dish. You can read all the books in the world, but only dozens of bad omelettes will teach you how to make a good one.

ChrisMarshallNY 6y ago

I read the article, but started to get a bit disappointed, when it got to competing and advancing one's career/impact. It espouses a different motivation from the one that drives me. I'm not against these. After all, it's why most folks get into whatever they are doing. We all need to keep a roof over our heads, and food on the table. We also want to feel good about what we do. It's just not why I do what I do. I do what I do, directly as a love of the craft, and all my work is an act of creation. I get up early every morning, and walk a couple of miles. It's usually dark, when I do, and I use the time to sort through what I'll be doing that day. A lot of that "sorting" is a moral and motivational inventory. I figure out what I want to do, and also why I want to do it. If I can't come up with a compelling why, then I have to reconsider the what. I do enjoy writing. I've done a lot of it[0], and will do more. I don't have a schedule for writing prose. I tend to churn something out once a month or so, but I will sometimes do a couple of articles in fairly quick succession. I do them for myself. It's nice if people read them, but they really help me to clarify what and why I do, as well as how. Like everything else I do, I apply a lot of polish and refinement; even if I am the only person that will ever read it. One of my habits, is that everything I do, I do as "ship." When even my casual throwaway experiments consist of a level of quality not seen in many large-scale industrial apps, then the stuff I'm serious about, is likely to be fairly robust. The one daily thing that I like to do, is write code every day. Not just LeetCode (in fact, I never practice that stuff). I like to write "keeper" code, every day, 366 days a year. Of course, I'm not able to actually get that done every day, but I get most days done. My GH Activity Graph is pretty much solid green[1]. I've been at this game a while, and a lot of what I do is almost "instinctual." Basically, "muscle memory." When I'm working on a a project, I don't whip out my GoF Design Patterns book, and figure out which of the Basic Patterns I'll be using, or my copy of Rapid Development, to set out a project plan; I just start writing an OBSERVER or ADAPTER, without bothering to call it that. In fact, the only reason that I tend to use industry jargon, is when I'm trying to leave a trail of breadcrumbs for maintainers. Otherwise, I often make up my own terminology. I'm a bit "on the spectrum," and tend to live in my own world. It can be a massively productive world, but is insular. When I write -especially about how I do stuff, it often forces me to get out of "muscle memory," and into the same world everyone else lives in. I have to explain what I do to an audience that is larger than just myself. So, it's great if people like what I write, but it really doesn't matter that much (at, least, to me). [0] https://littlegreenviper.com/miscellany/ https://littlegreenviper.com/miscellany/ [1] https://github.com/ChrisMarshallNY#github-stuff https://github.com/ChrisMarshallNY#github-stuff

powersnail 6y ago

I've found that counter-intuitively, the best way to get over the hurdle of creating is to learn it seriously, at least for a while, to get over the beginner period. And not just just hobbies of creation, but also sports. It takes a beginner significantly more energy to enjoy an activity, but once you are proficient in the basics (like keyboard playing for improvisation) the mental barrier is much lower, and you are more likely to just jump into it and enjoy yourself. My father liked badminton, but was never good, and rarely played. Then, at some point in his busy life, he scheduled a lesson once a week, for two months. It made such a dramatic change; he started to play weekly, even after the lesson ended, and each time with rejoicing and cheerfulness. I've seen the same pattern on myself and my friends as well, in both arts and sports. So, I'd say if you think there's something you might enjoy doing often, schedule some time to study it (again, doesn't have to be long). Get better and get happier.

nonbirithm 6y ago
Same. I have found that I'm usually only interested in doing things I'm already good at, and cannot do well attempting to be an autodidact. The obligation of setting up and getting to an appointment on time means you have no choice but to have someone experienced see you work, and no choice but to have them guide you. If I am given a choice, as in left to my own devices without any other person to force or obligate me to keep going, I will usually end up stopping. My biggest problem is either not being able to tell if I have actually made any progress, or have made too little progress over too long a period of time. It seems to be accepted that if you put in a lot of effort then you'll get better, but they never mention how much better. I don't see the point in getting to point X in 10 years when being smarter about my resources would have gotten me to point X in 3 years, if getting there faster means getting to the point where I actually start enjoying it faster. Time is precious and non-renewable. Some forms of practice are simply better than others, and I believe that I can't always figure them out entirely alone.
watwut 6y ago
I had opposite experience. I always tender to take things seriously and felt like doing them just bit is wrong or weak and "unserious". Result was that I stopped those activities soon, because they were draining. Meanwhile, people who just unseriously dabbled in them, tender to learn and get habits. They were not drained by them and had fun.