6 ms·

From TFA: > I knew I was spending quite a lot of it on social media, but I wasn't sure how much exactly. I also knew I was working quite a lot and wanted to qu

From TFA: > I knew I was spending quite a lot of it on social media, but I wasn't sure how much exactly. I also knew I was working quite a lot and wanted to quantify exactly how much (spoiler alert: not that much). I hoped that keeping track of what I do would help me to identify chunks of time that were being wasted and to turn them into quality time. Tracking time doesn't inherently have to be to optimize for "making someone else rich"; she specifically did this with the goal of spending more time on things that "really matter".

Draiken 6y ago
But I never said tracking time inherently does that. I agree with you. It's a great way to put things in perspective. It's just my personal experience that the majority of time we label as "productive" is in fact productivity for the sake of someone else profiting on top of it. I have nothing against the OP or the article.
- dasil003 6y ago
  Most people work for someone else, the productivity is a for a paycheck. But secondarily you are also learning skills which can either propel you up a career ladder or give you the basics to start your own business. Sour grapes over how much profit shareholders are getting does not serve ones own interests—either start your own business or maximize your own salary/billable rate in the labor marketplace, but don’t cut off your nose to spite your face by focusing on how much profit-sharing you are not getting in one particular situation.
  - toiletfuneral 6y ago
    This is a myth and you should be ashamed for believing it. Please go spend time with the rich, you’ll see they’re dumb as shit and the laziest people on earth. But yeah, keep kissing their ass, maybe they’ll let you in the club
- mcjkrw 6y ago
  Sometimes it's just more pleasant to focus on the work, even if it's boring and we are doing it for someone else. We have to spend the time anyway, we could spend it by being alert, or distracted and drifting off. Being alert feels good and there is some satisfaction from the work being done. Being distracted is mentally draining. Also, it's not only the stake holder that is profiting from the work, it's society as a whole - we all depend on this work.
dqv 6y ago
As a side note... what does TFA mean? I've seen it a few times here. Does it mean "the f*cking article"?
- DrJid 6y ago
  I thought it meant Thanks For Asking - But I was wrong.
- koolba 6y ago
  If you’re being pleasant, it’s “the fine article”. If you’re feeling cheeky, you can pick your own 7 letter word that starts with an “F”.
- tanujraghav 6y ago
  I think it means "The Featured Article".
  - monster_group 6y ago
    I always interpreted as "The Full Article" (as opposed to just the title).
    - test1235 6y ago
      I like this one ... I've always thought 'the fcking article' to be really passive aggressive.
- kevincrane 6y ago
  Yep, you got it right. It used to come from "RTFA" (read the fucking article) years ago when people would ask questions in the comments that were clearly answered in the article, then eventually morphed to include FTFA (from the article) and just TFA. Edit: just googled this to see if I was giving you wrong info also, and it looks like it came out of RTFM (read the fucking manual) for people in early Unix communities too.
gcc_programmer 6y ago
It's a she ;)
theli0nheart 6y ago
> he specifically did this You got the wrong pronoun. "One gal's quest to optimise her life" is the blog's subtitle.
- OJFord 6y ago
  Are we even allowed to assume 'gal's 'use she/her pronouns' though? More seriously, I never had a problem using 'they' for gender unknown, indeed it was normal and what I was taught in school, and then it suddenly seemed to be he vs. her with 'they' as some weird third thing even fewer people 'identify' as. For centuries we've happily referred to an unspecified person 'with they/them pronouns'.
  - sopp 6y ago
    It seems like its still safe to refer to someone of gender unknown as "they/them". It actually normalises the use of those pronouns which makes it simpler for people iddntifying as non-binary too.
    - OJFord 6y ago
      I don't mean that it's unsafe, just that it's somehow become controversial or at least less usual, people laboriously writing 'he or she' where I'm sure they wouldn't have ten years ago; 'they' isn't a modern invention it was always fine, and I suppose for the modern world is more inclusive than 'he or she' anyway!
  - pgcj_poster 6y ago
    > Are we even allowed to assume 'gal's 'use she/her pronouns' though? Fortunately we don't have to, because what she wrote was "One gal's quest to optimise her life."
  - Der_Einzige 6y ago
    I have met people who are queer and don't like being refered to with "they/them" because they view these words as totalizing. A lot of trans people have a lot of disliking for cis gay men and call their own poor practices"homonormativity". As a result, they balk at being included as "queer" or even at the existence of terms like "LGBT" as they don't feel solidarity with CIS gay or bisexual men. Many of these queers embrace and demand recognition of their unique pronouns. If they prefer xe/xem, you may get an earful for saying "they/them".
DecayingOrganic 6y ago
I'll raise my head above the parapet and admit that I don't get it. How about just scheduling things? If you want to spend more time on things that matter, just pick a date and time, and get going. That said, perhaps the alluring part was gathering data on one's self.
- renewiltord 6y ago
  Because Akrasia. I currently am supposed to be doing other things but I am spending it on HN.
  - dundercoder 6y ago
    akrasia akrasia /əˈkreɪzɪə , əˈkrasɪə / (also acrasia) ▸ noun [mass noun] mainly Philosophy the state of mind in which someone acts against their better judgement through weakness of will. – ORIGIN early 19th century : from Greek, from a- ‘without’ + kratos ‘power, strength’. The term is used especially with reference to Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics.
    - jader201 6y ago
      So basically procrastination. Not exactly the same, but the same sentiment.
      - renewiltord 6y ago
        Procrastination would be one such behaviour, certainly. An example of a non-procrastinating behaviour that is an example of akrasia is poor diet adherence: I know that I will be healthier not eating this pint of ice-cream, but I do so nonetheless.
  - mcjkrw 6y ago
    How about scheduling consistent time for work and then at the end of the day, logging whether the work session was 100% focus on the task or if there was any distraction. Then you can see how many days in the month were focused, how much were distracted and if you care about it enough, you could set a goal that 95% of the sessions in a month should be distraction-free and keep working towards that.

Draiken 6y ago

But I never said tracking time inherently does that. I agree with you. It's a great way to put things in perspective. It's just my personal experience that the majority of time we label as "productive" is in fact productivity for the sake of someone else profiting on top of it. I have nothing against the OP or the article.

dasil003 6y ago
Most people work for someone else, the productivity is a for a paycheck. But secondarily you are also learning skills which can either propel you up a career ladder or give you the basics to start your own business. Sour grapes over how much profit shareholders are getting does not serve ones own interests—either start your own business or maximize your own salary/billable rate in the labor marketplace, but don’t cut off your nose to spite your face by focusing on how much profit-sharing you are not getting in one particular situation.
- toiletfuneral 6y ago
  This is a myth and you should be ashamed for believing it. Please go spend time with the rich, you’ll see they’re dumb as shit and the laziest people on earth. But yeah, keep kissing their ass, maybe they’ll let you in the club
mcjkrw 6y ago
Sometimes it's just more pleasant to focus on the work, even if it's boring and we are doing it for someone else. We have to spend the time anyway, we could spend it by being alert, or distracted and drifting off. Being alert feels good and there is some satisfaction from the work being done. Being distracted is mentally draining. Also, it's not only the stake holder that is profiting from the work, it's society as a whole - we all depend on this work.

dqv 6y ago

As a side note... what does TFA mean? I've seen it a few times here. Does it mean "the f*cking article"?

DrJid 6y ago
I thought it meant Thanks For Asking - But I was wrong.
koolba 6y ago
If you’re being pleasant, it’s “the fine article”. If you’re feeling cheeky, you can pick your own 7 letter word that starts with an “F”.
tanujraghav 6y ago
I think it means "The Featured Article".
- monster_group 6y ago
  I always interpreted as "The Full Article" (as opposed to just the title).
  - test1235 6y ago
    I like this one ... I've always thought 'the fcking article' to be really passive aggressive.
kevincrane 6y ago
Yep, you got it right. It used to come from "RTFA" (read the fucking article) years ago when people would ask questions in the comments that were clearly answered in the article, then eventually morphed to include FTFA (from the article) and just TFA. Edit: just googled this to see if I was giving you wrong info also, and it looks like it came out of RTFM (read the fucking manual) for people in early Unix communities too.

gcc_programmer 6y ago

It's a she ;)

theli0nheart 6y ago

> he specifically did this You got the wrong pronoun. "One gal's quest to optimise her life" is the blog's subtitle.

OJFord 6y ago
Are we even allowed to assume 'gal's 'use she/her pronouns' though? More seriously, I never had a problem using 'they' for gender unknown, indeed it was normal and what I was taught in school, and then it suddenly seemed to be he vs. her with 'they' as some weird third thing even fewer people 'identify' as. For centuries we've happily referred to an unspecified person 'with they/them pronouns'.
- sopp 6y ago
  It seems like its still safe to refer to someone of gender unknown as "they/them". It actually normalises the use of those pronouns which makes it simpler for people iddntifying as non-binary too.
  - OJFord 6y ago
    I don't mean that it's unsafe, just that it's somehow become controversial or at least less usual, people laboriously writing 'he or she' where I'm sure they wouldn't have ten years ago; 'they' isn't a modern invention it was always fine, and I suppose for the modern world is more inclusive than 'he or she' anyway!
- pgcj_poster 6y ago
  > Are we even allowed to assume 'gal's 'use she/her pronouns' though? Fortunately we don't have to, because what she wrote was "One gal's quest to optimise her life."
- Der_Einzige 6y ago
  I have met people who are queer and don't like being refered to with "they/them" because they view these words as totalizing. A lot of trans people have a lot of disliking for cis gay men and call their own poor practices"homonormativity". As a result, they balk at being included as "queer" or even at the existence of terms like "LGBT" as they don't feel solidarity with CIS gay or bisexual men. Many of these queers embrace and demand recognition of their unique pronouns. If they prefer xe/xem, you may get an earful for saying "they/them".

DecayingOrganic 6y ago

I'll raise my head above the parapet and admit that I don't get it. How about just scheduling things? If you want to spend more time on things that matter, just pick a date and time, and get going. That said, perhaps the alluring part was gathering data on one's self.

renewiltord 6y ago
Because Akrasia. I currently am supposed to be doing other things but I am spending it on HN.
- dundercoder 6y ago
  akrasia akrasia /əˈkreɪzɪə , əˈkrasɪə / (also acrasia) ▸ noun [mass noun] mainly Philosophy the state of mind in which someone acts against their better judgement through weakness of will. – ORIGIN early 19th century : from Greek, from a- ‘without’ + kratos ‘power, strength’. The term is used especially with reference to Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics.
  - jader201 6y ago
    So basically procrastination. Not exactly the same, but the same sentiment.
    - renewiltord 6y ago
      Procrastination would be one such behaviour, certainly. An example of a non-procrastinating behaviour that is an example of akrasia is poor diet adherence: I know that I will be healthier not eating this pint of ice-cream, but I do so nonetheless.
- mcjkrw 6y ago
  How about scheduling consistent time for work and then at the end of the day, logging whether the work session was 100% focus on the task or if there was any distraction. Then you can see how many days in the month were focused, how much were distracted and if you care about it enough, you could set a goal that 95% of the sessions in a month should be distraction-free and keep working towards that.