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Stop stealing
- orib 18y agoLet me be the first to say "WTF is this guy rambling about?" He doesn't seem to be talking about piracy... he seems to be talking about instant messaging. Mental breaks from the work we're doing. Not sitting and watching compiles scroll up the screen. Not sitting blank-faced and burned out. So... theft? Huh? Maybe I need more caffeine, but you can color me confused.
- webwright 18y agoHe's talking about the fact that independent workers (MicroISVs, startups, freelancers, web workers, etc) are, unlike normal salaried workers, are stealing from ourselves when we goof off a lot. Needless self distraction is like stealing money from yourself. On the salary side of the fence, you're increasingly seeing people who are tasked with a fixed list of stuff to do rather than punching a clock for an even 40 hours a week. In this setting, needless self-distraction is like stealing free time from yourself. Of course, the definition of "needless self distraction" is sticky. But no matter how you define it, you probably do it too much (and so do I!).
- helveticaman 18y agoIf you are wondering whether you should read this, keep in mind it's not about piracy. It is interesting and worth the read. I felt weird reading this--I caught myself red-handed, surfing away because I didn't feel like going to bed. I was stealing from myself alright. I hadn't felt that weird since I saw a 3D rendering of a brain and realized I was looking at myself.
- Tichy 18y agoThis reminds me a bit of the time thieves in the book "Momo". On the one hand he has a point, on the other hand, having no idle time is probably bad, too.
- swombat 18y agoMy Dad has this expression that he repeated to me over and over when I was younger and I was wasting my time playing games, watching dumb shows on TV, etc. He called it the "brain-hours", and said you only have a limited number of those in your life, and what you choose to spend them on determines your life.
- jrockway 18y agoHe called it the "brain-hours", and said you only have a limited number of those in your life Exactly. That's why it's not a waste of time to watch TV, read forums, and play video games. The number of "brain hours" per day is less than the number of hours your're going to be awake. You have to fill that time with something; Twitter is just as good as anything. Now if you're feeling creative, productive, and wide-awake, it would be a shame to waste those hours on something not creative. Which is why I am closing this window right now. There are a few libraries I want to write before the end of today :)
- swombat 18y agoAn interesting side-note... my own observation this time - I've noticed that the more time you spend creative, productive and wide-awake, the more your daily supply of brain-hours expands.
- jrockway 18y agoYes, I agree. I can easily be sleepy all day if I don't make an effort to do something productive.
- Prrometheus 18y agoIf there were a way I could change my behavior, I would. But, like an addict, I am stuck in my ways despite the best of intentions. These articles never help. I know the problem. I just wish I had a solution.
- ajross 18y agoThat kind of justification behavior ("I can't change") is a classic symptom of addiction, actually. So clearly you're right. The solution is to work on changing it.
- wheels 18y agoWorking on it is important, but learning to work with it I find more valuable. If you still suck at something in your mid-20s, chances are you're stuck with it. Find work arounds. Like so many of the pseudo-self-help articles popping up here lately, this seems to get the chain of causality backwards -- people don't goof off because they're founding startups; goof-offs tend to make good to be good startup founders. The link between impatience, hyperactivity and entrepreneurship is no coincidence.
- Prrometheus 18y agoI've been working on it for 7 years.
- brlewis 18y agohttp://ourdoings.com/ourdoings-startup/2008-07-29 http://ourdoings.com/ourdoings-startup/2008-07-29
- kirubakaran 18y agoFrom your post: "As noted in the teachings of Paul Graham and Jesus" Found it funny :-)
- brlewis 18y agoGood. My biggest beef with the "YC is a cult" story is that it didn't even try to be funny. He could have at least made some kind of photoshopped illustration using pg's head.
- endlessvoid94 18y agoSo we should work harder and be distracted less. But YC is a cult (heh). We should WORK less, according to the top link on HN. o_0
- wynand 18y agoI am not sure I like his line of reasoning. I have a manic depressive friend who starts overly intense reform missions from time to time (to correct all the perceived flaws in his life). The tone of this article reminds me of this friend. Yes, a lot of us slack off quite a bit, but Bertrand Russell rightly pointed out in "The Conquest of Happiness" that one needs to be able to enjoy idleness to be happy (and what point, pray tell, is there to life if you cannot be happy?). This should not be a justification for too much idleness, which is an evil of the same degree as the puritan anti-idleness espoused in the posted item.
- dandelany 18y agoWhen I do this at home, I'm stealing from myself. And it feels terrible. When I do this during the day, I'm stealing from ------ Inc., and it doesn't feel nearly as bad!
- Chocobean 18y agowait till ----- Inc. finds out. =D Then you can feel terrible full time!