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Ask HN: Audio books to listen to while working?

8 points by dilanj ↗ HN
I tend to prefer reading books as opposed to listening to audio books because the level of engagement is far less with the latter. However after getting a big kick out of listening to "Brian Tracy - Maximum Achievement" on a friend's recommendation, I seem to have found the perfect use for motivational audio books.

This genre is great to listen to while working because you can just ignore the lamer parts of it but get a boost out of the better bits.

Are there any audio books you'd recommend for coders/entrepreneurs?

12 comments

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ScottWhigham
Hmmm - Brian Tracy is really good and, if you like his style, you might enjoy Anthony Robbins as well. Anthony Robbins isn't for "coders/entrepreneurs" specifically but the lessons/ideas are valuable to anyone IMO.
dilanj
Thanks, right now I'm listening to Marshall Goldsmith and really liking it.
jeffcoat
While coding? None.

If you're doing something so mindless that you can follow an entirely different thread of plot or conversation while doing your best work, something's gone very wrong. At best, your talents are wasted on whatever you're working on.

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jacquesm
While coding ?? I have the room dark, the music off or set to something very quiet that I know well so it won't distract me, if possible the door locked, the phone switched off, the cat tied up in the hallway and everybody else in the house sedated.

How on earth can you listen to an audiobook while coding ? Are you superhuman ?

dilanj
Mate, I agree with you, I'd do the same if I was writing kernel code. But do you really need to be that isolated while fixing some CSS or running admin tasks? If it's the case that all your work really is that interesting, you are in a very enviable position.
jacquesm
Let's just say that I'm easily distracted. It can take me hours to really get in to something and the slightest disturbance around me will draw me out of whatever it is that I'm doing.

Best hour of the day to work: at night (it's 4:30 am here right now, to give you an idea...).

Not everything that I do is 'interesting', there is plenty of grunt work but even there it helps if you can just dig in and stay underwater for a while rather than to have to get out of it and back in again.

I find it hard to keep datastructures and code in my head for any amount of time when I'm not actively engaged with them.

To add an audio book to that would be unthinkable to me, I could do one or the other, but definitely not both.

cema
When you work on coding, do not listen to books; read! Read what you are writing.
throw_away
I can barely listen to music with words while I code.
mike463
listen in the car instead -- it's wonderful.

I wouldn't recommend it while working on focused mental tasks.

It would probably be ok if you work at a job where you don't use your brain much like a parking booth attendant, janitor or a manager. ;)