6 ms·

I really don't get any of those "be more productive", book, video, course and so on. Every single person I know just wastes their time with that. Usualy they

I really don't get any of those "be more productive", book, video, course and so on. Every single person I know just wastes their time with that. Usualy they work long hours and still don't get much done. But hey, they have Zettelkasten with things the never read. A to do list with stuff they never do. And they go out in the morning at 5 for jogging, while gulping down a liter of coffe or energy drinks which results in them being groggy the whole day. If you ever think you need to adhere to what is preached in any self improvement thing, just don't. Habe your shit in order, avoid working mor than 7 hours day and take your weekends and vacations seriously. Especially in IT nothing will get you further than being smartly lazy.

coliveira 4y ago
When I was just out of college I spent a couple of months reading that kind of literature. Then I started to realize that if I did everything they asked I wound't be myself anymore, I would be the image of an idealized "successful" person that these people write about. When I figured out that, I saw the whole think makes no sense.
nonethewiser 4y ago
But presumably there is valid info about being more productive. You claim to share such info in this very comment. It's a very specific subset of advice that you are identifying.
_the_inflator 4y ago
Who gets really rich if you follow the "Buy all your personal Guru's stuff"? "Buy a new course if you struggle with task X" is a simple mantra. The only way to boost productivity is to hire people. That's what these gurus usually do: hire stuff and let marketing (again: other people) spin it, like the single guy does all the work alone.
- verinus 4y ago
  and what do you need for that? right: money! problem is: it's so much easier to get rich if you have money already...
- bodge5000 4y ago
  Easily one of the best get rich quick schemes is to create some overly complicated workflow (doesn't need to actually work) to get rich quick, and sell that to people. I once had the idea to write a book about it where the first page just says "write this book" and then 500 blank pages
Joeri 4y ago
I used to devour this stuff in the beginning of my career, because I always felt like I was drowning in a job that was asking too much of me. Eventually though I got to a place where I no longer needed anymore of these tips. These productivity systems and life hacks are useful, so it is not bad to explore what is out there, but they are tools and tools are not useful unless they are set to a purpose. Also, it is easy to hit a point of diminishing returns, so in hindsight I kept looking after these life hacks for too long. Ultimately, for me (and everyone is different) it took an inversion of how I looked at time. Before I had a fixed set of things I wanted to cram into available time, and never felt like I managed this well. Realizing two things changed that: (a) work is effectively infinite and (b) the things worth doing or seeing exceed the capacity of a human life. This made me allocate my time differently: professionally I started radically prioritizing what I worked on and how I worked on it to dig up the most useful work from the infinite backlog (techniques: inbox zero, ooda loop, deliberate pauses for contemplation, job crafting). For my personal life I gave up on trying to keep up and spend my time doing things I enjoy, even if ultimately pointless (like reading HN), without feeling guilty to myself for the things not done. I also turned off notifications for almost everything, so I can choose what I spend time on instead of having it chosen for me by my masters in the cloud. Still, life has a way of getting in the way, so I’m trying to have a more mindful approach to life, accepting what happens instead of forcing it to be different. This is a work in progress.
- sudo_rm 4y ago
  > (a) work is effectively infinite and (b) the things worth doing or seeing exceed the capacity of a human life. These are some of the main ideas in the book 4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals. I think it is one of those rare self help books that are actually worth a read.
  - sawyna 4y ago
    This is a great self realisation. I started to stop working after 6. It's been a pretty hard change, but feels amazing.
- shudza 4y ago
lm28469 4y ago
> I really don't get any of those "be more productive", book, video, course and so on. They think that is they eat, sleep and think like Musk or Zuckerberg they'll get the same bank account. They spend time mimicking the by products of their lifestyle
doix 4y ago
> Especially in IT nothing will get you further than being smartly lazy. One day I'll finish my "self-help" book which is all about doing as little as possible and leaving everything until the last minute in case it resolves itself. Unfortunately, I listen to my own advise and will probably never finish the book.
- danielbln 4y ago
  We have AI now to take our laziness to the next level, so there you go (quoted text is AI generated) Write a blurb for a self-help book that is about doing as little as possible and leaving everything until the last minute in case it resolves itself, it's called "The JIT Productivity Method" > The JIT Productivity Method is a revolutionary new system for getting things done. It's the antithesis of the traditional "work hard now, play later" approach, and it's based on the simple principle of doing as little as possible and leaving everything until the last minute in case it resolves itself. Write a book review: > The JIT Productivity Method is an interesting new take on productivity. The author makes a compelling case for why doing less and leaving everything to the last minute can actually be more effective than the traditional approach of working hard now and playing later. The book is well-written and easy to follow, and the author's methods are definitely worth considering if you're looking for a new way to get things done. Write the first 5 paragraphs of the book: > The JIT Productivity Method is a revolutionary new system for getting things done. It's the antithesis of the traditional "work hard now, play later" approach, and it's based on the simple principle of doing as little as possible and leaving everything until the last minute in case it resolves itself. > The JIT Productivity Method is all about taking advantage of the fact that many things have a way of resolving themselves if you just give them a little time. Rather than working hard on something now and risking it not actually getting done, or worse, getting done poorly, the JIT approach suggests that you do as little as possible now and wait to see if the situation improves. > Of course, this isn't an approach that will work for everything. But the beauty of the JIT Productivity Method is that it's flexible. There are no hard and fast rules, and you can tailor the approach to fit your own unique situation. > If you're tired of the traditional productivity methods that always seem to fall short, then The JIT Productivity Method is definitely worth a read. It's a fresh, new take on productivity that just might help you get things done in a better, more effective way.
stingraycharles 4y ago
Being more productive rarely leads to a happy and fulfilled life. It’s often precisely those moments in life when I’m on my least productive, that I look back on as if I really lived. Of course, be mindful of your time, but learn how to use it wisely, rather than optimizing for “productivity” as observed by others.
- SoftTalker 4y ago
  Always needing to be "productive" or busy can be a sign that you're avoiding something else in your life. The classic example is the workaholic who is hiding from the reality that he doesn't like spending time with his spouse or family. Instead of confronting and solving that problem, he runs away from it by working 60 hour weeks.
- bobthechef 4y ago
- baby 4y ago
  I wouldn’t put it this way. I think sometimes life gets into the way of my work, and that’s not a bad thing, and sometimes work gets into the way of my life, and I get shit done and feel good about it as well.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- lmm 4y ago
  > Being more productive rarely leads to a happy and fulfilled life. It’s often precisely those moments in life when I’m on my least productive, that I look back on as if I really lived. Hmm, I've had the opposite experience.
- throw149102 4y ago
  I think we might just have different definitions of productive. To me, writing code or reading a paper can be productive, but so can a conversation with my dad or a nice meal out. Basically I see "Productivity" and replace it with "Productivity towards producing more personal utility" where that utility can be anything - happiness, relaxation, actual goods and services, etc. Furthermore, I think putting on the hat of "productivity" can sometimes reveal unusual things. Like how a conversation with a friend is just repeating the same old dreary boring stuff, and if you put a little effort in you can have a more "productive" conversation.
ozim 4y ago
There is a joke: Boss is stepping outside of brand new BMW - good morning Joe, you see that brand new BMW, if you keep working hard and make more hours I will get new one next year!
xkcd1963 4y ago
It's nice to be able to live ones potential through. This desire seems to stem from observing others "oh, could I eventually accomplish the same, or reach the same level?". It seems to me though genuine happiness can also be found through other means.
tamsaraas 4y ago
You don't understand how the trick works. I am a person who fell for the bait thrown by info / "guides" sellers.2010-2015 - peak in my life of productivity. I was able to do damn a lot of things altogether. Fix challenging and complex bugs, implement modern and crazy stuff, etc. And my hobby project (game) became popular. Unfortunately, I did not use any GTD / todolists, etc. Maybe a tiny todo program like qtodotxt because it's small, and I am too greedy to pay for todoist. But since the end of 2015 - I have noticed how slowly I was starting to do smaller and smaller amounts of work. I was just sitting and can't push myself to continue with the previous speed of results. Not because things become more complex, but because I can't explain to myself what is going on. More tasks on the todo, more things to do, more promises freaked off, etc. And after googling for a better todo tools, ads networks got my interest and started to offer through youtube and ads different promoted videos about GTD, matrix Gunzenhauser or how it is called, and other stuff. Tons of really nice made videos, which work like popcorn for brains. Do X to get the Y result. Extremely easily explained things and procedures. I followed this bullshit and dug in because someone else was thinking for me, not me myself. I did not realize that at that point in time. I think this is extremely important to bold: I was not ready to even try to think or understand that I want to job done not by me but by someone else. This is an important thing, please try to remember it, I will get back to it later. In 2016 -> I started to learn different methodologies, follow different literature and books which do the same, and around the end of 2016, I got a strict understanding that this is business. Literally structured business which makes by themselves via tricks and manipulations with information and reasons <-> results relations which force idiots like me follow it, purchase more to get something that never will work. But you are forced to purchase and learn more because you can't make the thing work because it's impossible to make the thing/methodology work. Because the methodology sucks. Because it's made for business more. Like drugs -> while you read all of that bullshit and believe in that -> you feel good, when you trying to do something - you feel pissed off. And you face some kind of addiction. God bless, I met some girl in 2019, which was suicidal, and was hospitalized and treated by psychiatrists. She told me -> "man, the thing that you have this is typical symptoms of depression, try to visit doctor." I was denying that thing for damn a long time, maybe two years for sure. The problem with depression - is that the thing you can't beat alone. You will always go deeper and deeper to darker and more problematic things which impossible to cure yourself. That does not work like that. Anyway, finally, when I worked in 2020 for only two weeks in the whole year, I strongly realized something extremely bad with me. I tried damn everything, just imagine everything that you can or who suggest you something: nothing helped. Literally everything (relax, changing work, changing friends circle, restriction of something X, doing something Y, whatever). Does not matter. Just save your time and nerves - do not listen to anybody like me. So, in 2021, I slowly got a strong wish, like when you are hungry or want water, but that wish is about to die. This feeling follows you every single day, every single thing. If somehow you got a conflict / emotional problem -> boom, you wanna die. No, this is not a "pissed off" thing. This thing is about 3,2,1 - jump from a window. No jokes here. Crazy shit. Anyway. Somehow after one of such days when I almost committed suicide -> I visited a doctor. Diagnosed with the latest stage of depression (it's when people kill themselves), and got offered to be hospitalized, and so on. I refused that, and I got pills to drink and talked with psychiatrists for a few months (until the war started). So. What do I want to say to you? After starting to visit doctors who treat depression with pills + I tried to fix my problems with professional specialists in a clinic -> I started to feel better. My libido because of pills -> goes down. But my intellectual potential -> go up in 2016-2015 years. I was able again, for almost a month, non-stop work, work great, did tons of a good job, and be productive. I did not follow any tools, methodology, etc. I just had an inner power to do that. I got it back. Some kind of will. So why do I write all of that? I hope my post helps many IT specialists like me (who feel burned) to understand those head problems -> it's common problems, and these problems are treated and help damn a lot to return back the previous level of productivity of your nature. It will not boost you over your limits, but correct treatment will help you cure the source of your wasted will. Just stop jerking for GTD / kanban / scrum / other bullshit. All of that shit does not work and should not work. Just abstraction, which will make life harder. If you feel extremely overwhelmed, can't do things in time, or lose your focus, or can't force yourself to work as you worked before ->, visit your doctor. Pills are not costly, and treatment in the early stages too. And results - damn awesome.
paroneayea 4y ago
There's something to trying to figure out how to adjust your productivity structures to be more productive, and then eventually you hit a falloff in terms of where it stops helping. This blogpost feels very ironic to me... I know I'm not the first to point it out, that the blogpost's obsession with a feeling of productivity is just way too meta given the blogpost itself, but the point where about 5 self-help resources are all quoted is the point where the whole thing started to feel a bit doomed to me.

coliveira 4y ago

When I was just out of college I spent a couple of months reading that kind of literature. Then I started to realize that if I did everything they asked I wound't be myself anymore, I would be the image of an idealized "successful" person that these people write about. When I figured out that, I saw the whole think makes no sense.

nonethewiser 4y ago

But presumably there is valid info about being more productive. You claim to share such info in this very comment. It's a very specific subset of advice that you are identifying.

_the_inflator 4y ago

Who gets really rich if you follow the "Buy all your personal Guru's stuff"? "Buy a new course if you struggle with task X" is a simple mantra. The only way to boost productivity is to hire people. That's what these gurus usually do: hire stuff and let marketing (again: other people) spin it, like the single guy does all the work alone.

verinus 4y ago
and what do you need for that? right: money! problem is: it's so much easier to get rich if you have money already...
bodge5000 4y ago
Easily one of the best get rich quick schemes is to create some overly complicated workflow (doesn't need to actually work) to get rich quick, and sell that to people. I once had the idea to write a book about it where the first page just says "write this book" and then 500 blank pages

Joeri 4y ago

I used to devour this stuff in the beginning of my career, because I always felt like I was drowning in a job that was asking too much of me. Eventually though I got to a place where I no longer needed anymore of these tips. These productivity systems and life hacks are useful, so it is not bad to explore what is out there, but they are tools and tools are not useful unless they are set to a purpose. Also, it is easy to hit a point of diminishing returns, so in hindsight I kept looking after these life hacks for too long. Ultimately, for me (and everyone is different) it took an inversion of how I looked at time. Before I had a fixed set of things I wanted to cram into available time, and never felt like I managed this well. Realizing two things changed that: (a) work is effectively infinite and (b) the things worth doing or seeing exceed the capacity of a human life. This made me allocate my time differently: professionally I started radically prioritizing what I worked on and how I worked on it to dig up the most useful work from the infinite backlog (techniques: inbox zero, ooda loop, deliberate pauses for contemplation, job crafting). For my personal life I gave up on trying to keep up and spend my time doing things I enjoy, even if ultimately pointless (like reading HN), without feeling guilty to myself for the things not done. I also turned off notifications for almost everything, so I can choose what I spend time on instead of having it chosen for me by my masters in the cloud. Still, life has a way of getting in the way, so I’m trying to have a more mindful approach to life, accepting what happens instead of forcing it to be different. This is a work in progress.

sudo_rm 4y ago
> (a) work is effectively infinite and (b) the things worth doing or seeing exceed the capacity of a human life. These are some of the main ideas in the book 4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals. I think it is one of those rare self help books that are actually worth a read.
- sawyna 4y ago
  This is a great self realisation. I started to stop working after 6. It's been a pretty hard change, but feels amazing.
shudza 4y ago

lm28469 4y ago

> I really don't get any of those "be more productive", book, video, course and so on. They think that is they eat, sleep and think like Musk or Zuckerberg they'll get the same bank account. They spend time mimicking the by products of their lifestyle

doix 4y ago

> Especially in IT nothing will get you further than being smartly lazy. One day I'll finish my "self-help" book which is all about doing as little as possible and leaving everything until the last minute in case it resolves itself. Unfortunately, I listen to my own advise and will probably never finish the book.

danielbln 4y ago
We have AI now to take our laziness to the next level, so there you go (quoted text is AI generated) Write a blurb for a self-help book that is about doing as little as possible and leaving everything until the last minute in case it resolves itself, it's called "The JIT Productivity Method" > The JIT Productivity Method is a revolutionary new system for getting things done. It's the antithesis of the traditional "work hard now, play later" approach, and it's based on the simple principle of doing as little as possible and leaving everything until the last minute in case it resolves itself. Write a book review: > The JIT Productivity Method is an interesting new take on productivity. The author makes a compelling case for why doing less and leaving everything to the last minute can actually be more effective than the traditional approach of working hard now and playing later. The book is well-written and easy to follow, and the author's methods are definitely worth considering if you're looking for a new way to get things done. Write the first 5 paragraphs of the book: > The JIT Productivity Method is a revolutionary new system for getting things done. It's the antithesis of the traditional "work hard now, play later" approach, and it's based on the simple principle of doing as little as possible and leaving everything until the last minute in case it resolves itself. > The JIT Productivity Method is all about taking advantage of the fact that many things have a way of resolving themselves if you just give them a little time. Rather than working hard on something now and risking it not actually getting done, or worse, getting done poorly, the JIT approach suggests that you do as little as possible now and wait to see if the situation improves. > Of course, this isn't an approach that will work for everything. But the beauty of the JIT Productivity Method is that it's flexible. There are no hard and fast rules, and you can tailor the approach to fit your own unique situation. > If you're tired of the traditional productivity methods that always seem to fall short, then The JIT Productivity Method is definitely worth a read. It's a fresh, new take on productivity that just might help you get things done in a better, more effective way.

stingraycharles 4y ago

Being more productive rarely leads to a happy and fulfilled life. It’s often precisely those moments in life when I’m on my least productive, that I look back on as if I really lived. Of course, be mindful of your time, but learn how to use it wisely, rather than optimizing for “productivity” as observed by others.

SoftTalker 4y ago
Always needing to be "productive" or busy can be a sign that you're avoiding something else in your life. The classic example is the workaholic who is hiding from the reality that he doesn't like spending time with his spouse or family. Instead of confronting and solving that problem, he runs away from it by working 60 hour weeks.
bobthechef 4y ago
baby 4y ago
I wouldn’t put it this way. I think sometimes life gets into the way of my work, and that’s not a bad thing, and sometimes work gets into the way of my life, and I get shit done and feel good about it as well.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
lmm 4y ago
> Being more productive rarely leads to a happy and fulfilled life. It’s often precisely those moments in life when I’m on my least productive, that I look back on as if I really lived. Hmm, I've had the opposite experience.
throw149102 4y ago
I think we might just have different definitions of productive. To me, writing code or reading a paper can be productive, but so can a conversation with my dad or a nice meal out. Basically I see "Productivity" and replace it with "Productivity towards producing more personal utility" where that utility can be anything - happiness, relaxation, actual goods and services, etc. Furthermore, I think putting on the hat of "productivity" can sometimes reveal unusual things. Like how a conversation with a friend is just repeating the same old dreary boring stuff, and if you put a little effort in you can have a more "productive" conversation.

ozim 4y ago

There is a joke: Boss is stepping outside of brand new BMW - good morning Joe, you see that brand new BMW, if you keep working hard and make more hours I will get new one next year!

xkcd1963 4y ago

It's nice to be able to live ones potential through. This desire seems to stem from observing others "oh, could I eventually accomplish the same, or reach the same level?". It seems to me though genuine happiness can also be found through other means.

tamsaraas 4y ago

You don't understand how the trick works. I am a person who fell for the bait thrown by info / "guides" sellers.2010-2015 - peak in my life of productivity. I was able to do damn a lot of things altogether. Fix challenging and complex bugs, implement modern and crazy stuff, etc. And my hobby project (game) became popular. Unfortunately, I did not use any GTD / todolists, etc. Maybe a tiny todo program like qtodotxt because it's small, and I am too greedy to pay for todoist. But since the end of 2015 - I have noticed how slowly I was starting to do smaller and smaller amounts of work. I was just sitting and can't push myself to continue with the previous speed of results. Not because things become more complex, but because I can't explain to myself what is going on. More tasks on the todo, more things to do, more promises freaked off, etc. And after googling for a better todo tools, ads networks got my interest and started to offer through youtube and ads different promoted videos about GTD, matrix Gunzenhauser or how it is called, and other stuff. Tons of really nice made videos, which work like popcorn for brains. Do X to get the Y result. Extremely easily explained things and procedures. I followed this bullshit and dug in because someone else was thinking for me, not me myself. I did not realize that at that point in time. I think this is extremely important to bold: I was not ready to even try to think or understand that I want to job done not by me but by someone else. This is an important thing, please try to remember it, I will get back to it later. In 2016 -> I started to learn different methodologies, follow different literature and books which do the same, and around the end of 2016, I got a strict understanding that this is business. Literally structured business which makes by themselves via tricks and manipulations with information and reasons <-> results relations which force idiots like me follow it, purchase more to get something that never will work. But you are forced to purchase and learn more because you can't make the thing work because it's impossible to make the thing/methodology work. Because the methodology sucks. Because it's made for business more. Like drugs -> while you read all of that bullshit and believe in that -> you feel good, when you trying to do something - you feel pissed off. And you face some kind of addiction. God bless, I met some girl in 2019, which was suicidal, and was hospitalized and treated by psychiatrists. She told me -> "man, the thing that you have this is typical symptoms of depression, try to visit doctor." I was denying that thing for damn a long time, maybe two years for sure. The problem with depression - is that the thing you can't beat alone. You will always go deeper and deeper to darker and more problematic things which impossible to cure yourself. That does not work like that. Anyway, finally, when I worked in 2020 for only two weeks in the whole year, I strongly realized something extremely bad with me. I tried damn everything, just imagine everything that you can or who suggest you something: nothing helped. Literally everything (relax, changing work, changing friends circle, restriction of something X, doing something Y, whatever). Does not matter. Just save your time and nerves - do not listen to anybody like me. So, in 2021, I slowly got a strong wish, like when you are hungry or want water, but that wish is about to die. This feeling follows you every single day, every single thing. If somehow you got a conflict / emotional problem -> boom, you wanna die. No, this is not a "pissed off" thing. This thing is about 3,2,1 - jump from a window. No jokes here. Crazy shit. Anyway. Somehow after one of such days when I almost committed suicide -> I visited a doctor. Diagnosed with the latest stage of depression (it's when people kill themselves), and got offered to be hospitalized, and so on. I refused that, and I got pills to drink and talked with psychiatrists for a few months (until the war started). So. What do I want to say to you? After starting to visit doctors who treat depression with pills + I tried to fix my problems with professional specialists in a clinic -> I started to feel better. My libido because of pills -> goes down. But my intellectual potential -> go up in 2016-2015 years. I was able again, for almost a month, non-stop work, work great, did tons of a good job, and be productive. I did not follow any tools, methodology, etc. I just had an inner power to do that. I got it back. Some kind of will. So why do I write all of that? I hope my post helps many IT specialists like me (who feel burned) to understand those head problems -> it's common problems, and these problems are treated and help damn a lot to return back the previous level of productivity of your nature. It will not boost you over your limits, but correct treatment will help you cure the source of your wasted will. Just stop jerking for GTD / kanban / scrum / other bullshit. All of that shit does not work and should not work. Just abstraction, which will make life harder. If you feel extremely overwhelmed, can't do things in time, or lose your focus, or can't force yourself to work as you worked before ->, visit your doctor. Pills are not costly, and treatment in the early stages too. And results - damn awesome.

paroneayea 4y ago

There's something to trying to figure out how to adjust your productivity structures to be more productive, and then eventually you hit a falloff in terms of where it stops helping. This blogpost feels very ironic to me... I know I'm not the first to point it out, that the blogpost's obsession with a feeling of productivity is just way too meta given the blogpost itself, but the point where about 5 self-help resources are all quoted is the point where the whole thing started to feel a bit doomed to me.