

I Code to Procrastinate When I Should be Growing My Startup - 204NoContent
http://blog.yumhacker.com/post/75911911404/i-code-to-procrastinate-when-i-should-be-growing-my

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return0
OK, even I am getting buzzed at how these blatant self-advertisment-wrapped-
in-a-cutesy-blog don't even take the time to write a proper blog post with at
least 1 nugget of interesting information.

Frank note to author: This is not the way to grow your startup. Hacker news
visits are fun for getting a few comments, but they are useless in growing
your startup. Even more frank note to author: the startup idea isn't quite
appealing or even original.

~~~
erikpukinskis
This comment is really bad. There's nothing constructive here. All you said is
"that's not good enough". But you have no idea where OP is in their
development as a writer.

Maybe this is where they're at, in which case publishing it is GREAT and
getting a couple good responses on HN is great, because that _actual feedback_
is going to help them improve as a writer more than just leaving a note in
their draft folder. And the way you get good at writing, like with everything
else, is putting your shitty stuff out there. No one is born shooting
diamonds.

But your post is no better than silence. And it's probably worse than silence
because you we're mean in the process

I suspect you gleefully think you're being constructive, which makes it OK
that you're being mean, but I think you're doing the exact opposite, which is
the worst kind of contribution.

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return0
Sorry you don't like my post. I don't get how my post is "mean", i did not
insult anyone other than offering my honest (but harsh) opinion. Your comment
on the other hand is completely useless to both of us. Other than giving you a
perverse feeling of self-rigteousness, what else does your comment offer?

(If you meant to offend/shame me, you failed at it)

~~~
erikpukinskis
I didn't mean to offend or shame you. If I was right and it was a kind of
meanness then you'll hear it many more times throughout your life and you
might some day decide it's a pattern you want to pay attention to. If I was
wrong then you won't, and this comment will disappear into the wind and that
will be that.

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hkmurakami
I have a similar issue with reading and writing (instead of doing more
pertinent things). My current self assessment is that I'm adept at these
things and they give me quick psychological rewards for delivering some kind
of result/output. The tasks that are really important, require learning, or
have a lot of ambiguity have long, big reward cycles, which I think make us
averse to them by nature.

~~~
jenniferDewalt
I think it's the immediate reward aspect of coding that draws me in. The more
important tasks don't necessarily give a tangible result right away. With
code, I can fix a bug and have something to point to and say 'success!'.

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kokey
I feel your pain, that is me too most of the time. That said I'm the only
technical person around to fix these things, so I often can't step back and
spend time sorting out the big things, or even figuring out how to prioritize
things in the most efficient way. I think a big part of the problem, for me,
is that it's hard to switch between the focus of coding and other things like
people management and creative thinking about marketing. Personally, my
solution is to get a good project manager involved. Someone who has technical
aptitude so they understand the issues, but also able to gauge and manage the
priorities of the people and everything else that matter. That way it
simplifies your time management around coding and that type of problem
solving.

~~~
jenniferDewalt
It really is hard to switch between different modes of thinking. I think that
is why it's important to carve out chunks of time where you can really dig in
and focus on getting stuff done.

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chrisBob
Its after 2PM here and I was just saying to my lab-mate that I might as well
head home since I haven't done anything useful yet today, but instead I opened
up HN and found this!

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kristiandupont
I get that too. I think another reason is that I've been programming for so
long that I have that defined as work in my head. I am good at it and I can
make visible progress when programming. Taking meetings, doing marketing and
similar tasks are much harder to quantify and thus I can do an entire day of
that kind of work and still feel guilty about not having done anything.

~~~
jenniferDewalt
This is exactly how I feel. It's nice to see I am not the only one who
struggles with that guilt!

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tfigueroa
At least coding is improving the product. There's plenty of advice on what the
critical path to success is - that isn't.

~~~
jenniferDewalt
That is very true. Improving your product is a big part of growth. The trick
is to not waste time working on code that doesn't matter.

