8 ms·

Digital consumption keeps me from getting better at my job

320 points by siberpunk 2y ago

euniceee3 2y ago
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- TheRealQueequeg 2y ago
  Sorry to be pedantic, but I'm drunk and got annoyed by your contraction use. WORD + 's = WORD + is. So, "ad's" = "advertisement is". Which shouldn't make sense. It should be "ads".
  - bazmattaz 2y ago
    Sorry to be pedantic but WORD + ‘s = WORD + is, is not always true. If the word is a singular noun you can add an ‘s to form the possessive form of a singular noun; Jane’s books
deleted 2y ago
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malux85 2y ago
Then stop consuming! A champion has discipline. A champion athlete doesnt grow morbidly obese off pizza and then complains it’s the pizzas fault - stop, or drastically reduce, eating. “It’s not easy”, of course it isn’t, all greatness requires sacrifice, are you going to go to the gym (learn new programming skill) or sit there eating donuts?
- siberpunk 2y ago
  I think acknowledging the problem is one of the key aspects of focusing on the solution, maybe even the most important one. Writing it down in a concrete way that defines and explains it made me realize the issue. My next plan is to sign up for the gym :)
  - svilen_dobrev 2y ago
    you still do go away/offhook for a while, and (surely will) come back with fresher sight. Towards Different (kind of) gym maybe. do not chase The Solution or that will become your gym..
- siamese_puff 2y ago
  This comment kind of nails it. I don’t have any social media at all and often my friends tell me I live under a rock for not knowing the latest meme. The decision is trivial, I just don’t have social media (except Hackernews which does waste a disgusting amount of time). Anyways - people gravitate toward the simple and assume the difficult is impossible. I’m training for a marathon with some friends and some are already making excuses to do as much as possible that _does not_ involve running (weight lifting, biking). I think humans just do the easy thing and complain about their situation because it’s.. well easy.
  - corytheboyd 2y ago
    Very nicely highlighted in the article: > You find yourself in a quest for productivity, feeling productive because of the quest, but not really doing any productive work. Been there a million times myself, it’s such an easy trap to fall into.
  - drcwpl 2y ago
    Very well said "people gravitate toward the simple and assume the difficult is impossible." I often get grief for saying people are lazy - I will use your careful tone
- butterlettuce 2y ago
  this preach, coach!
- karmakaze 2y ago
  I find that I use LLMs now to probe into areas that I'm curious about or want to find new hints to follow-up on. That's way more instructive and being interactive, more memorable than reading endless shallow blog posts. One thing I do is be critical of post writings or LLM output. Look deeper until you either find weaknesses or internalize its correctness/effectiveness. I still read HN stories to find those once-in-a-while posts that are both deep and relevant to my interests or work.
- deleted 2y ago
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- ggu7hgfk8j 2y ago
  To me it seems like you are saying "just stop eating pizza" to someone trying to understand why and how the pizza is unhealthy and what is a better alternative. Clearly we have to eat something, so a bit of understanding is needed.
  - Yeul 2y ago
    Some people would argue to ban pizzerias.
    - ggu7hgfk8j 2y ago
      Okay but can I tempt you with some flatbread?
- _yb2s 2y ago
  Often it takes more than willpower and deciding to commit, especially if you have ADHD, depression, etc. You often need a strategy that directly addresses the reason you are having trouble controlling your behavior. I say this as a person with both ADHD and depression that has a successful career as an academic scientist, and has also won as a competitive strength athlete, and been competitive bodybuilder lean at times. Discipline and good habits are important, but are often not the full picture, especially for people that are not neurotypical. Executive function isn’t something you can just decide to have if you don’t have it… and being belittled by people that do have it and don’t understand won’t help either. I spent a lot of my life trying to figure out why what I wanted to do in life still wasn’t happening when I felt fully committed and like I was trying 100%. Eventually I found other people struggling with the same issues and started building a toolbox of little techniques that worked for me.
- purple-leafy 2y ago
  Who said anything about being a champion? Why should this be the goal? Other than the media you've consumed has told you that "you must be a cHAmPiOn in LiFe" to be important. Fuck that, everything in moderation. I love donuts, being fit and shying away from donuts was a miserable experience. So what, I might die earlier having eaten that donut? Worth it. Everything in moderation. Good and bad. At the end of the day, none of this matters. Wy put arbitrary constraints on your short life of pleasure.
Swizec 2y ago
What a fantastic essay. Long ago I had the same hunch and likened having the internet around me to running with a parachute. These days I am little better at avoiding consumption, if not worse. I think it's inevitable. And I think on net it may be a good thing. Yes you lose time and focus by dipping your toes into the zeitgeist, but you also make sure you work on things that are relevant. The open vs closed door from Hamming's You and Your Research. The closed-door researcher produces more work, but the open-door researcher produces impactful work. Who was ultimately more productive? The key, I find, is to do a bit of both. Work on hard things with deep focus and validate against the zeitgeist regularly. edit: Found it. Almost the exact same post (in gist) from 2011 when I was 24, similar age as OP. https://swizec.com/blog/my-ideas-are-shitty-so-im-going-on-an-internet-diet/ https://swizec.com/blog/my-ideas-are-shitty-so-im-going-on-a...
- brightball 2y ago
  It’s actually one of the best arguments for pairing/mobbing that people don’t like to talk about. When you are sitting at a keyboard with other people, there’s no chance you’re going to browse. You and everyone else involved will be 100% focused on the task. They actually tested this with brainwave scans and found that concentration levels were significantly higher than working independently.
  - deadbabe 2y ago
    Not true. These mobs often become a theater production where everyone pretends to be focused but they’re just collectively pushing along until hopefully someone solves the problem and they are released from their torturous exercise.
    - skydhash 2y ago
      Yeah, software engineering is a collective activity, but programming is not. From my limited experience with pair programming, it would be faster to design on a whiteboard, partition the tasks, and then review each other code.
    - 2y ago
deleted 2y ago
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switz 2y ago
This post makes a few detours, but the section about their own work is always interesting to me. I've always been a "pull on the threads and then pattern match"-kinda worker, rather than a "productivity-chaser" or "advice-seeker". I just pull on the threads that interest me, and over time these threads always have a way of coming back together. It's the difference between being goal oriented and process oriented. This is a much slower, much longer arc to building your taste, skills, and reaching some semblance of your abstract goals, but the other way just wasn't fun to me. When I was in undergrad I remember reading a lot of blogs and hoping to live up to their idealistic views (shoutout pg), because I hadn't quite yet identified what career I wanted to lead. I dropped out, and then around 24/25 the desire for those goals really shattered. I pursued a very self-directed path that has thankfully worked out (so far-still ample time for it to falter). As this post points out, the only advice that is universal on the internet is that there is no universal advice. Find what rings true to you and lean into it.
- justlikereddit 2y ago
  The author touches something that are probably better described as burnout triggers. Accumulate enough expectation metrics and targets and then completely miss them. The mismatch of expectations and reality will give anyone a pause. The solution isn't chasing more metrics and new far off targets with silver bullets on how to reach them. But that's what "thought leaders" and management think loves doing. The lower the "loss" between your prediction for your future state and the actual state, the more content you'll be and the easier things will likely progress. Spending more time on maxing out predictions will just make the loss larger.
markvdb 2y ago
You could do worse than read "The distracted mind", by neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley. It gave me deeper insight into the human-specific additions to my monkey brain.
djaouen 2y ago
It doesn't keep me from getting better at mine. Lol
panstromek 2y ago
I can relate quite a bit. I've experienced this state of overwhelm a few times and I developed some interventions for myself over time. I wrote post about it, if you want to take some inspiration: https://yoyo-code.com/managing-information-diet/ https://yoyo-code.com/managing-information-diet/
- dogman144 2y ago
  Good post, fwiw I feel basically similar to what you wrote, and this jumped out at me as this has been my main problem point - “I relaxed the rules, observed myself increasing the amount of content I consume over time, and now I'm back here” I haven’t found a solution yet but how to find one is in a lot of my thoughts lately. I feel similarly as OP it seems that this cycle is actively getting in the way of my job sometimes. I can go cold turkey/flip phone life and it works as in I don’t miss the content and adjust, but I work in tech it’s hard to not engage with the platforms and also do well, engaging in the platforms is like being a drug addict at free drug convention with a few helpful booths about work, and rinse/repeat. At periods it’s been such that I put some thought into if I had undiagnosed ADHD, because some times it veered a bit too close for comfort to where I really needed to focus on adult stuff and I just couldn’t. But, generally I speculate it’s an information diet thing first and foremost, but I’d rather sort that out first and see if it works. Tricky topic! Interesting to see discussion on it, it’s the first I’ve ran into with similar sentiments as my experiences.
- lying4fun 2y ago
  great article. the information debt and budget seem like very useful things to have in mind
squidproquo 2y ago
Excellent blog post. Summed up what I've been thinking for the past few years. I find myself endlessly consuming content (videos, podcasts, etc.) that I would deem "educational". It feels good, like you're learning something new, improving yourself. But at the end-of-the day you aren't. Your brain is just sitting there passively - not really doing any hard work. Instead of your brain generating ideas and solving problems, that process has been palmed off to the internet.
- gspencley 2y ago
  On the flip side, I do think that passively consuming "edu-tainment" content is better than consuming, say, fictional sitcoms or dramas that are intended to appeal to the masses. Not that there's anything wrong with consuming "mindless" entertainment either, just that in a conversation about productivity vs non-productivity and "consumption"'s effects on it, I think it's fair to rank the content in question. I watch a ridiculous amount of this type of content. As a "maker" myself, I get inspired by watching other people make stuff .. and I pick up a few tips and tricks along the way too. But, the trap here that a lot in the comments seem in-tune with, is the trap of deluding yourself into thinking that you're being productive by consuming content ... as opposed to, well, producing stuff. My wife and I are part time performing magicians, and when it comes to our magic act we fall into this trap a LOT. Because I make good money as a software engineer, I wanted to create for us a "library" where no matter what we want to write or create we will have resources that will empower us with method possibilities. Sounds great on paper, until we look back on what we accomplished in the past weeks and all we can come up with "Well, we read a bunch of books... and some are super expensive and hard to find out of print magic books that only have < 1,000 known copies in existence ... does that count?" No, it doesn't. Some of the most innovative inventions and artistic creations have been borne from scarcity and limitations. An over-abundance of information is not necessarily bad it's just that we tend, as humans, to find ways to trick ourselves into thinking we're accomplishing something when we're really being passive. To circle back to my original point, while watching "edu-tainment" content on YouTube is still being passive, at least there is the capacity to gain high-level knowledge that can give you a head's start when you're ready to actually start diving into doing something.
- bityard 2y ago
keybored 2y ago
Reading that post was a waste of my time.
- goodlinks 2y ago
  Skim the comments fist, way for efficient to get the meta and vibe before investing
photochemsyn 2y ago
The problem with fast consumption is it's shallow, and the only way around it I've found is the 1:3 rule. For every ten minutes of information consumption, you'll need at least another thirty minutes of tinkering about with your hands, keyboard, pencil and paper, etc. to have any chance of really absorbing and understanding that information. However, this is much harder and more demanding of your concentration and focus than just passively absorbing some interesting online content, particularly if the content relies on some background knowledge that you're missing, in which case it may take much, much longer to get up to speed on it. Note that LLMs are an incredible aid to grasping new material. Ask any decent LLM "what are the necessary background prerequisites for understanding this statement: <HN comment on arcane math or tech>" and it will usually point you in the right direction.
- skydhash 2y ago
  Reflection is key. Books consumption (mostly digital) for me is always done in three phases. The first is just reading, no note, with only slight highlighting. Then after reflecting (or trying to explain) the ideas, I go back and try to do a summary. The third part is connecting those ideas to others from different books, or using them practically. Consumption without reflection or doing is mostly entertainment, like you would do with a novel or a movie.
  - TheRealQueequeg 2y ago
    >Consumption without reflection or doing is mostly entertainment, like you would do with a novel or a movie. Maybe you do do this and were making a sweeping claim-understandble. But if not, try inspecting the themes and topics brought up by the novels you read and movies you watch? Almost all media has something of value to dissect and discuss if you are willing to do so. Your last sentence reminds me of when I shat on the first Transformers movies as a teenager thinking they were nothing more than trite Hollywood cash grabs but, my professor nudged me to think about the movie again beyond my assumptions and ego.
    - skydhash 2y ago
kevinsync 2y ago
>> Since graduating from undergraduate studies (which marks exactly one year as I write this post) Author sounds young .. yes, absolutely try to consume less and create more, it's way more life-affirming than the opposite configuration, but: Getting better at your job, like everything else in life, is just a function of time. Show up, and then show up consistently. Put in the time. Be patient. Lead with an open mind and an open heart -- opportunities go to those who are present way more often than those who aren't. Willingly take on shitty jobs, do them well, and you'll find yourself being trusted with bigger and better jobs. Learn when to be the worker bee and when to be the queen bee. Say "yes" until you're truly able to say "no". Try to accept that, at the end of the day, things don't matter as much as you think they might -- I'm talking about projects, stress, deadlines, shit that floods your veins with cortisol. The only thing people will truly remember is how you made them feel during a crisis, not the minutiae of what you actually contributed -- and those personal relationships will be the gasoline in the engine of your career. I really believe people will go far if they focus on this kind of stuff, and way less on structured self-improvement, productivity hacking, finding "secrets", shortcuts via programs, seminars, coaches, and tools, and all that shallow, nutritionless baloney.
- skydhash 2y ago
  This. Slow, but consistent is the way to win. Like they say in Rally Racing: Slow is fast and fast is slow. There's no shortcut other than understanding. Which takes time and good input (great books, good mentors, practical experiences,..). And everything is driven by social factors, not technical prowess. The latter helps with solving problem, but the former defines the problem in the first place. Improve your soft skills as well as your technical abilities.
  - mnky9800n 2y ago
    It’s not about aptitude it's about the way you’re viewed.
  - schlonger0009 2y ago
    I agree! Also, it's "Slow is smooth and smooth is fast".
strangattractor 2y ago
Yep - I am writing a HN comment instead of doing my work at this very moment.
Timber-6539 2y ago
I personally find that learning about a subject you're interested in with an aim to solving a specific problem takes away the mundane part of the learning process. And the more problems I discover to solve motivate me to delve even deeper.
vonnik 2y ago
I’m a big believer in learning tied to projects and goals, at least for the consumption that the author is describing. It usually feeds back into building, which feeds back into learning. But more broadly, it comes down to where you draw the line and call content distraction, and what you do about digital distractions. https://vonnik.substack.com/p/how-to-take-your-brain-back https://vonnik.substack.com/p/how-to-take-your-brain-back
mega_dean 2y ago
> Although it has been on my mind for a long time, I haven’t been able to read a comprehensive book based on these studies Deep Work by Cal Newport focuses on these ideas pretty heavily, and he cites plenty of studies to back up his arguments. Like the author of the blogpost says, "There’s no guarantee that what works for them will work for you", but I found my productivity increased noticeably after I applied some of the advice from the book.
deleted 2y ago
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endlessvoid94 2y ago
I recently did a digital declutter, as described in Cal Newport's book Digital Minimalism. One hobby I picked up much more easily than anticipated: microcontroller programming. With the spare energy and mindspace freed up from scrolling social media, I'm now expanding my skillset and reading far more books. I'm not claiming to have boosted my skills to an unrealistic degree, but the benefits of giving up the dumb online activity are very real, very tangible, and very valuable IMO.
Yoric 2y ago
For what it's worth, I've recently started writing a small open-source tool to avoid consuming too much in the way of videos and social networks. https://github.com/Yoric/keep-it-focused/ https://github.com/Yoric/keep-it-focused/ We'll see whether that works.
agentultra 2y ago
Also hard to disconnect when these content sites make money from you staying glued. From features to trending content; it’s all designed to keep you moving from one thing to the next, but always on the site. As a software developer there’s the added pressure to, always be improving or be irrelevant. This is on top of the fear of missing out from content creators farming engagement. That’s a lot of pressure to stay engaged and keep watching. I don’t always disconnect myself. But I am happiest when I find a better balance between what I consume and create. I feel better when I’m creating something. And some times that means I have to be more selective about what and when I consume. Try using playlists and schedules. Allow yourself a space to explore and consume. Just be mindful and try not to go over your planned time for it. I find it helps prevent me from feeling guilty about spending too much time and alleviates the feeling that I might miss out on something neat.
konzuko 2y ago
there's only one way this ends we all literally just stop
treyfitty 2y ago
> After knowing myself as someone who has always been good with words for years, seeing that I can’t choose the right word when speaking, or that I can’t convey the message or information I want to give more clearly and simply when writing, naturally bothers me Wow. I’ve been dealing with this for a while and it never occurred to me that it may be correlated (or caused by) by my incessant hunt for information and media at all times. I’ve always thought that if I wasn’t learning, and staying up to date on the latest frameworks, I’m not growing. I had a profound connection with this article, so much so that I’m willing to say it’s the most important information I’ve consumed in the last 5 years… but herein lies the conundrum… now I feel FOMO creeping in, perpetuating this incessant need to find others like it… sigh
- siberpunk 2y ago
  > now I feel FOMO creeping in, perpetuating this incessant need to find others like it… this.. this is what I forgot the mention in the artice. When you find something really good, really relatable, inspiring while you're consuming content, you'll always be wondering what if there's more? and you keep consuming, you keep adding to your bookmarks, your reading list etc.. It gets bigger and bigger, overwhelming at the same time. It's hard to suppress this feeling
  - zcw100 2y ago
    How many browser tabs do you have open right now?
aaron695 2y ago
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purple-leafy 2y ago
Hey I read your article. Have you ever considered: 1) Ditching social media (everything - Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn - everything. I don't mean delete the app. I mean delete all your accounts, and all the apps. No going back.) 2) Ditching your smart phone (Buy a brick phone) I'm completely serious. I'm currently living this way, the phone was a recent addition in the last month. But social media, has been for years. I don't watch TV segments either (news etc). I spend almost no time on my phone now. I spend my time building things, coding things, learning things (University courses/papers). I'm planning on kicking things up a notch next year. The horizon for my learning in 2025 is: - Game programming in TypeScript/C#/.NET/Unity - Modding existing games (C/C++/C#) - Low-level Graphics programming in C/C++ - Embedded programming in C - Small amount of electronics - Small amount of Assembly - Diving into Backend Programming and Testing (.NET) - Fleshing out my browser extension (React/TypeScript) - Gaming (Fallout 4, Stardew Valley, Minecraft) - Picking up University Papers (Probably Computer Science, Electronics, Machine Learning) You should email me if you have any questions <hello> @ <PAPILLON><sOfTWaRe> <DOT> <dev> If not, consider trialling, I mean REALLY trying the no social media and dumb phone thing.
- tosmatos 2y ago
  I think that is the way. I also ditched social media, used a brick phone for a while but went back to a smart phone for gps. Don't use it for social media though, since I have none. Although, how do you feel about using your computer to "waste" time? Like spending too much time reading random things you find on the internet, for example.
  - purple-leafy 2y ago
    These are all great questions! GPS is bloody tricky, so lately just for getting to job interviews I use smartphone for GPS. But back to the brick as soon as I get home. I'm going to get a GPS in my car instead. Computer I don't waste much time, I usually only use it for HackerNews ~20 minutes a day if there is something interesting to read, other than that its a work and coding machine. Some gaming too when I want to relax. I also use Kagi as my search engine so I basically only get small web websites, not content/advert heavy sites
anal_reactor 2y ago
[dead]
zeristor 2y ago
Interesting use of the word Consumption, I am reminded how Tuberculosis (TB), was called consumption and was a huge bane to people until antibiotics were discovered. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuberculosis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuberculosis
iamhamm 2y ago
> I can’t stop myself from thinking that working on a book for 6 months, doing its projects, is a huge waste of time for me, and because I already feel late, I find myself, yet again, in a cycle. That’s such an important observation. Many of us have become so fooled by the notion of fast consumption and immediate gains that we have all but stopped putting in the meaningful work.
bored-developer 2y ago
This post was really well written, I've felt the same way for a long time and I guess and never stopped and think about it. Thank you for putting it down into words. After reading it, a couple of days ago, I went on a hunt for books around that topic. I am leaving one here for you if you want to check it out since you mentioned there aren't any. I picked it up from kindle unlimited and so far I am enjoying it: https://amzn.to/4ixJkwm https://amzn.to/4ixJkwm Best of luck on your career and again thanks for this post.

320 points by siberpunk 2y ago

euniceee3 2y ago

Enable ad's. Companies, show more ad's.

TheRealQueequeg 2y ago
Sorry to be pedantic, but I'm drunk and got annoyed by your contraction use. WORD + 's = WORD + is. So, "ad's" = "advertisement is". Which shouldn't make sense. It should be "ads".
- bazmattaz 2y ago
  Sorry to be pedantic but WORD + ‘s = WORD + is, is not always true. If the word is a singular noun you can add an ‘s to form the possessive form of a singular noun; Jane’s books

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

malux85 2y ago

Then stop consuming! A champion has discipline. A champion athlete doesnt grow morbidly obese off pizza and then complains it’s the pizzas fault - stop, or drastically reduce, eating. “It’s not easy”, of course it isn’t, all greatness requires sacrifice, are you going to go to the gym (learn new programming skill) or sit there eating donuts?

siberpunk 2y ago
I think acknowledging the problem is one of the key aspects of focusing on the solution, maybe even the most important one. Writing it down in a concrete way that defines and explains it made me realize the issue. My next plan is to sign up for the gym :)
- svilen_dobrev 2y ago
  you still do go away/offhook for a while, and (surely will) come back with fresher sight. Towards Different (kind of) gym maybe. do not chase The Solution or that will become your gym..
siamese_puff 2y ago
This comment kind of nails it. I don’t have any social media at all and often my friends tell me I live under a rock for not knowing the latest meme. The decision is trivial, I just don’t have social media (except Hackernews which does waste a disgusting amount of time). Anyways - people gravitate toward the simple and assume the difficult is impossible. I’m training for a marathon with some friends and some are already making excuses to do as much as possible that _does not_ involve running (weight lifting, biking). I think humans just do the easy thing and complain about their situation because it’s.. well easy.
- corytheboyd 2y ago
  Very nicely highlighted in the article: > You find yourself in a quest for productivity, feeling productive because of the quest, but not really doing any productive work. Been there a million times myself, it’s such an easy trap to fall into.
- drcwpl 2y ago
  Very well said "people gravitate toward the simple and assume the difficult is impossible." I often get grief for saying people are lazy - I will use your careful tone
butterlettuce 2y ago
this preach, coach!
karmakaze 2y ago
I find that I use LLMs now to probe into areas that I'm curious about or want to find new hints to follow-up on. That's way more instructive and being interactive, more memorable than reading endless shallow blog posts. One thing I do is be critical of post writings or LLM output. Look deeper until you either find weaknesses or internalize its correctness/effectiveness. I still read HN stories to find those once-in-a-while posts that are both deep and relevant to my interests or work.
deleted 2y ago
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ggu7hgfk8j 2y ago
To me it seems like you are saying "just stop eating pizza" to someone trying to understand why and how the pizza is unhealthy and what is a better alternative. Clearly we have to eat something, so a bit of understanding is needed.
- Yeul 2y ago
  Some people would argue to ban pizzerias.
  - ggu7hgfk8j 2y ago
    Okay but can I tempt you with some flatbread?
_yb2s 2y ago
Often it takes more than willpower and deciding to commit, especially if you have ADHD, depression, etc. You often need a strategy that directly addresses the reason you are having trouble controlling your behavior. I say this as a person with both ADHD and depression that has a successful career as an academic scientist, and has also won as a competitive strength athlete, and been competitive bodybuilder lean at times. Discipline and good habits are important, but are often not the full picture, especially for people that are not neurotypical. Executive function isn’t something you can just decide to have if you don’t have it… and being belittled by people that do have it and don’t understand won’t help either. I spent a lot of my life trying to figure out why what I wanted to do in life still wasn’t happening when I felt fully committed and like I was trying 100%. Eventually I found other people struggling with the same issues and started building a toolbox of little techniques that worked for me.
purple-leafy 2y ago
Who said anything about being a champion? Why should this be the goal? Other than the media you've consumed has told you that "you must be a cHAmPiOn in LiFe" to be important. Fuck that, everything in moderation. I love donuts, being fit and shying away from donuts was a miserable experience. So what, I might die earlier having eaten that donut? Worth it. Everything in moderation. Good and bad. At the end of the day, none of this matters. Wy put arbitrary constraints on your short life of pleasure.

Swizec 2y ago

What a fantastic essay. Long ago I had the same hunch and likened having the internet around me to running with a parachute. These days I am little better at avoiding consumption, if not worse. I think it's inevitable. And I think on net it may be a good thing. Yes you lose time and focus by dipping your toes into the zeitgeist, but you also make sure you work on things that are relevant. The open vs closed door from Hamming's You and Your Research. The closed-door researcher produces more work, but the open-door researcher produces impactful work. Who was ultimately more productive? The key, I find, is to do a bit of both. Work on hard things with deep focus and validate against the zeitgeist regularly. edit: Found it. Almost the exact same post (in gist) from 2011 when I was 24, similar age as OP. https://swizec.com/blog/my-ideas-are-shitty-so-im-going-on-an-internet-diet/ https://swizec.com/blog/my-ideas-are-shitty-so-im-going-on-a...

brightball 2y ago
It’s actually one of the best arguments for pairing/mobbing that people don’t like to talk about. When you are sitting at a keyboard with other people, there’s no chance you’re going to browse. You and everyone else involved will be 100% focused on the task. They actually tested this with brainwave scans and found that concentration levels were significantly higher than working independently.
- deadbabe 2y ago
  Not true. These mobs often become a theater production where everyone pretends to be focused but they’re just collectively pushing along until hopefully someone solves the problem and they are released from their torturous exercise.
  - skydhash 2y ago
    Yeah, software engineering is a collective activity, but programming is not. From my limited experience with pair programming, it would be faster to design on a whiteboard, partition the tasks, and then review each other code.
  - 2y ago

deleted 2y ago

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switz 2y ago

This post makes a few detours, but the section about their own work is always interesting to me. I've always been a "pull on the threads and then pattern match"-kinda worker, rather than a "productivity-chaser" or "advice-seeker". I just pull on the threads that interest me, and over time these threads always have a way of coming back together. It's the difference between being goal oriented and process oriented. This is a much slower, much longer arc to building your taste, skills, and reaching some semblance of your abstract goals, but the other way just wasn't fun to me. When I was in undergrad I remember reading a lot of blogs and hoping to live up to their idealistic views (shoutout pg), because I hadn't quite yet identified what career I wanted to lead. I dropped out, and then around 24/25 the desire for those goals really shattered. I pursued a very self-directed path that has thankfully worked out (so far-still ample time for it to falter). As this post points out, the only advice that is universal on the internet is that there is no universal advice. Find what rings true to you and lean into it.

justlikereddit 2y ago
The author touches something that are probably better described as burnout triggers. Accumulate enough expectation metrics and targets and then completely miss them. The mismatch of expectations and reality will give anyone a pause. The solution isn't chasing more metrics and new far off targets with silver bullets on how to reach them. But that's what "thought leaders" and management think loves doing. The lower the "loss" between your prediction for your future state and the actual state, the more content you'll be and the easier things will likely progress. Spending more time on maxing out predictions will just make the loss larger.

markvdb 2y ago

You could do worse than read "The distracted mind", by neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley. It gave me deeper insight into the human-specific additions to my monkey brain.

djaouen 2y ago

It doesn't keep me from getting better at mine. Lol

panstromek 2y ago

I can relate quite a bit. I've experienced this state of overwhelm a few times and I developed some interventions for myself over time. I wrote post about it, if you want to take some inspiration: https://yoyo-code.com/managing-information-diet/ https://yoyo-code.com/managing-information-diet/

dogman144 2y ago
Good post, fwiw I feel basically similar to what you wrote, and this jumped out at me as this has been my main problem point - “I relaxed the rules, observed myself increasing the amount of content I consume over time, and now I'm back here” I haven’t found a solution yet but how to find one is in a lot of my thoughts lately. I feel similarly as OP it seems that this cycle is actively getting in the way of my job sometimes. I can go cold turkey/flip phone life and it works as in I don’t miss the content and adjust, but I work in tech it’s hard to not engage with the platforms and also do well, engaging in the platforms is like being a drug addict at free drug convention with a few helpful booths about work, and rinse/repeat. At periods it’s been such that I put some thought into if I had undiagnosed ADHD, because some times it veered a bit too close for comfort to where I really needed to focus on adult stuff and I just couldn’t. But, generally I speculate it’s an information diet thing first and foremost, but I’d rather sort that out first and see if it works. Tricky topic! Interesting to see discussion on it, it’s the first I’ve ran into with similar sentiments as my experiences.
lying4fun 2y ago
great article. the information debt and budget seem like very useful things to have in mind

squidproquo 2y ago

Excellent blog post. Summed up what I've been thinking for the past few years. I find myself endlessly consuming content (videos, podcasts, etc.) that I would deem "educational". It feels good, like you're learning something new, improving yourself. But at the end-of-the day you aren't. Your brain is just sitting there passively - not really doing any hard work. Instead of your brain generating ideas and solving problems, that process has been palmed off to the internet.

gspencley 2y ago
On the flip side, I do think that passively consuming "edu-tainment" content is better than consuming, say, fictional sitcoms or dramas that are intended to appeal to the masses. Not that there's anything wrong with consuming "mindless" entertainment either, just that in a conversation about productivity vs non-productivity and "consumption"'s effects on it, I think it's fair to rank the content in question. I watch a ridiculous amount of this type of content. As a "maker" myself, I get inspired by watching other people make stuff .. and I pick up a few tips and tricks along the way too. But, the trap here that a lot in the comments seem in-tune with, is the trap of deluding yourself into thinking that you're being productive by consuming content ... as opposed to, well, producing stuff. My wife and I are part time performing magicians, and when it comes to our magic act we fall into this trap a LOT. Because I make good money as a software engineer, I wanted to create for us a "library" where no matter what we want to write or create we will have resources that will empower us with method possibilities. Sounds great on paper, until we look back on what we accomplished in the past weeks and all we can come up with "Well, we read a bunch of books... and some are super expensive and hard to find out of print magic books that only have < 1,000 known copies in existence ... does that count?" No, it doesn't. Some of the most innovative inventions and artistic creations have been borne from scarcity and limitations. An over-abundance of information is not necessarily bad it's just that we tend, as humans, to find ways to trick ourselves into thinking we're accomplishing something when we're really being passive. To circle back to my original point, while watching "edu-tainment" content on YouTube is still being passive, at least there is the capacity to gain high-level knowledge that can give you a head's start when you're ready to actually start diving into doing something.
bityard 2y ago

keybored 2y ago

Reading that post was a waste of my time.

goodlinks 2y ago
Skim the comments fist, way for efficient to get the meta and vibe before investing

photochemsyn 2y ago

The problem with fast consumption is it's shallow, and the only way around it I've found is the 1:3 rule. For every ten minutes of information consumption, you'll need at least another thirty minutes of tinkering about with your hands, keyboard, pencil and paper, etc. to have any chance of really absorbing and understanding that information. However, this is much harder and more demanding of your concentration and focus than just passively absorbing some interesting online content, particularly if the content relies on some background knowledge that you're missing, in which case it may take much, much longer to get up to speed on it. Note that LLMs are an incredible aid to grasping new material. Ask any decent LLM "what are the necessary background prerequisites for understanding this statement: <HN comment on arcane math or tech>" and it will usually point you in the right direction.

skydhash 2y ago
Reflection is key. Books consumption (mostly digital) for me is always done in three phases. The first is just reading, no note, with only slight highlighting. Then after reflecting (or trying to explain) the ideas, I go back and try to do a summary. The third part is connecting those ideas to others from different books, or using them practically. Consumption without reflection or doing is mostly entertainment, like you would do with a novel or a movie.
- TheRealQueequeg 2y ago
  >Consumption without reflection or doing is mostly entertainment, like you would do with a novel or a movie. Maybe you do do this and were making a sweeping claim-understandble. But if not, try inspecting the themes and topics brought up by the novels you read and movies you watch? Almost all media has something of value to dissect and discuss if you are willing to do so. Your last sentence reminds me of when I shat on the first Transformers movies as a teenager thinking they were nothing more than trite Hollywood cash grabs but, my professor nudged me to think about the movie again beyond my assumptions and ego.
  - skydhash 2y ago

kevinsync 2y ago

>> Since graduating from undergraduate studies (which marks exactly one year as I write this post) Author sounds young .. yes, absolutely try to consume less and create more, it's way more life-affirming than the opposite configuration, but: Getting better at your job, like everything else in life, is just a function of time. Show up, and then show up consistently. Put in the time. Be patient. Lead with an open mind and an open heart -- opportunities go to those who are present way more often than those who aren't. Willingly take on shitty jobs, do them well, and you'll find yourself being trusted with bigger and better jobs. Learn when to be the worker bee and when to be the queen bee. Say "yes" until you're truly able to say "no". Try to accept that, at the end of the day, things don't matter as much as you think they might -- I'm talking about projects, stress, deadlines, shit that floods your veins with cortisol. The only thing people will truly remember is how you made them feel during a crisis, not the minutiae of what you actually contributed -- and those personal relationships will be the gasoline in the engine of your career. I really believe people will go far if they focus on this kind of stuff, and way less on structured self-improvement, productivity hacking, finding "secrets", shortcuts via programs, seminars, coaches, and tools, and all that shallow, nutritionless baloney.

skydhash 2y ago
This. Slow, but consistent is the way to win. Like they say in Rally Racing: Slow is fast and fast is slow. There's no shortcut other than understanding. Which takes time and good input (great books, good mentors, practical experiences,..). And everything is driven by social factors, not technical prowess. The latter helps with solving problem, but the former defines the problem in the first place. Improve your soft skills as well as your technical abilities.
- mnky9800n 2y ago
  It’s not about aptitude it's about the way you’re viewed.
- schlonger0009 2y ago
  I agree! Also, it's "Slow is smooth and smooth is fast".

strangattractor 2y ago

Yep - I am writing a HN comment instead of doing my work at this very moment.

Timber-6539 2y ago

I personally find that learning about a subject you're interested in with an aim to solving a specific problem takes away the mundane part of the learning process. And the more problems I discover to solve motivate me to delve even deeper.

vonnik 2y ago

I’m a big believer in learning tied to projects and goals, at least for the consumption that the author is describing. It usually feeds back into building, which feeds back into learning. But more broadly, it comes down to where you draw the line and call content distraction, and what you do about digital distractions. https://vonnik.substack.com/p/how-to-take-your-brain-back https://vonnik.substack.com/p/how-to-take-your-brain-back

mega_dean 2y ago

> Although it has been on my mind for a long time, I haven’t been able to read a comprehensive book based on these studies Deep Work by Cal Newport focuses on these ideas pretty heavily, and he cites plenty of studies to back up his arguments. Like the author of the blogpost says, "There’s no guarantee that what works for them will work for you", but I found my productivity increased noticeably after I applied some of the advice from the book.

deleted 2y ago

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endlessvoid94 2y ago

I recently did a digital declutter, as described in Cal Newport's book Digital Minimalism. One hobby I picked up much more easily than anticipated: microcontroller programming. With the spare energy and mindspace freed up from scrolling social media, I'm now expanding my skillset and reading far more books. I'm not claiming to have boosted my skills to an unrealistic degree, but the benefits of giving up the dumb online activity are very real, very tangible, and very valuable IMO.

Yoric 2y ago

For what it's worth, I've recently started writing a small open-source tool to avoid consuming too much in the way of videos and social networks. https://github.com/Yoric/keep-it-focused/ https://github.com/Yoric/keep-it-focused/ We'll see whether that works.

agentultra 2y ago

Also hard to disconnect when these content sites make money from you staying glued. From features to trending content; it’s all designed to keep you moving from one thing to the next, but always on the site. As a software developer there’s the added pressure to, always be improving or be irrelevant. This is on top of the fear of missing out from content creators farming engagement. That’s a lot of pressure to stay engaged and keep watching. I don’t always disconnect myself. But I am happiest when I find a better balance between what I consume and create. I feel better when I’m creating something. And some times that means I have to be more selective about what and when I consume. Try using playlists and schedules. Allow yourself a space to explore and consume. Just be mindful and try not to go over your planned time for it. I find it helps prevent me from feeling guilty about spending too much time and alleviates the feeling that I might miss out on something neat.

konzuko 2y ago

there's only one way this ends we all literally just stop

treyfitty 2y ago

> After knowing myself as someone who has always been good with words for years, seeing that I can’t choose the right word when speaking, or that I can’t convey the message or information I want to give more clearly and simply when writing, naturally bothers me Wow. I’ve been dealing with this for a while and it never occurred to me that it may be correlated (or caused by) by my incessant hunt for information and media at all times. I’ve always thought that if I wasn’t learning, and staying up to date on the latest frameworks, I’m not growing. I had a profound connection with this article, so much so that I’m willing to say it’s the most important information I’ve consumed in the last 5 years… but herein lies the conundrum… now I feel FOMO creeping in, perpetuating this incessant need to find others like it… sigh

siberpunk 2y ago
> now I feel FOMO creeping in, perpetuating this incessant need to find others like it… this.. this is what I forgot the mention in the artice. When you find something really good, really relatable, inspiring while you're consuming content, you'll always be wondering what if there's more? and you keep consuming, you keep adding to your bookmarks, your reading list etc.. It gets bigger and bigger, overwhelming at the same time. It's hard to suppress this feeling
- zcw100 2y ago
  How many browser tabs do you have open right now?

aaron695 2y ago

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purple-leafy 2y ago

Hey I read your article. Have you ever considered: 1) Ditching social media (everything - Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn - everything. I don't mean delete the app. I mean delete all your accounts, and all the apps. No going back.) 2) Ditching your smart phone (Buy a brick phone) I'm completely serious. I'm currently living this way, the phone was a recent addition in the last month. But social media, has been for years. I don't watch TV segments either (news etc). I spend almost no time on my phone now. I spend my time building things, coding things, learning things (University courses/papers). I'm planning on kicking things up a notch next year. The horizon for my learning in 2025 is: - Game programming in TypeScript/C#/.NET/Unity - Modding existing games (C/C++/C#) - Low-level Graphics programming in C/C++ - Embedded programming in C - Small amount of electronics - Small amount of Assembly - Diving into Backend Programming and Testing (.NET) - Fleshing out my browser extension (React/TypeScript) - Gaming (Fallout 4, Stardew Valley, Minecraft) - Picking up University Papers (Probably Computer Science, Electronics, Machine Learning) You should email me if you have any questions <hello> @ <PAPILLON><sOfTWaRe> <DOT> <dev> If not, consider trialling, I mean REALLY trying the no social media and dumb phone thing.

tosmatos 2y ago
I think that is the way. I also ditched social media, used a brick phone for a while but went back to a smart phone for gps. Don't use it for social media though, since I have none. Although, how do you feel about using your computer to "waste" time? Like spending too much time reading random things you find on the internet, for example.
- purple-leafy 2y ago
  These are all great questions! GPS is bloody tricky, so lately just for getting to job interviews I use smartphone for GPS. But back to the brick as soon as I get home. I'm going to get a GPS in my car instead. Computer I don't waste much time, I usually only use it for HackerNews ~20 minutes a day if there is something interesting to read, other than that its a work and coding machine. Some gaming too when I want to relax. I also use Kagi as my search engine so I basically only get small web websites, not content/advert heavy sites

anal_reactor 2y ago

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zeristor 2y ago

Interesting use of the word Consumption, I am reminded how Tuberculosis (TB), was called consumption and was a huge bane to people until antibiotics were discovered. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuberculosis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuberculosis

iamhamm 2y ago

> I can’t stop myself from thinking that working on a book for 6 months, doing its projects, is a huge waste of time for me, and because I already feel late, I find myself, yet again, in a cycle. That’s such an important observation. Many of us have become so fooled by the notion of fast consumption and immediate gains that we have all but stopped putting in the meaningful work.

bored-developer 2y ago

This post was really well written, I've felt the same way for a long time and I guess and never stopped and think about it. Thank you for putting it down into words. After reading it, a couple of days ago, I went on a hunt for books around that topic. I am leaving one here for you if you want to check it out since you mentioned there aren't any. I picked it up from kindle unlimited and so far I am enjoying it: https://amzn.to/4ixJkwm https://amzn.to/4ixJkwm Best of luck on your career and again thanks for this post.