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Ask YC: Why? The more time I spend here the more I get done.

24 points by edw519 ↗ HN
Last night, my other half said, "Are you on that hacker news again? If you spent as much time on your software as that web site, you'd be done already."

Got me to thinking. I DO spend a lot of time here lately. But I've also gotten a lot of work done. Yesterday was a great day, with several major breakthroughs and lots of new code. Yet I was here off and on all day long. I can't explain it. It seems like it's the opposite of what you'd expect.

The only explanations I can think of is that reading and discussing interesting stuff here gets my juices flowing, almost like "stretching" before the real workout. Maybe being among others who are achieving the same things as me keeps me going. Also, it tempers the loneliness. Anyone else with similar experience?

36 comments

[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 68.1 ms ] thread
llimllib
Yes. My employer's approximately as enthused about it as your girlfriend is, though.
gms
I can't help feeling that you're only saying this to comfort yourself.
yters
Alternatively, it could have a similar effect to taking a break and going for a walk.
gms
How many times does one take a break and go for a walk, per day?

Also, being here is nothing like taking a walk. More like chatting at the office water cooler.

JohnN
not at all, not unless u count to the bathroom
pg
Depends where you work. This was one of the more alarming things about getting bought by Yahoo. When Viaweb was in Harvard Square we used to leave the office 2-4 times a day. When we moved to Yahoo, which was in the middle of nowhere, we never left.
gms
2-4 is still probably less than the number of times people visit this site. It's my mistake for not being more clear about this, but I also feel it's less harmful to go out than to visit here. At least going out constitutes a concrete block of time, leaving you with a big block of time to get work done when you get back. On the other hand, many small visits to this site only serve as interruptions to your flow, never allowing you to have a big block of time for work.
DaniFong
A friend once remarked to me that one of his 'cures for procrastination' is to do something only mildly distracting, and mildly amusing, after sitting down to work and both taking on any big problems. He says it takes some time to get settled, but he needs to feel a sort of mental presence of a problem before he can really tackle it.

Perhaps the right type of break is the same way: perhaps it lets you cool it and evaluate your issues before tackling them, instead of following the path of least resistance.

DaniFong
*before.

I seem to be highly susceptible to spelling issues and one word omissions while sleep deprived. PG, if you're reading this, consider allowing very small (~one word) edits after posts have persisted.

ken
If only there was an easy way to submit Feature Requests for this website!

(Yeah, I'm a jerk.)

pg
What would the UI for that look like, though? Let people do arbitrary edits, and reject them if they changed too much? That would make people mad.
hassy
* Allow unlimited editing within X minutes after posting. (Many forums do it this way.)

* Keep history of all edits (as diffs of course). This would be very much in spirit of the board. :)

DaniFong
It's only a hunch, but perhaps after a certain point in time, you could change 'edit' to correct. Upon clicking correct, each word or space (to insert a word or two) becomes hyperlinkable, and if you click on it, you can do inline edits. Validate the changes in javascript, apply when a button is pressed, or focus is lost.
yters
That's probably true. Complete changes in environment seems to clear the distraction build up better than surfing. Plus, surfing easily turns into "just one more page."
abstractbill
The justin.tv office has an accessible roof, which was where I went for walks probably 3 or 4 times a day when it was warm outside.
axod
I usually take a bath instead of going for a walk. Sometimes a couple a day. Then a few minutes after I get in I have some idea, or work out how to solve something, so have to get out again to do it...
nostrademons
Nearly once an hour, I think. I don't keep close track. Plus going out for a run mid-afternoon, weather permitting.

I've found that one of the largest benefits of working at home is that I can get up to pace whenever I feel like it without disturbing any cubemates. I find pacing much better at clearing the head than deliberately going out for a walk, because I do it subconsciously without mentally unloading the problem. I noticed the same effect at work too: when I had a big office to myself, or when my cubemates weren't in to work, I tended to get much more done.

I find I can't concentrate if I've been sitting at the computer for more than 2-3 hours straight. I really do start to feel the lack of exercise.

randallsquared
It could be the case, though. I've certainly had the experience of reading news.yc for a while and becoming eager to work on something, but it sure doesn't work that way for getting routine non-startup work done.
wmeredith
I find this site is much more valuable for perspective and inspiration than productivity.

Sure, you're not on Fark or Hot or Not, but I'll second gms and say you may be rationalizing a bit here.

wallflower
I think it is the threads of discussion that help jog/stimulate/kick-start your brain after it stalls on a non-YC related problem...

If you want to cut back (definitely not cold turkey)... 8aweek.com - just started yesterday and I'm shocked at how quickly 30 minutes (of usage) goes... Now they just need an iPhone version (so I don't cheat)

lg
I just tried it, and I love that it starts off with Hacker News on the restricted list :) I guess they know their audience.
thorax
I've been using it, ummm, 5 days now? It's saved me something like 12 hours during that time.

The red bar is counting down now, gotta run!

Xichekolas
I'm right there with you. Reading here just gets me in a technical mood to start my day.
TFrancis
Get back to work Drew!
Xichekolas
I hope you are who I think you are, because if not, that is creepy as hell.
abstractbill
Hacker News does bring out my usually quite dormant competitive streak. If I'm not feeling very inspired about anything, all I have to do is read a bunch of stories here and then I quickly feel the need to create something better than all the amazing things I've just read about.
Alex3917
It makes logical sense that time spent on news.yc would somehow correlate with time spent working, since there is a limited amount of time in the day. In practice though I doubt there is much (if any) relation between the two. Either you're in the mood to get work done or you're not. In 95% of cases time spent on news.yc is probably replacing other non-work activities.
thorax
I can't be here (or much of anywhere) for more than 30 minutes each day. 8aweek won't let me!

And I am absolutely far more productive because of it. :)

jrsims
I can agree.

I think a lot of us geeks - as smart as we claim to be - have a difficult time executing our ideas because we're so in love with the ideas themselves, that often they suffice for the actual thing. Many of us want our products to be perfect at launch. It's a totally insane way to be.

Hacker News helps me get real and break through my self-imposed reality-distortion field (you know what I'm talking about!). I discovered Hacker News two weeks ago and I've done more actual work on my product since then than in the last 3 months. Loving it.

axod
Hmm now there's an idea. A wifi toilet that auto updates your twitter/facebook etc status. You could be onto something there...

"sutro has just passed a 2Lb stool"

sutro
Is shitr.com available?
nostrademons
I think there may be a limit to the amount of productive work you can get done in a day, and whether you hit that limit after 3 hours or 14 hours, it's still there. So there may be some truth to your impression that news.YC isn't really hurting your real productivity.

OTOH, I've found that going out and getting some exercise, or turning off the computer and reading a book, or watching a movie tends to clear my head a lot quicker than social bookmarking sites or blogs. I feel like I get "stuck" in a low level of activity when I read too much, like all that incoming information is still taking up cycles that would otherwise be used for my startup. So maybe it's not the best procrastination activity. ;-)

I certainly have noticed that the biggest bottleneck for my productivity is the time it takes for my brain to adjust to and assimilate new architectural decisions. And letting my brain relax and switch off seems to make that go faster. (So does getting lots of sleep...again, sleep is not something to shortchange.) I'm just not certain that news.YC or other programming-related websites really let my brain switch off all that well.

jib1123
Flattery is getting you more karma ;)
Tichy
I think reading news is like drinking coffee. I'd prefer to not be addicted, though.
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mattjones
Here's a possibility:

I've noticed that the more time I spend here, the less tolerance I have for other sites. So while I spend more time here than I used to, I spend much less time on other, less relevant sites than I used to. The time I have to do work is actually the same or greater.