by freefrancisco on 11/13/20, 10:37 PM with 32 comments
by eyelidlessness on 11/14/20, 2:45 AM
In adult-diagnosed ADHD cases, we often find ourselves discovering cleverly invented milestones and achievements or even convenient self deceptions that produce dopamine when it would naturally be a long way away. Speaking for myself, I allow myself personal congratulations and merits for utterly insignificant and pointless details for any task that feels “too big” or “too daunting” to make them achievable for my brain. I can take several hours to get my laundry going, a couple minutes work in all, and I allow myself to celebrate getting the dirty laundry into a basket, then another getting it into the laundry room. Usually by this point following through is automatic and doesn’t require more workarounds.
But ultimately the concept is the same. If the reward feels far away, and far away is demotivating, giving yourself rewards along the way opens pathways to keep going when it doesn’t feel feasible otherwise.
by rwnspace on 11/14/20, 4:19 AM
There's a typo near the end of the post, which made me smile - my first thought was that it was left in intentionally. I recommend following the author's lead. Like any treatment, it's no panacea, but by god was it liberating, and I'm not entirely disabled by perfectionism these days :)
by IfOnlyYouKnew on 11/14/20, 4:25 AM
As in: it's almost like those jokes about interview answers: "What's your biggest weakness" / "I work too much".
It it helps people to cope and build some self-confidence then, maybe, it's the mistake that is net-positive. Sort-of like the (apocryphal) story that Columbus made a mistake and believed India to be much closer to Europe, and wouldn't have attempted to cross the Atlantic otherwise.
But my default position would be that any such delusional thought patterns tend to hurt. This, specifically, also has the ugly implication that anybody getting stuff done is sloppy and/or otherwise not at the genius level it takes to never do anything right.
(Spoken as someone who should be working instead of arguing on HN)
by Fumtumi on 11/14/20, 8:42 AM
It also doesn't help that we are now so much more connected.
I don't write software for one person. I often write it for Teams or customers and im efficient when i can automate things.
I do see this every day when i see people or processies and i think very often how inefficient it is.
Concept of good old mail: "useless". Takes ages, a human being has to sort it and has to bring it to you. Or a lot of jobs like all things a computer could do better and faster if we removed humans inbetween and added trust.
My mind tries to analyse things on a meta level which also leads to thoughts of relevance. I'm probably a nihilist for a reason.
My Mantras for the last few years are about the 'normal' things. Like trying out a new recipe .
And at the end of the day, i realize more and more that simple logic isn't working and my influence is very small; Now instead of trying to change something i can't change on a meta level, my goal now is to get away from this all.
I'm wandering through a mist of clarity as everyone else to arrive at the same end: death.
by xelxebar on 11/14/20, 1:43 AM
Not only is it a neat, simple model to play around with, but the tone of the article made me smile.
I need more friends like this author!
Thank you for taking the (excessive) amount of time to write this and overcoming the urge to polish out all the "imperfections".
by luord on 11/15/20, 1:43 AM
I'll now have that nitpicky attitude in check and remind myself that not completely perfect merge/pull requests are still work that my clients can see, and the feedback loop within them when they're not perfect from the get go doesn't necessarily have a downside, and can in fact improve communication and the flow of work. After all, a request is by definition not necessarily the work completed, but literally a request for feedback, and possibly iterating on the work already done.
I can even use a trick to mentally tell myself it doesn't have to be perfect: I can start work everyday with the expectation that, at the end, I only need to create or update a draft merge/pull request. That will get me even more easily into the mindset that I'm working to ask for feedback, not to deliver the final piece. Who knows, maybe by the end of the day the work will be good enough for a finished request, so it's a win-win situation.
And that's just one idea, that I need to put in action. I'll see how it goes.
by smitty1e on 11/14/20, 1:13 AM
The path is half the battle. Furthermore, getting a [DRAFT] out and interacting with the team has a catalytic effect.
Ain't about me. I'm singular. The team is plural. I'm at my location on the curve, with some leading me, some lagging.
As a contractor, my good work is for the sake of good work, and the knowledge it brings. That immaculately polished cannonball of a deliverable? Going under a bus.
Read Ecclesiastes.
by tardismechanic on 11/14/20, 4:01 AM
Enjoying the process, while fully embracing this realization, is key.