If you are wondering whether you should read this, keep in mind it's not about piracy. It is interesting and worth the read.
I felt weird reading this--I caught myself red-handed, surfing away because I didn't feel like going to bed. I was stealing from myself alright. I hadn't felt that weird since I saw a 3D rendering of a brain and realized I was looking at myself.
If there were a way I could change my behavior, I would. But, like an addict, I am stuck in my ways despite the best of intentions. These articles never help. I know the problem. I just wish I had a solution.
That kind of justification behavior ("I can't change") is a classic symptom of addiction, actually. So clearly you're right. The solution is to work on changing it.
Working on it is important, but learning to work with it I find more valuable. If you still suck at something in your mid-20s, chances are you're stuck with it. Find work arounds. Like so many of the pseudo-self-help articles popping up here lately, this seems to get the chain of causality backwards -- people don't goof off because they're founding startups; goof-offs tend to make good to be good startup founders. The link between impatience, hyperactivity and entrepreneurship is no coincidence.
My solution is "modes", I have a goof mode where I try to soak up as many ideas as possible, and surf around, then I have a crunch mode where I do nothing but work. I need both modes to stay sane.
You might have adult ADD. The solution would be a good diagnosis, and ritalin or some variant (concerta, strattera). Allow 6-8 months to find the right drug.
Good. My biggest beef with the "YC is a cult" story is that it didn't even try to be funny. He could have at least made some kind of photoshopped illustration using pg's head.
hmmm you can start small, by using the noprocrast feature of HN. I've also seen "accountability buddy" software as well, which captures how long you spend on what sites throughout the day, and sends it to a real life buddy. (the one i saw was for porn control 8D)
Anyway, point is, there's more you can do than listen to advice you won't take and giving up.
My Dad has this expression that he repeated to me over and over when I was younger and I was wasting my time playing games, watching dumb shows on TV, etc.
He called it the "brain-hours", and said you only have a limited number of those in your life, and what you choose to spend them on determines your life.
He called it the "brain-hours", and said you only have a limited number of those in your life
Exactly. That's why it's not a waste of time to watch TV, read forums, and play video games. The number of "brain hours" per day is less than the number of hours your're going to be awake. You have to fill that time with something; Twitter is just as good as anything.
Now if you're feeling creative, productive, and wide-awake, it would be a shame to waste those hours on something not creative. Which is why I am closing this window right now. There are a few libraries I want to write before the end of today :)
An interesting side-note... my own observation this time - I've noticed that the more time you spend creative, productive and wide-awake, the more your daily supply of brain-hours expands.
I am not sure I like his line of reasoning. I have a manic depressive friend who starts overly intense reform missions from time to time (to correct all the perceived flaws in his life). The tone of this article reminds me of this friend.
Yes, a lot of us slack off quite a bit, but Bertrand Russell rightly pointed out in "The Conquest of Happiness" that one needs to be able to enjoy idleness to be happy (and what point, pray tell, is there to life if you cannot be happy?).
This should not be a justification for too much idleness, which is an evil of the same degree as the puritan anti-idleness espoused in the posted item.
This reminds me a bit of the time thieves in the book "Momo". On the one hand he has a point, on the other hand, having no idle time is probably bad, too.
Let me be the first to say "WTF is this guy rambling about?"
He doesn't seem to be talking about piracy... he seems to be talking about instant messaging. Mental breaks from the work we're doing. Not sitting and watching compiles scroll up the screen. Not sitting blank-faced and burned out.
So... theft? Huh? Maybe I need more caffeine, but you can color me confused.
He's talking about the fact that independent workers (MicroISVs, startups, freelancers, web workers, etc) are, unlike normal salaried workers, are stealing from ourselves when we goof off a lot. Needless self distraction is like stealing money from yourself.
On the salary side of the fence, you're increasingly seeing people who are tasked with a fixed list of stuff to do rather than punching a clock for an even 40 hours a week. In this setting, needless self-distraction is like stealing free time from yourself.
Of course, the definition of "needless self distraction" is sticky. But no matter how you define it, you probably do it too much (and so do I!).
I felt weird reading this--I caught myself red-handed, surfing away because I didn't feel like going to bed. I was stealing from myself alright. I hadn't felt that weird since I saw a 3D rendering of a brain and realized I was looking at myself.