5 ms·

> Like a defense mechanism has been installed in my brain preventing me from hurting myself like that again. I consider this a feature not a bug. Now go focus

> Like a defense mechanism has been installed in my brain preventing me from hurting myself like that again. I consider this a feature not a bug. Now go focus on important things in life: money, sex, and exercise. Don't overthink. Learning another state management method in new generation of Angular, unwinding a mess created by CV-driven FOMO hysterics, acrobatics in Java design patterns... they're all not worth it.

gear54rus 4y ago
that first one on the list kinda requires it though... and the 2nd one kinda requires the first one haha not that easy is it
- Trasmatta 4y ago
  Maybe not. I put a ridiculous amount of effort into that last project last year. I saved it from disaster, which saved a bunch of people's asses that had fucked it up over and over. Nobody really noticed. My raise this year didn't keep up with inflation. I could have let the project fail like it should have, rather than burning myself out. Maybe I would have received some of the blame, but chances are I'd still just be making the same amount of money if I had just cared less.
  - gear54rus 4y ago
    That's a classic story in a corporate world but I fail to see how is it relevant in the context :) We were talking about 'thinking' being required but nobody said it was sufficient.
    - Trasmatta 4y ago
      I was mostly approaching it from the angle of how overworking and overthinking isn't really necessary to make money. And how doing so can actually lead to burnout.
      - Geezus-42 4y ago
        Please give us your secret to making easy money.
        Trasmatta 4y ago
        Not what I was saying. Being the person on a team that kills themselves to get a project across the finish line isn't the secret to making money. It doesn't even get you recognition for your efforts most of the time.
        WalterBright 4y ago
        > It doesn't even get you recognition for your efforts most of the time. You've gotta toot your own horn. Relying on others to do it for you is a surefire recipe for disappointment and disillusionment. Think of it like a business. If the business does no marketing, what's going to be the result? Bankruptcy. I've known many bitter people who did something great, and nobody knew about it because they thought it was unseemly to write papers about it, present about it at conferences, etc.
        DANmode 4y ago
        It doesn't have to be easy, it can just be the correct amount of work, or effort, for you.
        TeMPOraL 4y ago
        What if correct is more than you can actually give?
        DANmode 4y ago
        Correct for you.
  - WalterBright 4y ago
    > Nobody really noticed. It's often necessary to make sure they notice, by telling them. A good method is to email your manager a weekly summary of what you accomplished, including extra hours you spent on it. This is especially worth while if you're working remote.
Trasmatta 4y ago
It looks like you got downvoted, but I agree with you actually.
PartiallyTyped 4y ago
A few weeks ago I'd have disagreed, but this weekend I did nothing close to dev and I feel a lot better.
- wlesieutre 4y ago
  There's a reason r/woodworking is full of software engineers
  - PartiallyTyped 4y ago
    Great idea. I always wanted to get into this sort of stuff, esp blacksmithing. Now, if only I had the space for it…
    - ropable 4y ago
      Woodworking using only hand tools can be a remarkably space-efficient and neighbour-friendly pastime. I started out that hobby making little projects, mainly using a few unpowered tools (plus a cordless drill) in an area the size of a small writing desk.
      - PartiallyTyped 4y ago
        Is it possible to do that indoors? I live in an apartment.
        wlesieutre 4y ago
        Definitely possible. The nosiest thing would be banging on chisels, I've seen a hollow chisel mortiser recommended as a power tool well suited to apartments if you're not going all in on hand tools: https://www.finewoodworking.com/project-guides/shop-machines/the-best-power-tool-for-apartment-woodworking https://www.finewoodworking.com/project-guides/shop-machines... And here's an example of an apartment woodshop, you can get started with many less tools than this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybvuuVRlSWc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybvuuVRlSWc r/handtools is another good place for questions/information on that.
straydusk 4y ago
[flagged]
vanjajaja1 4y ago
Came to post this. Life gets much better when you stop thinking of your body functions as bugs. They're features. Your body learned that 'working really really hard for this resulted in very little tangible reward' and then probably concluded 'i will not work very hard for long periods of time without seeing reward' Probably the hardest part is understanding that 'i made a number in a database increase' is not actually a reward.
- TeMPOraL 4y ago
  > Life gets much better when you stop thinking of your body functions as bugs. They're features. Counterpoint: this is like considering various peculiarities of software from 1980s to be features in 2020s. Yes, our bodies are well tuned. To an environment we've lived in until our ancestors, thousands of years ago, boarded a metaphorical rocket ship, and left it flying under constant acceleration. In certain aspects, we're quite far from the environment we evolved in, and evolution has lost the ability to keep pace some time around when it granted us with ability to develop a language more complex than a few grunts.
  - tehjoker 4y ago
    tbh i don't think this feature is outdated. it's just your body telling you that doing someone else's bidding intensely and unendingly isn't healthy. it's good to recognize that.
    - TeMPOraL 4y ago
      But this is exactly where our environment differs profoundly from the ancestral one: most of us live in a society closed over resource production. We still need food and other means to survive, but now there are no freely accessible sources of them - we're all gating access to resources for each other. Which means I always have to do someone's bidding if I want to live. I have some choice of whose bidding I'll do, but this means that I'll eventually reach a point where changing the person whose bidding I do is less effective than just doing more for the current one.
TeMPOraL 4y ago
> Now go focus on important things in life: money, sex, and exercise. I read this list as: requires stable employment, requires stable employment, is torture. The first two items... are not something I can focus in lieu of my job, they're literally the point of it (I long ago gave up on the idea of Finding Fulfilling Work That Is Also Your Passion And That Is Net Good For The World).
- fphhotchips 4y ago
  As a comment on exercise: I also see exercise as torture when I'm doing it wrong. For me, I needed(/need - this is not a solved problem) to find a way that works for me, and also take it in the tiniest of little bites. I tried for years to get into running. Never worked. I hate running. I tried to go to the gym, but all the classes went way too hard for me and my local didn't do "just show up and lift", only classes. I tried riding a bike, but I could never find a way to do that where I wasn't dodging cars, rain, hills and heat. Finally last year I bought a rowing machine and a heart rate monitor. I put my headphones on, listen to a podcast, and focus on keeping my heart rate in a specific zone for a certain amount of time. If it's hot, I turn on the AC. If I get sick of it, I stop. I dont have to dodge cars, so I can completely dissociate and listen to the podcast so long as the number is where I want it to be. It's great and generally not torture, which is nice because apart from team sport it's literally the only way I've found that isn't.
  - TeMPOraL 4y ago
    Thank you. I'll consider getting a machine then. It seems like might just work. I did some serious amount of exercising in the past with VR glasses, but that was inconsistent because of space constraints, and became nearly impossible after our first kid became self-propelled. For me, all common forms of exercise feel like torture when doing them, or when thinking about doing them, or both. Most of it isn't even for physical reasons, just a combination of anxiety, procrastination, and the kind of general sports aversion you develop when you get prescribed glasses when you're 7 y.o. and thus go through 10+ years of schools not being able to effectively participate in team sports during PE classes...
goodpoint 4y ago
> important things in life: money, sex, and exercise Sarcasm?
- expertentipp 4y ago
  Absolutely not.
  - goodpoint 4y ago
    Sad.

gear54rus 4y ago

that first one on the list kinda requires it though... and the 2nd one kinda requires the first one haha not that easy is it

Trasmatta 4y ago
Maybe not. I put a ridiculous amount of effort into that last project last year. I saved it from disaster, which saved a bunch of people's asses that had fucked it up over and over. Nobody really noticed. My raise this year didn't keep up with inflation. I could have let the project fail like it should have, rather than burning myself out. Maybe I would have received some of the blame, but chances are I'd still just be making the same amount of money if I had just cared less.
- gear54rus 4y ago
  That's a classic story in a corporate world but I fail to see how is it relevant in the context :) We were talking about 'thinking' being required but nobody said it was sufficient.
  - Trasmatta 4y ago
    I was mostly approaching it from the angle of how overworking and overthinking isn't really necessary to make money. And how doing so can actually lead to burnout.
    - Geezus-42 4y ago
      Please give us your secret to making easy money.
      - Trasmatta 4y ago
        Not what I was saying. Being the person on a team that kills themselves to get a project across the finish line isn't the secret to making money. It doesn't even get you recognition for your efforts most of the time.
        WalterBright 4y ago
        > It doesn't even get you recognition for your efforts most of the time. You've gotta toot your own horn. Relying on others to do it for you is a surefire recipe for disappointment and disillusionment. Think of it like a business. If the business does no marketing, what's going to be the result? Bankruptcy. I've known many bitter people who did something great, and nobody knew about it because they thought it was unseemly to write papers about it, present about it at conferences, etc.
      - DANmode 4y ago
        It doesn't have to be easy, it can just be the correct amount of work, or effort, for you.
        TeMPOraL 4y ago
        What if correct is more than you can actually give?
        DANmode 4y ago
        Correct for you.
- WalterBright 4y ago
  > Nobody really noticed. It's often necessary to make sure they notice, by telling them. A good method is to email your manager a weekly summary of what you accomplished, including extra hours you spent on it. This is especially worth while if you're working remote.

Trasmatta 4y ago

It looks like you got downvoted, but I agree with you actually.

PartiallyTyped 4y ago

A few weeks ago I'd have disagreed, but this weekend I did nothing close to dev and I feel a lot better.

wlesieutre 4y ago
There's a reason r/woodworking is full of software engineers
- PartiallyTyped 4y ago
  Great idea. I always wanted to get into this sort of stuff, esp blacksmithing. Now, if only I had the space for it…
  - ropable 4y ago
    Woodworking using only hand tools can be a remarkably space-efficient and neighbour-friendly pastime. I started out that hobby making little projects, mainly using a few unpowered tools (plus a cordless drill) in an area the size of a small writing desk.
    - PartiallyTyped 4y ago
      Is it possible to do that indoors? I live in an apartment.
      - wlesieutre 4y ago
        Definitely possible. The nosiest thing would be banging on chisels, I've seen a hollow chisel mortiser recommended as a power tool well suited to apartments if you're not going all in on hand tools: https://www.finewoodworking.com/project-guides/shop-machines/the-best-power-tool-for-apartment-woodworking https://www.finewoodworking.com/project-guides/shop-machines... And here's an example of an apartment woodshop, you can get started with many less tools than this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybvuuVRlSWc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybvuuVRlSWc r/handtools is another good place for questions/information on that.

straydusk 4y ago

[flagged]

vanjajaja1 4y ago

Came to post this. Life gets much better when you stop thinking of your body functions as bugs. They're features. Your body learned that 'working really really hard for this resulted in very little tangible reward' and then probably concluded 'i will not work very hard for long periods of time without seeing reward' Probably the hardest part is understanding that 'i made a number in a database increase' is not actually a reward.

TeMPOraL 4y ago
> Life gets much better when you stop thinking of your body functions as bugs. They're features. Counterpoint: this is like considering various peculiarities of software from 1980s to be features in 2020s. Yes, our bodies are well tuned. To an environment we've lived in until our ancestors, thousands of years ago, boarded a metaphorical rocket ship, and left it flying under constant acceleration. In certain aspects, we're quite far from the environment we evolved in, and evolution has lost the ability to keep pace some time around when it granted us with ability to develop a language more complex than a few grunts.
- tehjoker 4y ago
  tbh i don't think this feature is outdated. it's just your body telling you that doing someone else's bidding intensely and unendingly isn't healthy. it's good to recognize that.
  - TeMPOraL 4y ago
    But this is exactly where our environment differs profoundly from the ancestral one: most of us live in a society closed over resource production. We still need food and other means to survive, but now there are no freely accessible sources of them - we're all gating access to resources for each other. Which means I always have to do someone's bidding if I want to live. I have some choice of whose bidding I'll do, but this means that I'll eventually reach a point where changing the person whose bidding I do is less effective than just doing more for the current one.

TeMPOraL 4y ago

> Now go focus on important things in life: money, sex, and exercise. I read this list as: requires stable employment, requires stable employment, is torture. The first two items... are not something I can focus in lieu of my job, they're literally the point of it (I long ago gave up on the idea of Finding Fulfilling Work That Is Also Your Passion And That Is Net Good For The World).

fphhotchips 4y ago
As a comment on exercise: I also see exercise as torture when I'm doing it wrong. For me, I needed(/need - this is not a solved problem) to find a way that works for me, and also take it in the tiniest of little bites. I tried for years to get into running. Never worked. I hate running. I tried to go to the gym, but all the classes went way too hard for me and my local didn't do "just show up and lift", only classes. I tried riding a bike, but I could never find a way to do that where I wasn't dodging cars, rain, hills and heat. Finally last year I bought a rowing machine and a heart rate monitor. I put my headphones on, listen to a podcast, and focus on keeping my heart rate in a specific zone for a certain amount of time. If it's hot, I turn on the AC. If I get sick of it, I stop. I dont have to dodge cars, so I can completely dissociate and listen to the podcast so long as the number is where I want it to be. It's great and generally not torture, which is nice because apart from team sport it's literally the only way I've found that isn't.
- TeMPOraL 4y ago
  Thank you. I'll consider getting a machine then. It seems like might just work. I did some serious amount of exercising in the past with VR glasses, but that was inconsistent because of space constraints, and became nearly impossible after our first kid became self-propelled. For me, all common forms of exercise feel like torture when doing them, or when thinking about doing them, or both. Most of it isn't even for physical reasons, just a combination of anxiety, procrastination, and the kind of general sports aversion you develop when you get prescribed glasses when you're 7 y.o. and thus go through 10+ years of schools not being able to effectively participate in team sports during PE classes...

goodpoint 4y ago

> important things in life: money, sex, and exercise Sarcasm?

expertentipp 4y ago
Absolutely not.
- goodpoint 4y ago
  Sad.