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Ask HN: How to deal with anxiety around wasting time?

50 points by brilliantcode ↗ HN
Hi guys, I'm a pathological hoarder. Be it karma points to books, I have a serious issue where if I'm not allowed to hoard digitally, it makes me uneasy.

However, the bigger problem is trying to consume what I've hoarded. I know there are urgent topics that I discovered on HN that I've raised multiple flags for me to spend time reading (because of it's potential ROI) but failed to because

If it doesn't seem like work it seems like a waste of time and if it seems like work it seems like I should be resting.

Meaning, there is a real anxiety around doing anything but work. When I try to get into a good book or an article, the panic starts to set in and I get an overwhelming urge to stop and do something that I perceive to be work related.

9 comments

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iEchoic
It's helped me to realize that not working is an important part of being productive. When you get that "brain fog" effect from working too much, you can be more productive by taking a break and relaxing for a bit. Try to reframe the situation in that light.
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ThrowawayP
I am not a medical professional and nothing I say should be construed as medical advice. That being said, you might want to compare what you're experiencing against checklists for occupational burnout [1] or some form of anxiety disorder.

Some suggestions:

- Re-evaluate your perspective. "Work to live; don't live to work" may sound corny but it's true. You need to reflect on what's important in life for you and, for most people, that seldom involves work.

- Meditation and other stress reduction techniques. They can be quite useful in clearing your head, so to speak, though they don't work for everybody.

- Seeking therapy and/or medication. Stress and anxiety related disorders are sufficiently common now, unfortunately, that there's much less stigma about seeing a therapist than there used to be.

[1] One of the known potential symptoms being "I'm not getting enough done; I must try to work harder", causing the subject to get even less done

sghiassy
Studies show that a significant amount of muscle is created while sleeping / resting after a workout.

Similarily, if you're truly trying to maximize productivity, adding periods of downtime is necessary.

Working continually may address your anxiety fears, but you're not actually maximizing productivity.

itamarst
Working less can actually make you more productive (https://codewithoutrules.com/2016/11/10/work-life-balance-so...) but there's a bigger issue: why are you working?

What is the point?

You need to have a good answer for that, or work is just a way to avoid thinking about what you should be doing in your life. Especially since work-work-work-work-work isn't actually efficient or productive, it's just a way to pretend that you're achieving something while actually being exhausted and burned out.

llcoolv
just remember that being anxious about it is a waste of time (mind/thought) on its own. it is a bit funny as well
InclinedPlane
Mindfulness based cognitive therapy.

If you can, consult a professional (e.g. a therapist) who can help you formulate a plan, etc. Other than that though there are lots of great books on the topic that are helpful (one I'd recommend is "Full Catastrophe Living").

Mostly mindfulness based cognitive therapy is about developing new habits that eventually change the way you think and feel. Specifically for you a lot of it is about being able to treat your thoughts and emotions as things that don't necessarily "sweep you away" and force you down a particular path of behavior and emotions.

dmitripopov
That's how responsible people get burned out. You need to rest to get things done. Period. You can do twice as much if you take regular breaks.