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'All the stuff "normal" folks do to unwind and interact with the world outside of their jobs -- go to the gym, read a book, go out to dinner, watch TV, play a g

by edawerd 17y ago

'All the stuff "normal" folks do to unwind and interact with the world outside of their jobs -- go to the gym, read a book, go out to dinner, watch TV, play a game, etc. -- I either won't allow myself to do or feel guilty over doing.' This encapsulates exactly how I feel most of the time. It's really hard for me to get past the guilt of not working on the startup. Even things like eating breakfast in the morning, I don't want to do because I feel like I'm wasting time, so I end up starving myself until lunch. It's weird because it one of those things that you KNOW you shouldn't do, yet you somehow find yourself in that downward spiral.

tdavis 17y ago
Damn, one of my favorites and I forgot about it. Eating, period, makes me feel guilty. Maybe because it costs time and money and sometimes I'll watch The Daily Show or something while I do it? This is one of those I considered too ridiculous to even rationalize; it's in the "because why not" pile.
- Sujan 17y ago
  I realized I was feeling guilty for eating the same way you two did. I also watched TV along the way, so I was feeling even more guilty because often I stayed far longer than needed. There's so much useless stuff on TV you can watch for hours anyway. First try: Cut the TV, read rss feeds or email while eating. Baaaad idea, obviously. Not only was I still feeling guilty because 'without eating you would read much faster' but I also degraded eating to something even less valuable. There was zero relaxation, I didn't even really _taste_ what I was eating. Second try: I dismissed TV, rss feeds and everything else while eating. Eating now is my 30-to-60-minute-break of everything 2 to 3 times a day. I just concentrate on preparing and eating the food. I even started to eat in my kitchen again and not on my couch or in front of the computer. Makes a hell of a difference. I'm so much more relaxed after these breaks. Often I will stay a little longer and read a magazine (brandeins, a german business magazin) or even a book. PS: Next step is to go out for eating every other day to get some sandwiches, pizza or something. It's a bit more expensive but really helped me to really get away from everything in my head. PPS: Of course I sometimes still sit over my keyboard with a pizza and work while eating, but well, I never said I was perfect ;)

by edawerd 17y ago

tdavis 17y ago

Damn, one of my favorites and I forgot about it. Eating, period, makes me feel guilty. Maybe because it costs time and money and sometimes I'll watch The Daily Show or something while I do it? This is one of those I considered too ridiculous to even rationalize; it's in the "because why not" pile.

Sujan 17y ago
I realized I was feeling guilty for eating the same way you two did. I also watched TV along the way, so I was feeling even more guilty because often I stayed far longer than needed. There's so much useless stuff on TV you can watch for hours anyway. First try: Cut the TV, read rss feeds or email while eating. Baaaad idea, obviously. Not only was I still feeling guilty because 'without eating you would read much faster' but I also degraded eating to something even less valuable. There was zero relaxation, I didn't even really _taste_ what I was eating. Second try: I dismissed TV, rss feeds and everything else while eating. Eating now is my 30-to-60-minute-break of everything 2 to 3 times a day. I just concentrate on preparing and eating the food. I even started to eat in my kitchen again and not on my couch or in front of the computer. Makes a hell of a difference. I'm so much more relaxed after these breaks. Often I will stay a little longer and read a magazine (brandeins, a german business magazin) or even a book. PS: Next step is to go out for eating every other day to get some sandwiches, pizza or something. It's a bit more expensive but really helped me to really get away from everything in my head. PPS: Of course I sometimes still sit over my keyboard with a pizza and work while eating, but well, I never said I was perfect ;)