
Conceding Defeat - The Internet is Stronger Than I Am - lionhearted
http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/?p=432
======
pavs
I have been reading a decent amount lately. This year I have read 28 books so
far (should end up with 30 books) and the last 2 years I have read 50 books in
total. <http://iampavs.com/books/>

I have found that reading books itself is not so difficult, nor is it
difficult to find time to read books. The difficult part is to make reading
books a _habit_. The same way going to HN and Reddit (or whatever your
frequently visited site) is a habit. You unconsciously find yourself
refreshing that page even though you very well know nothing new happened
within the last 30 seconds.

Everyone needs to start at some place and I think instead of forcing yourself
in to the habit of reading books, one should ease themselves slowly in to
forming a reading habit. Someone mentioned Pomodoro technique and I would
recommend that. But I would suggest against taking a mechanical approach in to
reading and instead start with small chunk (15 minutes of reading time a day)
and slowly built yourself up for longer reading time.

If you asked me 2 years ago if I can go through 1 hour of uninterrupted
reading I would probably laugh at you. But I now find myself reading 2-3 hours
of continuous reading a day without much problem (not everyday though).
Getting a kindle helped to get some distraction-less reading experience.

Do it. Reading books outside your field is the best thing you can do for
yourself.

~~~
JesseAldridge
I don't know. I have a suspicion books are overvalued due to the cultual
weight they've historically carried. Wise people read books. We tend to think
of browsing the internet as frivilous when compared to reading classic
literature -- but is it really? With books, the individual ideas don't get
filtered by up and down votes or what have you. You only get ideas from one
person -- you don't get immediate dissenting views. People on the internet
know attention is a scarce resource and make an effort to condense their ideas
as much as possible. Long form has advantages, certainly; but perhaps a big
reason we are so drawn to the internet is that it is actually the better use
of time.

~~~
mseebach
Reading books isn't just about consuming a simple, distilled idea in a short
time. I'm working my way through a biography on Churchill in WWII, trying to
understand the background for the role he plays in the English society into
which I've recently relocated, and also because I'm very politically
interested, and he's one of the big heroes of the movement I associate with.

This process (and lord knows it's a process, the book has been on my bed stand
for months) has given lots of time to reflect on the person and his time, it
has prompted inquiries and discussions with people better acquainted with him,
the time and Britain. On a recent visit to the Imperial War Museum in London,
I was able to draw on my readings, while the experience conversely expanded my
horizons and my gains from reading the book.

Had this been a ten paragraph blog post, I would have gotten a re-iteration of
the view that he's a hero, a central figure in post-war Britain, and
particular in post-war conservatism. A comment on that blog post would
probably point out the usual criticism, that the bombing of Dresden was an
atrocity, that he was an unrelenting imperialist and that WWII was won by the
Sovjets and the west just swooped in at the last minute to collect the prizes.

Well, I _knew_ that. I just didn't understand it and it's implications. I
still don't (and still have a few hundred pages to go), but I have a much
better framework for exploring the issue.

One thing that good books can do, that I've never seen even the best blogposts
do in a lasting way: they get under your skin and stay there. I read
Microserfs several times in my mid- to late teens, and I'm certain the "Yes!
This!" experience I got from this book forever shaped me towards
entrepreneurship. I haven't read it for a decade, but the picture of sitting
in someones garage passionately working on your own product is still my ideal
of life.

A good handful of books have gotten under my skin in various ways, in ways
that reading stuff online never did. There are many, many forgettable books,
but the prize of that under-the-skin experience is enough that I keep trying.
Even lacking that, getting sucked into an alternative reality is excellent
entertainment.

Finally, I simply enjoy reading a book (or on my Kindle). I enjoy not having
the distractions of a computer nearby.

------
nathanmarz
I find the Pomodoro technique to be great for combating internet
procrastination. All you do is take a forced break after some fixed time of
working. I do 45 minutes of work followed by 20 minutes of break.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique>

Since you know you're going to take a break soon, you can't justify slacking
off during work time. It's a mental hack that's simple and effective.

Posts about the technique pop up on Hacker News from time to time.

~~~
frou_dh
Although I struggle with focus myself, I can't help but feel jaded about
things like this. To paraphrase some stuff Merlin Mann said, the real issue is
seeking out things that you care enough about that you don't need to trick
yourself in to staying on track.

~~~
pavs
First, care.

[http://www.43folders.com/2010/02/05/first-
care&article=7...](http://www.43folders.com/2010/02/05/first-
care&article=78165884)

------
da5e
When I'm hanging out on the web I keep a wire book rack with an open book on
it right beside my computer. It acts like a third monitor and I find myself
reading it as much as I do the other screens.

------
robryan
It's a tough one, if you did keep to this scheme I think you would miss a lot
of stuff that helps you with the productive goals you are trying to achieve.
It's not really something you can plan out either, a lot of the really
valuable stuff and new ideas that help me both with the programming and
business side of my startup I just stumble upon.

Limiting yourself would get more work done but there is always the danger on
putting your head down and plowing on in one direction only later to realize
much better ideas or methods that you didn't know about in a more closed loop.

Of course there is a load of middle ground and I guess that's what most of us
here try and work towards.

------
gwern
How much stronger you'll find in a few days or weeks when you break even this
scheme.

~~~
prawn
Reminds me of the final frames of this: <http://i.imgur.com/6VBhD.jpg>

We won't be ruined by what we hate, but what we love. Or even worse and not
even with passion - we will be ruined/placated by things just mundane and
addictive enough to keep us transfixed to screens.

~~~
aheilbut
That reminds me, I've gotta finish reading Amusing Ourselves to Death.

------
JabavuAdams
Let me know how it's going in 3 months.

I find I get excited about new organizational / management techniques, but
very few survive the 3 month (never mind 3 week) mark.

~~~
thingsilearned
Exactly. Its way too premature to be taken as advice.

I've been limiting and attempting to limit my internet time for years with
various techniques, tools and even building several myself. Its still an
annoying struggle.

The internet has put a giant entertainment box inside every cubicle in the
world and people make a lot of money to keep you distracted and entertained
:).

------
kranner
I've been forced into a similar situation for a week now. I moved to a new
city for a new job and have no internet connection at home yet (and no TV or
radio either).

It was painful for the first few days but now I am so much more relaxed and
well-rested I am giving serious consideration to continuing this way for a
bit. I also seem to be able to concentrate a great deal better than before:
tested on a new (to me) Coetzee novel and a math textbook.

~~~
kranner
Update after a week: so that didn't last very long.

------
misterbwong
I've done this in the past and it definitely works....in the beginning. If you
want to KEEP your reclaimed time, be very wary of other time sinks. Don't just
replace the internet with TV or some other similarly unproductive, brain
numbing activity.

------
DanielBMarkham
You gotta love the irony of a guy who laments spending so much time on the
internet -- by spending time on the internet blogging about it.

(And I'm allowed to pick at lion, because I do the same thing)

~~~
frou_dh
Blah. This type of zinger (usually directed at 'complaining about complaining
about') never works because the target is always clearly framed as a 'meta'
point.

~~~
zackattack
"the target is always clearly framed as a 'meta' point."

Can you unpack this statement? What's a 'meta' point? And why is it not an
effective zinger?

------
radioactive21
I've tried to limit my internet use and I end up wasting it on something even
far worst. Television.

I really dont go out much, because of location, there is not much to do. So me
limiting my internet use amounts to working out and waching TV.......which
kinda sounds like prison lol

I kinda justify things lately by learning online. For example I take classes
online for various things like learning a foreign language, or playing the
piano, or learning new technology etc

------
riffraff
one of my pet projects is a chrome extension that tracks where I spend time in
the browser. I was always worried that I may be spending too much time on HN,
reddit etc.

Now I have hard data, it's bad (about 10% on this news sites, still not
tracking dependent time on linked sites) but not as bad as I thought :)

~~~
gintas
Is the extension available to the public? I'd love to be able to see my own
stats.

~~~
dekz
There is this
[https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/mokmnbikneoaenmc...](https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/mokmnbikneoaenmckfmgjgjimphfojkd)

But it isn't exactly elegant.

~~~
riffraff
mine looks slightly better, but I wanted to add a couple more features (ignore
url, delete item from history)before releasing. As soon as I have a bit of
time to do it and release it I'll ping whoever wants to know it.

------
known
Internet will _initially_ promote race to the bottom.

