HN Explorer

Do you read HackerNews all day and never actually do anything?

389 points by tossit ↗ HN
I'm sure there are many of us out there. I have a good eye for usability, proficient enough with HTML5/CSS3+jquery, have TONS of ideas (some of which I'm pretty convinced are good, maybe even good enough for YC) but it seems like every day I just sit around and read HN. Something about reading other people's opinions, success stories and failures makes me sort of feel like I'm "in the game" even though I'm not actually DOING anything. It's terrible. I guess what I'm wondering is: has anyone else gone through this, did you eventually do something real, and how?

148 comments

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pierrefar
Yes, which is why there is a useful noprocrast setting in your profile.
AgentConundrum
I've never used the noprocrast option on HN, but I've tried other things. The problem is that pretty much any roadblock you put up can be trivially defeated.

For example, if I were to put sites like reddit or HN in my hosts file, and point them to 127.0.0.1, it really wouldn't take me more than 30 seconds or so to get around it. It should work as a reminder that, "oh yeah, I should be doing something else" but that never seems to work for me.

In this case, I have to assume that just logging out of HN is enough to get around the noprocrast. Assuming also that when the noprocrast is in effect you can't access HN to log out, it still only takes 30 seconds to kill the cookie(s). Even with some sort of unkillable cookie, I do webdev, so I've got easy access to Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari, and IE8. Even with something like a flash cookie which (I think) remembers you cross-browser, I also have VMs to run IE6 and IE7. Admittedly, by the time I boot up a new VM to visit HN, I'd definitely get the point that "oh, I should be working" but that's a bit beside my point.

Besides, HN is nothing compared to the time sink that is StackOverflow. There's always something I can research ad nauseum there. I've learned a lot from my procrastination, but I've got shockingly little done.

chrisbroadfoot
For example, if I were to put sites like reddit or HN in my hosts file, and point them to 127.0.0.1, it really wouldn't take me more than 30 seconds or so to get around it. It should work as a reminder that, "oh yeah, I should be doing something else" but that never seems to work for me.

I did this when writing my dissertation. It worked really well. I find that most of my browsing comes from clicking through to the sites in my "Most visited sites" homepage. Blocking them was a good neg that broke this harmful browsing pattern.

AgentConundrum
It's just too easily defeated for it to really work on me, since I convince myself that I'll just check this one thing, then I'll go back to working.

It's the exact same thought process that, after I've been up all night and I'm trying to stay up all day to reset my internal clock, convinces me that it's ok to lay down in my bed for a minute. I inevitably wake up quite confused a number of hours later.

I saw a site once that you can route your procrastination sites to. When you browse the site (by IP address, naturally) it displays a message saying basically "you blocked this for a reason... slacker." Since I can't remember the address anymore, I've been thinking about installing a web server on my laptop to emulate it.

Edit: I found it. The address is 66.135.33.106 and it just displays the message "You've chosen to block this site in your hosts file."

chrisbroadfoot
Okay - you need some semblance of self control.

For me, it's a subconscious thing. It's close to mindlessly browsing.

Forwarding to that message wouldn't do anything for me. I think the most important thing was just that "neg" to break out of the mindlessness and get back on track :)

pierrefar
I'm told it's like quitting smoking. If you still find ways around the hurdles you put up for yourself, you're never gonna quit.
Estragon
I still find it useful, because it slows you down, and forces you to take steps which are not habitual (at least at first.) This gives me time to think about what I'm doing, before the positive feedback loop sets in.
daflip
I find the Stayfocusd (sic) Google Chrome extension quite useful for a friendly "you should be working" kick in the pants: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/laankejkbhbdhmip...

Sure you can overcome it using various ways, but for me the fact that it gets in the way is enough to prompt me to go back to what I should be doing (i.e. something productive)

JeanPierre
Which is easily bypassed through private mode in any webbrowser.
dschobel
If you've gotten to this stage it may be time to get professional help.
coliveira
haha, I used noprocrast once, but it has the opposite effect. Whenever somebody says that I can't do something, this is when I try harder. It always does not work.
phalien
Same here. I just started to get out of it, this is how I'm trying:

1. I made a list with all my (good!) projects ideas 2. I tried to estimate how long each would take to have a Minimum Viable Product ready for launch 3. I chose the one with the shortest time estimate 4. I split the whole project in tiny todo items (things you can do in a few hours: like "create the sitemap", "create the db structure", "outline the homepage", "make that script" etc) 5. I put the list on my desktop in a long Stickie 6. I commit to myself to mark as done at least one todo each day

And it seems to work, I'm halfway through my project now.

ithkuil
same here, ehm I don't whether to feel ashamed or happy to see somebody else in the same situation
StudyAnimal
Yes, but only at work. It works out quite well actually, when work is over, I am pretty sick of HN, so it isn't quite as appealing a distraction at home as it is at work.
jyf1987
nope , mine is Google Reader i want to make a filter to help me do reading quickly
swah
Just shift+a it
newt
No, I read reddit all day, and when I want to actually do something, I read HackerNews. It's (almost) work-related.
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jgrahamc
No, but for me Hacker News is like having the radio on in the background. It's always open in a tab and I'll read it frequently. If I wasn't doing that I'd probably be day dreaming listening to Radio 4.
_b8r0
Not so much (mind you I was on HN a lot by my standards yesterday, but I was off sick), although lately I've been going through my morning browsing and submitting the tabs I found interesting, which I've noticed tends to result in a minor surge in posts by me on the new page.
ThomPete
What I would do if I where you would be to start writing a blog and then feed that into the HN community. That way you are forcing yourself to do something while still being able to read HN.

After a while someone will probably tell you that some of your ideas are great enough that you will build the necessary will power to get started.

Remember ideas are a dime a dozen, execution is king.

codefisher
Do similar things only when there is nothing else really interesting ready to hand. So if I have an assignment due and have a total dislike for it, yes I will waste a lot of time reading various site like HN. But if I have something fun available, maybe only a few moments when I am taking a break.
gregschlom
There was a story recently on HN about a guy who splits his work hours into 30 minutes of work and 30 minutes of distraction. It turned out to work quite well for him. I guess I'm almost doing the same, spending most of my "distraction" time on HN.

There's a good trick however if you want to stop doing that: work with someone else, with each one being able to look at the other's monitor. Even better: do that with people you actually hired. I can guarantee you won't be spending any minute of your time procrastinating.

matwood
There was a story recently on HN about a guy who splits his work hours into 30 minutes of work and 30 minutes of distraction.

I still have my timer I used through college except I did 45 minutes on 15 minutes off. It works amazingly well for things that you don't want to be working on. Now that I work on mostly interesting problems the hardest part is getting into the zone, but once I'm there I can work for hours.

sielskr
"work with someone else, with each one being able to look at the other's monitor."

This trick works even when the other person is remote: for the last 6 weeks, I have spent about 25 or 30 hours a week using VNC to watch someone 11 time zones away while he in turn watches me. While we watch each other, we spend almost no time procrastinating.

We both work from home, do not have TV sets in our homes, and do almost all of our procrastination on the internet.

Both of us would like to increase the number of people using this trick, so if you are interested in trying this way of using VNC to reduce procrastination, write to vladimir.slepnev@gmail.com.

klaut
Since i've handed in my resignation letter it is very hard to actually do any work at all. I spend almost all my time at work reading HN and other similar sites. I do feel very bad for this but can't help it.
dominostars
If you're easily distracted, it doesn't matter what you're wasting time with. If it's not HN, then it's Reddit. If it's not Reddit, then it's Facebook. If it's not Facebook.. and on and on.

I keep myself going by setting personal deadlines: I don't browse the internet if I 'need' to finish something before, say, going to lunch.

EDIT: Also, before stopping work, I always try to have a good idea of what to do next. It's much easier to dive back into work because I know what to do, and my subconscious has had time to think about how to do it. This was inspired by Hemingway's 'hack':

"The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that every day … you will never be stuck. Always stop while you are going good and don’t think about it or worry about it until you start to write the next day. That way your subconscious will work on it all the time. But if you think about it consciously or worry about it you will kill it and your brain will be tired before you start."

scrrr
I don't see a reason to up-vote that post.

I guess you don't feel the incredible urge to make things. Perhaps making things is not for you then. I don't think its laziness, it's simply that you don't NEED to do anything.

rms
And Less Wrong, and reddit... and my day generally starts in the afternoon, so the day itself isn't very long.
nayanshah
I read it through feeds and keep checking every 3-4 hours. This gives me time to do others things as well. As of now, not very active in discussions, but trying to hop in.
sacv
on mon-fri - yes..it helps me to run....on weekends - no, cause - HN walks on weekends
klodolph
Well, I'm working on something real right now. It's a web application that works now but it's a total hack. I want to actually make it into something usable by others so a couple days ago I black holed Reddit in /etc/hosts. It worked so well I'm considering the same for Hacker News, too.

There's the comment by "AgentConundrum" who argues that any method of limiting access to an addiction such as HN can be circumvented -- the simple truth is that you can't outsmart yourself. However, I see it differently.

When I open a browser window and click the Reddit bookmark, it gives me an error. While I'm staring at that error message, my higher thought processes have a chance to kick in and argue about what to do next. I think, "Editing my hosts file would be an admission of defeat. I'm better than that."

It's like the "brush your teeth" diet. You know, the one where you brush your teeth after you've had enough to eat. Whenever you want to have a snack, you think, "I can't... I just brushed my teeth. Snacking would undo my progress with dental hygeine."

Both of these tricks are flat-out illogical. A hypothetical rational person would not be affected by these tricks. However, if you were a hypothetical rational person, you wouldn't need to change your behavior in the first place.

terra_t
"Brush your teeth" never worked me. I'd get hungry and eat anyway. Two servings of whey protein powder a day, on the other hand, completely nukes my interest in snacks.

As for HN and such, I find my interest waxes and wanes. I definitely have days where it's a big distraction, particularly when I'm waiting 10 seconds for something to compile and come back ten minutes later. Then there are days when I'm too focused on coding, marketing or whatever I'm doing for it to be a big distraction.

pdelgallego
I do the same when I have a deadline, but I point all the time consumers websites(facebook, HN, ) to my bug tracker url so instead of getting an error I just see the list of things that need to be done or fix. It works like magic.
tfh
May be you need a coding buddy. Sharing the ideas and working together on a project always gives me strong motivational boosts. Plus having to explain ideas to others helps in finding flaws.
vaksel
realizing that you have a problem is the first step.

you just need to get started doing something, once you are actually doing instead of dreaming, you won't have the free time to waste on distractions