9 ms·

You have only so much time – are you using it right?

78 points by lxm 4y ago

pneumatic1 4y ago
Memento mori
wobblyasp 4y ago
Ah yes, one more thing to have existential dread about. Spend your time how you want. Time is never wasted. If you don't want to do something, and you have no good reason to do it (friends, family, etc.), don't. As the article states, you only have so much time. Stop trying to figure out how to optimize it, and live it.
- dangus 4y ago
  I like to use this phrase: it is okay to just enjoy existing. You don't have to hike up a mountain, see the world, turn off that TV show you like, or even skip out on unhealthy stuff like going to the bar or eating that piece of cake you shouldn't have (in moderation) to live an enjoyable, fulfilling life. If what you're doing right now is enjoyable, that's enough.
  - someguydave 4y ago
    In Colorado many mountains are super crowded and no longer peaceful respites.
    - mckirk 4y ago
  - SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
    Yeah, we're not here for any purpose, so just do what makes you and those around you happy. Combine that with a reasonable amount of what'll keep you around longer so you can continue to enjoy things and you're doing just fine.
    - dQw4w9WgXcQ 4y ago
      > Yeah, we're not here for any purpose We're not? How'd you figure that one out with 100% certainty?
      - SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
        Of course I don't know that with 100% certainty, but because I have no evidence of any purpose and I assume that things aren't true until proven otherwise. At best said purpose is optional or it would require equal opportunity to come upon the explanation from every person who has and who will be in existence. If said purpose is hidden without even a hint that you're supposed to find it I consider that malicious obfuscation.
        dQw4w9WgXcQ 4y ago
        > I assume that things aren't true until proven otherwise Except for your own statements of fact, of course.
        SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
        When I have two options that either something exists or something doesn't and I have no strong evidence I assume it doesn't. Do you have evidence? If you have faith or belief that's fine, but I need a reason to change mine from the default option.
        dQw4w9WgXcQ 4y ago
        > something exists or something doesn't and I have no strong evidence I assume it doesn't Sure, and Louis Pasteur was initially a crank for claiming that invisible micro-organisms were causing infection and disease. Absence of perception does not rationally conclude something is therefore absent. > I need a reason to change mine from the default option. The default option is faith/belief. You don't have "strong evidence" each day that the sky will be the same color, the sun will come up, your dining room chair will still hold your weight, your best friend still loves and cares for you, and that your car will likely start. A large majority of your life behavior cruises along quite happily on faith/belief. Or do you start every day re-checking all the proofs of the physical world before you can do anything?
  - molsongolden 4y ago
    “Sometimes you need to be a human being, not a human doing.”
  - swader999 4y ago
    Is it enjoyable or are you just stuck inside a dopamine loop?
- Swizec 4y ago
  > Spend your time how you want. Time is never wasted. What about time spent on social media like hacker news that I subjectively feel was wasted? Usually thanks to a combination of being tired and feeling like I can’t muster anything else. But literally staring at a blank wall for 5 minutes would be more restful (some call that meditation) It is very easy these days to be always busy without making progress towards anything other than keeping busy. And just like junk food, it rarely feels like the best choice in retrospect. Very easy to make in the moment without even enjoying it all that much while it’s happening
  - soco 4y ago
    Why do you feel like you have to progress towards something? You enjoy time on HN yet comes this guilt telling you it was wasted - because a certain school of thought regards anything not "progressing" as waste. Some say that started with capitalism, others say it started from the protestants, but you're definitely not the first or only one living with this guilt of "wasting". Because any pleasure is waste, according to that school of thought.
    - waynesonfire 4y ago
      that sounds all good but your analysis is incomplete unless you address this little idea called addiction.
    - wollsmoth 4y ago
      I feel like time on hn is actually less wasted than time on other social media platforms. TikTok being the big one. Time flies and suddenly it's late and there are a dozen 10s song clips stuck in my head. oof.
    - Swizec 4y ago
      > You enjoy time on HN That’s what I was trying to convey. I don’t enjoy time on HN as much as I would enjoy other activities that happen to have a slightly higher activation energy. For example: I would almost certainly enjoy grabbing dinner with a friend more than I enjoy HN. But opening HN is waaaaay easier than calling up a friend. So that’s what happens instead.
- april_22 4y ago
  I really like the idea of optimistic nihilism in regards to mortality and how we should spent our time while we are here. I can highly recommend reading about it: https://you.com/search?q=optimistic+nihilism https://you.com/search?q=optimistic+nihilism
- doix 4y ago
  > Spend your time how you want. Time is never wasted. If you don't want to do something, and you have no good reason to do it (friends, family, etc.), don't. Yes! I try to optimize for doing as little things I don't enjoy as possible. If I feel like spending 10 hours watching some Netflix show all weekend, I consider that a perfectly good use of my time. On the other hand, things like cleaning/cooking/shopping, I consider them a waste of time and try to spend as little time doing them as humanly possible.
- slothtrop 4y ago
  > Stop trying to figure out how to optimize it, and live it. Argument could then be made that we are living it regardless of what we do. Including optimizing. I take the point about being stuck in analysis-mode and self-doubt, though I think the fear it addresses is less-so FOMO and more-so living with or without needless suffering or drudgery. Paradoxically I think a bit of suffering is part of living well, e.g. suffering for a passion-project, or cause. A certain strange book that deals with desire had made waves this past year in navel-gaze-y rationalist-adjacent circles, I think this overlaps. The author posits that we don't have real desires. Instead we make up surrogate reasons and social permission structures to get things done. And if we have desires, they're surrogate desires anyway. It's called "Sadly, Porn" - with the allusion being we're living a pornographic life. Personally I think it's fun and interesting, but I've seen reactions ranging between "banal", "amazing", "disturbing", "pomo nonsense" I think this is why habit-creation is so powerful. We all have habits, whether they are good or bad - they lower cognitive overload so you can act without rationalizing everything. The way a habit can relate to desire can be completely abstract, but if we follow through they can be fruitful.
- Konohamaru 4y ago
  Middle ground approach: doing a little is better than doing nothing. Instead of focusing on being a perfect manager of time, ask yourself "is there one little thing I can do to use my time more effectively?" Spending just 100 words writing a novel might be for you. You might even leave behind something.
egypturnash 4y ago
Betteridge's Law Of Headlines would say this article probably comes down on "no". Neither of my attempts to get past the paywall worked so I'm just gonna assume that holds true. I probably make less money than the median HN commenter but "keeping up with my bills by spending 2-3h a day drawing things for Patreon and commissioners while biking around a tourist destination's parks and cafes" sure feels like using my time right. I could probably stand to be dancing to a lot more live music though.
- dangus 4y ago
  At this point I have to give out demerits to highly intelligent technical people who can't figure out how to bypass a paywall. Literally just google "bypass paywalls," the first result works like a charm.
  - egypturnash 4y ago
    Have a demerit in return for not realizing that if I am sitting here browsing HN, I am already being super lazy and maybe don't care enough about this article to bother looking further than the first two paywall bypass methods that come to mind
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
  - alpaca128 4y ago
    Not everyone wants to spend time solving pointless puzzles to be told whether they are spending their time the right way.
  - rootusrootus 4y ago
    A paywall is just someone else's way of telling me they don't want me to read their content. I accept that, and move on.
- waynesonfire 4y ago
  You'll use your time better if you'll work more to buy more things made it China. Preferably plastic.
eljimmy 4y ago
Paywalled so I can't read the article but I'll throw in some related thoughts. I recall listening to the radio and hearing about the ways in which we view time can sometimes alter how we use it. A man was asked how many years he thinks he has left to spend with his parents and he said something along the lines of 10 years. He was then asked how many times a year he spends with his parents and I think he said around 3-4 or so get-togethers. So at that rate, you only have 30-40 get-togethers left with your family. Which really changed the man's perspective on how much time he really had left based on how he was using it. Just some food for thought on how we use time with others.
achow 4y ago
Personal opinion and I realize that there would be absolute opposite school of thought as reflected in the article, nevertheless.. This obsession and tension about the time 'left' I don't get it. As an example, sometimes I'm worried about very long life ahead for which I don't have enough savings to navigate in old age. When in misery (ex. out of job, out of long relationship, lonely.. etc) time stretches really long. But when ecstatic and happy, the past (unhappy) time doesn't really matter how much ever long it was. Time really does not matter.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
  - ramesh31 4y ago
    So is everyone else. The only difference is that we're honest in talking about the reality of it, rather than waiving it away with wishful thinking.
    - chitowneats 4y ago
      True faith is quite common among humanity. Removing existential dread is one of the core benefits that led to the adoption of this "religion" technology all over the world. You can argue it's cope but for many people it's as real as gravity.
      - nonameiguess 4y ago
        Maybe, maybe not, but I'd question some blanket assertion being made without evidence that deeply religious people experience less existential dread. It's going to depend on plenty of other cultural specifics, of course, but not all religions involve an afterlife and some involve the possibility of an afterlife that is much worse than simply running out of time. There is also the issue that common western manifestations of existential dread, i.e. the Nietzshe eternal return, Sartre's dilemma of having no choice but to make a choice but all of them are bad, even up to the contemporary worries about near-infinite compounding of sub-optimal ethics in far-future focused EA circles and AI-risk circles, are not in any way mitigated by the possibility of an afterlife. All the trillions of future people you cause suffering to will still suffer even if you end up in heaven.
ramesh31 4y ago
I can't take the opinion of anyone who continues to use social media in 2022 seriously. You are either deluded or naive, and I have no interest in hearing from either.
- __MatrixMan__ 4y ago
  Is this comment section not a social medium? Or are you saying you don't take your own opinions seriously?
  - ramesh31 4y ago
    >Is this comment section not a social medium? Or are you saying you don't take your own opinions seriously? Directly engaging with people on a forum is not even remotely the same thing. The danger is in the algorithmic mind control that social media employs. It is subtle, dangerous, and highly effective at providing alternate realities tailored to the individual. Allowing your mind to be exposed to that is fatally naive, and has lead to the nightmare world of manufactured outrage that we now live in.
    - kwhitefoot 4y ago
      Sounds like a no true Scotsman argument.
- kraftman 4y ago
  Could you elaborate on why?
- Jerrrry 4y ago
  I bet the feeling is mutual - we are social animals, and we are in an impasse of the human condition and technological advancement.
- slothtrop 4y ago
  You're on social media right now.
- formerkrogemp 4y ago
morninglight 4y ago
Y
- speedylight 4y ago
  That’s where the real madness is!
morninglight 4y ago
You have a very short time in this universe, but in the multiverse . . . .
Abazhenov 4y ago
Paywall Mirror: https://archive.ph/fThXR https://archive.ph/fThXR
anarticle 4y ago
The Hero's Journey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfBZXIn_Zrw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfBZXIn_Zrw Your adventure is your own.
mrkramer 4y ago
>You Have Only So Much Time. Are You Using It Right? No. Time is illusion; nobody can take you or give you time.
- kwhitefoot 4y ago
  People can't take your time away for their own use but they can easily deny you the use of your own time.
blakesterz 4y ago
This is the quote that resonated with me: “Part of it is, my body is working right now and who knows if it will be in a year or two,” he says. “I’m more deliberate and determined when it comes to things like that.” I'm at that age where I know things are getting more brittle. Trying to care of things a bit more so I can still do things like walk and ride my bike.
mehagar 4y ago
"Right" implies there is some objective authority who could tell you whether you are using your time the correct way or not. Thinking about spending time this way leads me to feel guilty (I'm not spending it the right way!). The question I ask myself is "what do I want?". It is a tough question. I consider my present and future needs, as well as how I feel. When I have thought about my answer, then it becomes clearer how I want to spend my time.
- hombre_fatal 4y ago
  I think a good summary is to maximize fulfillment.
rootusrootus 4y ago
Dead people have no regrets. Worry about enjoying it now.
kruuuder 4y ago
To everyone who feels pressured after reading that headline, I strongly recommend reading the book "Four Thousand Weeks" by Oliver Burkeman. For me, personally, it's the single most important book that I have ever read, by far. It has immediately improved my quality of life, simply by changing perspectives.
failrate 4y ago
I used to agonize over the best use of my time to the degree that I ended up doing nothing. Now, it is all ugly first drafts as fast as I can churn them out and then double down on the good ones.
- al_borland 4y ago
  What led to this shift?
  - failrate 4y ago
    I don't really know.
sleepdreamy 4y ago
It doesn't matter. Be happy. In 200 years no-one will know you existed
- DesiLurker 4y ago
  true but the after effects of your drive to seek 'happiness' would still be around. for instance if we trash the planet looking for that last bit of dopamine hit and kill off all biodiversity because of industrial farming then sure they wont know YOU personally but they know you as a society and generation. Does not means one should not seek happiness but just within the bounds of whats supportable by the biosphere.
SantiAchi 4y ago
This seems like the proper place to plug my dumb little side project, an actuarial table calculator that I put together with Alpine.js and a lot of poorly written JS. It's my first "app" though, and I'm happy to share it here if anyone else can use it: https://timelefton.earth/ https://timelefton.earth/ I keep it in a pinned tab to help me recontextualize things when I'm stuck in a poorly functioning dopamine loop. If I'm doing something for leisure, I want to really like doing it, not do it as a holding pattern.
- neals 4y ago
  I love how you call it 'holding pattern', that really hits home for me. Playing stupid dopamine games, keeping me in a loop...
- doomroot 4y ago
  Love this! It would be amazing if you added a date query string so that you could share this link with a friend you think is wasting their time! :)
- kwhitefoot 4y ago
  I know it's just meant to be a bit of fun and a gentle reminder but life expectancy varies quite a lot depending on where one was born, grew up, what education and employment one had, even on where one lives now.
  - SantiAchi 4y ago
    Yes, also I have yet to find a node module for accurately predicting when people will die. Well, that's not entirely true. I found one but npm keeps failing to pull it.
- al_borland 4y ago
  Oof… this just told me I just crossed 50% of the way through my life. I am going to choose to reject this prediction.
  - 4y ago
DesiLurker 4y ago
this is why I plan to retire asap even if it means having to reduce expenses. lifestyle creep is a real thing.
2b3a51 4y ago
When I feel like sleeping, I sleep. When I feel like walking in the park, I walk. When I feel like eating Stilton cheese with some barbunya pilaki and a nice burgundy, I eat and drink. When I feel like logging into HN to upvote various posts, I log in. You get the idea. Nothing small like this basically matters. I'm well into my seventh decade and enjoying the ride, doing what I can to improve the situation but not getting too attached to stuff.
- jliptzin 4y ago
  I am half your age but I feel the same way. The sun is going to blow up one day anyway and no one really knows why we’re here in the first place. So, I’m going to enjoy my small slice of time any way I can.
- slothtrop 4y ago
  What we feel like, in the short-run / immediate sense, can be hijacked. Or come from discord. I can feel like never getting out of bed, getting a heroin fix, eating a pizza to myself with a case of beer, and repeating. I would also feel like shit, but those aren't mutually exclusive. I could also feel like hitting refresh on social media clients that make me anxious several times a day. I think that intuitive compass generally works, as you allude to, but not always. But as time passes, I don't think I "feel like" doing anything specific - what I feel like is getting a dopamine spike, blood flowing, social validation, feeling good. All of what we choose is just a vehicle.
- thaway2839 4y ago
  Part of the reason you can do that, though, is that based on your age, you spent most of your life living in a way where you were naturally active, just to get through the day. You likely did not grow up eating food that was manufactured to addict you to it. And you did not grow up on platforms that have scores of PHds trying to figure out how to get you, individually, addicted to their platform. IOW, your natural instincts largely worked because your environment supported a fairly high quality lifestyle. This is not close to true anymore. Our natural instincts and daily lives have been hijacked beyond recognition. With WFH, for example, people may go days without having walked beyond the distance it takes to go from their bed to their desk, or if they're lucky, from their bedroom to the home office.
Havoc 4y ago
Mostly using it to stare at spreadsheets so I’m going to go with no
ninesnines 4y ago
I think oftentimes we get ourselves worked up about if we are using our time correctly. And there seems to be this shift where working too much is a bad thing. I kind of resent this a bit, because I constantly feel guilty for working too much. However, I am a young person in my twenties and I love my work -- at what other time am I going have the energy and time to devote to my craft and learning? Of course as you age, you have to adjust. However, I think worrying less about time left and time in general and focusing instead on what your priorities are is more important.
- al_borland 4y ago
  This is the time for you to work and setup your life. A few right moves now can set you up on a much easier path for the rest of your life and give you more freedom to take time off later. Freedom you might not have later if you don’t get things in order. That being said, don’t completely ignore other areas of life.
SenHeng 4y ago
I’m reminded of a Steve Jobs quote I found buried deep in some notes I was cleaning out. > Steve Jobs : "When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.""
- al_borland 4y ago
  This was from the commencement speech he gave at Sanford (starts at about 9:10). Not originally his quite, he was paraphrasing something he heard. Great speech, very worth watching for those who haven’t seen it. https://youtu.be/UF8uR6Z6KLc https://youtu.be/UF8uR6Z6KLc
- perilunar 4y ago
  Yeah, but on any particular day you only have a 1 in 20,000 or so chance of being right (and of course it varies with age).
kurupt213 4y ago
This realization hit me hard earlier this year.
sireat 4y ago
A fantastic anti thesis to the OP article is a recommendation I found here on HN: Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman Reading that book is just so calming - as Vonnegut said “I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different.”
- disgruntledphd2 4y ago
  Oliver Burkeman is quoted in the article, can you clarify how he's an antithesis to the OP?
reality_inspctr 4y ago
show HN: At Sundial, I'm building a product that manages your calendar as a whole-life time budget. I'd love to send demo accounts to anyone interested. https://twitter.com/sundialcalendar https://twitter.com/sundialcalendar https://twitter.com/seanmcdonaldxyz https://twitter.com/seanmcdonaldxyz

78 points by lxm 4y ago

Memento mori

Ah yes, one more thing to have existential dread about. Spend your time how you want. Time is never wasted. If you don't want to do something, and you have no good reason to do it (friends, family, etc.), don't. As the article states, you only have so much time. Stop trying to figure out how to optimize it, and live it.

dangus 4y ago
I like to use this phrase: it is okay to just enjoy existing. You don't have to hike up a mountain, see the world, turn off that TV show you like, or even skip out on unhealthy stuff like going to the bar or eating that piece of cake you shouldn't have (in moderation) to live an enjoyable, fulfilling life. If what you're doing right now is enjoyable, that's enough.
- someguydave 4y ago
  In Colorado many mountains are super crowded and no longer peaceful respites.
  - mckirk 4y ago
- SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
  Yeah, we're not here for any purpose, so just do what makes you and those around you happy. Combine that with a reasonable amount of what'll keep you around longer so you can continue to enjoy things and you're doing just fine.
  - dQw4w9WgXcQ 4y ago
    > Yeah, we're not here for any purpose We're not? How'd you figure that one out with 100% certainty?
    - SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
      Of course I don't know that with 100% certainty, but because I have no evidence of any purpose and I assume that things aren't true until proven otherwise. At best said purpose is optional or it would require equal opportunity to come upon the explanation from every person who has and who will be in existence. If said purpose is hidden without even a hint that you're supposed to find it I consider that malicious obfuscation.
      - dQw4w9WgXcQ 4y ago
        > I assume that things aren't true until proven otherwise Except for your own statements of fact, of course.
        SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
        When I have two options that either something exists or something doesn't and I have no strong evidence I assume it doesn't. Do you have evidence? If you have faith or belief that's fine, but I need a reason to change mine from the default option.
        dQw4w9WgXcQ 4y ago
        > something exists or something doesn't and I have no strong evidence I assume it doesn't Sure, and Louis Pasteur was initially a crank for claiming that invisible micro-organisms were causing infection and disease. Absence of perception does not rationally conclude something is therefore absent. > I need a reason to change mine from the default option. The default option is faith/belief. You don't have "strong evidence" each day that the sky will be the same color, the sun will come up, your dining room chair will still hold your weight, your best friend still loves and cares for you, and that your car will likely start. A large majority of your life behavior cruises along quite happily on faith/belief. Or do you start every day re-checking all the proofs of the physical world before you can do anything?
- molsongolden 4y ago
  “Sometimes you need to be a human being, not a human doing.”
- swader999 4y ago
  Is it enjoyable or are you just stuck inside a dopamine loop?
Swizec 4y ago
> Spend your time how you want. Time is never wasted. What about time spent on social media like hacker news that I subjectively feel was wasted? Usually thanks to a combination of being tired and feeling like I can’t muster anything else. But literally staring at a blank wall for 5 minutes would be more restful (some call that meditation) It is very easy these days to be always busy without making progress towards anything other than keeping busy. And just like junk food, it rarely feels like the best choice in retrospect. Very easy to make in the moment without even enjoying it all that much while it’s happening
- soco 4y ago
  Why do you feel like you have to progress towards something? You enjoy time on HN yet comes this guilt telling you it was wasted - because a certain school of thought regards anything not "progressing" as waste. Some say that started with capitalism, others say it started from the protestants, but you're definitely not the first or only one living with this guilt of "wasting". Because any pleasure is waste, according to that school of thought.
  - waynesonfire 4y ago
    that sounds all good but your analysis is incomplete unless you address this little idea called addiction.
  - wollsmoth 4y ago
    I feel like time on hn is actually less wasted than time on other social media platforms. TikTok being the big one. Time flies and suddenly it's late and there are a dozen 10s song clips stuck in my head. oof.
  - Swizec 4y ago
    > You enjoy time on HN That’s what I was trying to convey. I don’t enjoy time on HN as much as I would enjoy other activities that happen to have a slightly higher activation energy. For example: I would almost certainly enjoy grabbing dinner with a friend more than I enjoy HN. But opening HN is waaaaay easier than calling up a friend. So that’s what happens instead.
april_22 4y ago
I really like the idea of optimistic nihilism in regards to mortality and how we should spent our time while we are here. I can highly recommend reading about it: https://you.com/search?q=optimistic+nihilism https://you.com/search?q=optimistic+nihilism
doix 4y ago
> Spend your time how you want. Time is never wasted. If you don't want to do something, and you have no good reason to do it (friends, family, etc.), don't. Yes! I try to optimize for doing as little things I don't enjoy as possible. If I feel like spending 10 hours watching some Netflix show all weekend, I consider that a perfectly good use of my time. On the other hand, things like cleaning/cooking/shopping, I consider them a waste of time and try to spend as little time doing them as humanly possible.
slothtrop 4y ago
> Stop trying to figure out how to optimize it, and live it. Argument could then be made that we are living it regardless of what we do. Including optimizing. I take the point about being stuck in analysis-mode and self-doubt, though I think the fear it addresses is less-so FOMO and more-so living with or without needless suffering or drudgery. Paradoxically I think a bit of suffering is part of living well, e.g. suffering for a passion-project, or cause. A certain strange book that deals with desire had made waves this past year in navel-gaze-y rationalist-adjacent circles, I think this overlaps. The author posits that we don't have real desires. Instead we make up surrogate reasons and social permission structures to get things done. And if we have desires, they're surrogate desires anyway. It's called "Sadly, Porn" - with the allusion being we're living a pornographic life. Personally I think it's fun and interesting, but I've seen reactions ranging between "banal", "amazing", "disturbing", "pomo nonsense" I think this is why habit-creation is so powerful. We all have habits, whether they are good or bad - they lower cognitive overload so you can act without rationalizing everything. The way a habit can relate to desire can be completely abstract, but if we follow through they can be fruitful.
Konohamaru 4y ago
Middle ground approach: doing a little is better than doing nothing. Instead of focusing on being a perfect manager of time, ask yourself "is there one little thing I can do to use my time more effectively?" Spending just 100 words writing a novel might be for you. You might even leave behind something.

egypturnash 4y ago

Betteridge's Law Of Headlines would say this article probably comes down on "no". Neither of my attempts to get past the paywall worked so I'm just gonna assume that holds true. I probably make less money than the median HN commenter but "keeping up with my bills by spending 2-3h a day drawing things for Patreon and commissioners while biking around a tourist destination's parks and cafes" sure feels like using my time right. I could probably stand to be dancing to a lot more live music though.

dangus 4y ago
At this point I have to give out demerits to highly intelligent technical people who can't figure out how to bypass a paywall. Literally just google "bypass paywalls," the first result works like a charm.
- egypturnash 4y ago
  Have a demerit in return for not realizing that if I am sitting here browsing HN, I am already being super lazy and maybe don't care enough about this article to bother looking further than the first two paywall bypass methods that come to mind
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- alpaca128 4y ago
  Not everyone wants to spend time solving pointless puzzles to be told whether they are spending their time the right way.
- rootusrootus 4y ago
  A paywall is just someone else's way of telling me they don't want me to read their content. I accept that, and move on.
waynesonfire 4y ago
You'll use your time better if you'll work more to buy more things made it China. Preferably plastic.

eljimmy 4y ago

Paywalled so I can't read the article but I'll throw in some related thoughts. I recall listening to the radio and hearing about the ways in which we view time can sometimes alter how we use it. A man was asked how many years he thinks he has left to spend with his parents and he said something along the lines of 10 years. He was then asked how many times a year he spends with his parents and I think he said around 3-4 or so get-togethers. So at that rate, you only have 30-40 get-togethers left with your family. Which really changed the man's perspective on how much time he really had left based on how he was using it. Just some food for thought on how we use time with others.

achow 4y ago

Personal opinion and I realize that there would be absolute opposite school of thought as reflected in the article, nevertheless.. This obsession and tension about the time 'left' I don't get it. As an example, sometimes I'm worried about very long life ahead for which I don't have enough savings to navigate in old age. When in misery (ex. out of job, out of long relationship, lonely.. etc) time stretches really long. But when ecstatic and happy, the past (unhappy) time doesn't really matter how much ever long it was. Time really does not matter.

2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
- ramesh31 4y ago
  So is everyone else. The only difference is that we're honest in talking about the reality of it, rather than waiving it away with wishful thinking.
  - chitowneats 4y ago
    True faith is quite common among humanity. Removing existential dread is one of the core benefits that led to the adoption of this "religion" technology all over the world. You can argue it's cope but for many people it's as real as gravity.
    - nonameiguess 4y ago
      Maybe, maybe not, but I'd question some blanket assertion being made without evidence that deeply religious people experience less existential dread. It's going to depend on plenty of other cultural specifics, of course, but not all religions involve an afterlife and some involve the possibility of an afterlife that is much worse than simply running out of time. There is also the issue that common western manifestations of existential dread, i.e. the Nietzshe eternal return, Sartre's dilemma of having no choice but to make a choice but all of them are bad, even up to the contemporary worries about near-infinite compounding of sub-optimal ethics in far-future focused EA circles and AI-risk circles, are not in any way mitigated by the possibility of an afterlife. All the trillions of future people you cause suffering to will still suffer even if you end up in heaven.

ramesh31 4y ago

I can't take the opinion of anyone who continues to use social media in 2022 seriously. You are either deluded or naive, and I have no interest in hearing from either.

__MatrixMan__ 4y ago
Is this comment section not a social medium? Or are you saying you don't take your own opinions seriously?
- ramesh31 4y ago
  >Is this comment section not a social medium? Or are you saying you don't take your own opinions seriously? Directly engaging with people on a forum is not even remotely the same thing. The danger is in the algorithmic mind control that social media employs. It is subtle, dangerous, and highly effective at providing alternate realities tailored to the individual. Allowing your mind to be exposed to that is fatally naive, and has lead to the nightmare world of manufactured outrage that we now live in.
  - kwhitefoot 4y ago
    Sounds like a no true Scotsman argument.
kraftman 4y ago
Could you elaborate on why?
Jerrrry 4y ago
I bet the feeling is mutual - we are social animals, and we are in an impasse of the human condition and technological advancement.
slothtrop 4y ago
You're on social media right now.
formerkrogemp 4y ago

morninglight 4y ago

speedylight 4y ago
That’s where the real madness is!

morninglight 4y ago

You have a very short time in this universe, but in the multiverse . . . .

Abazhenov 4y ago

Paywall Mirror: https://archive.ph/fThXR https://archive.ph/fThXR

anarticle 4y ago

The Hero's Journey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfBZXIn_Zrw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfBZXIn_Zrw Your adventure is your own.

mrkramer 4y ago

>You Have Only So Much Time. Are You Using It Right? No. Time is illusion; nobody can take you or give you time.

kwhitefoot 4y ago
People can't take your time away for their own use but they can easily deny you the use of your own time.

blakesterz 4y ago

This is the quote that resonated with me: “Part of it is, my body is working right now and who knows if it will be in a year or two,” he says. “I’m more deliberate and determined when it comes to things like that.” I'm at that age where I know things are getting more brittle. Trying to care of things a bit more so I can still do things like walk and ride my bike.

mehagar 4y ago

"Right" implies there is some objective authority who could tell you whether you are using your time the correct way or not. Thinking about spending time this way leads me to feel guilty (I'm not spending it the right way!). The question I ask myself is "what do I want?". It is a tough question. I consider my present and future needs, as well as how I feel. When I have thought about my answer, then it becomes clearer how I want to spend my time.

hombre_fatal 4y ago
I think a good summary is to maximize fulfillment.

rootusrootus 4y ago

Dead people have no regrets. Worry about enjoying it now.

kruuuder 4y ago

To everyone who feels pressured after reading that headline, I strongly recommend reading the book "Four Thousand Weeks" by Oliver Burkeman. For me, personally, it's the single most important book that I have ever read, by far. It has immediately improved my quality of life, simply by changing perspectives.

failrate 4y ago

I used to agonize over the best use of my time to the degree that I ended up doing nothing. Now, it is all ugly first drafts as fast as I can churn them out and then double down on the good ones.

al_borland 4y ago
What led to this shift?
- failrate 4y ago
  I don't really know.

sleepdreamy 4y ago

It doesn't matter. Be happy. In 200 years no-one will know you existed

DesiLurker 4y ago
true but the after effects of your drive to seek 'happiness' would still be around. for instance if we trash the planet looking for that last bit of dopamine hit and kill off all biodiversity because of industrial farming then sure they wont know YOU personally but they know you as a society and generation. Does not means one should not seek happiness but just within the bounds of whats supportable by the biosphere.

SantiAchi 4y ago

This seems like the proper place to plug my dumb little side project, an actuarial table calculator that I put together with Alpine.js and a lot of poorly written JS. It's my first "app" though, and I'm happy to share it here if anyone else can use it: https://timelefton.earth/ https://timelefton.earth/ I keep it in a pinned tab to help me recontextualize things when I'm stuck in a poorly functioning dopamine loop. If I'm doing something for leisure, I want to really like doing it, not do it as a holding pattern.

neals 4y ago
I love how you call it 'holding pattern', that really hits home for me. Playing stupid dopamine games, keeping me in a loop...
doomroot 4y ago
Love this! It would be amazing if you added a date query string so that you could share this link with a friend you think is wasting their time! :)
kwhitefoot 4y ago
I know it's just meant to be a bit of fun and a gentle reminder but life expectancy varies quite a lot depending on where one was born, grew up, what education and employment one had, even on where one lives now.
- SantiAchi 4y ago
  Yes, also I have yet to find a node module for accurately predicting when people will die. Well, that's not entirely true. I found one but npm keeps failing to pull it.
al_borland 4y ago
Oof… this just told me I just crossed 50% of the way through my life. I am going to choose to reject this prediction.
- 4y ago

DesiLurker 4y ago

this is why I plan to retire asap even if it means having to reduce expenses. lifestyle creep is a real thing.

2b3a51 4y ago

When I feel like sleeping, I sleep. When I feel like walking in the park, I walk. When I feel like eating Stilton cheese with some barbunya pilaki and a nice burgundy, I eat and drink. When I feel like logging into HN to upvote various posts, I log in. You get the idea. Nothing small like this basically matters. I'm well into my seventh decade and enjoying the ride, doing what I can to improve the situation but not getting too attached to stuff.

jliptzin 4y ago
I am half your age but I feel the same way. The sun is going to blow up one day anyway and no one really knows why we’re here in the first place. So, I’m going to enjoy my small slice of time any way I can.
slothtrop 4y ago
What we feel like, in the short-run / immediate sense, can be hijacked. Or come from discord. I can feel like never getting out of bed, getting a heroin fix, eating a pizza to myself with a case of beer, and repeating. I would also feel like shit, but those aren't mutually exclusive. I could also feel like hitting refresh on social media clients that make me anxious several times a day. I think that intuitive compass generally works, as you allude to, but not always. But as time passes, I don't think I "feel like" doing anything specific - what I feel like is getting a dopamine spike, blood flowing, social validation, feeling good. All of what we choose is just a vehicle.
thaway2839 4y ago
Part of the reason you can do that, though, is that based on your age, you spent most of your life living in a way where you were naturally active, just to get through the day. You likely did not grow up eating food that was manufactured to addict you to it. And you did not grow up on platforms that have scores of PHds trying to figure out how to get you, individually, addicted to their platform. IOW, your natural instincts largely worked because your environment supported a fairly high quality lifestyle. This is not close to true anymore. Our natural instincts and daily lives have been hijacked beyond recognition. With WFH, for example, people may go days without having walked beyond the distance it takes to go from their bed to their desk, or if they're lucky, from their bedroom to the home office.

Havoc 4y ago

Mostly using it to stare at spreadsheets so I’m going to go with no

ninesnines 4y ago

I think oftentimes we get ourselves worked up about if we are using our time correctly. And there seems to be this shift where working too much is a bad thing. I kind of resent this a bit, because I constantly feel guilty for working too much. However, I am a young person in my twenties and I love my work -- at what other time am I going have the energy and time to devote to my craft and learning? Of course as you age, you have to adjust. However, I think worrying less about time left and time in general and focusing instead on what your priorities are is more important.

al_borland 4y ago
This is the time for you to work and setup your life. A few right moves now can set you up on a much easier path for the rest of your life and give you more freedom to take time off later. Freedom you might not have later if you don’t get things in order. That being said, don’t completely ignore other areas of life.

SenHeng 4y ago

I’m reminded of a Steve Jobs quote I found buried deep in some notes I was cleaning out. > Steve Jobs : "When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.""

al_borland 4y ago
This was from the commencement speech he gave at Sanford (starts at about 9:10). Not originally his quite, he was paraphrasing something he heard. Great speech, very worth watching for those who haven’t seen it. https://youtu.be/UF8uR6Z6KLc https://youtu.be/UF8uR6Z6KLc
perilunar 4y ago
Yeah, but on any particular day you only have a 1 in 20,000 or so chance of being right (and of course it varies with age).

kurupt213 4y ago

This realization hit me hard earlier this year.

sireat 4y ago

A fantastic anti thesis to the OP article is a recommendation I found here on HN: Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman Reading that book is just so calming - as Vonnegut said “I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different.”

disgruntledphd2 4y ago
Oliver Burkeman is quoted in the article, can you clarify how he's an antithesis to the OP?

reality_inspctr 4y ago

show HN: At Sundial, I'm building a product that manages your calendar as a whole-life time budget. I'd love to send demo accounts to anyone interested. https://twitter.com/sundialcalendar https://twitter.com/sundialcalendar https://twitter.com/seanmcdonaldxyz https://twitter.com/seanmcdonaldxyz