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zenhabits.net

69 pointstrustfundbaby20 comments

book shill.

edit: perhaps this is a bit harsh, let me rephrase. This article is a series of paragraphs with one obvious statement, if you want to make something you have to find the time to make it, followed by an advertisement for his book.

I voted you up. This was an obvious advertisement with a few paragraphs of fluff formatted to have the appearance of an "inspirational" piece of text (I'm not saying they aren't passionate or honest about it - it just doesn't contain any nugget of insight, or artistic spark).

And it's fair enough - there's obviously a market for that, but I don't think it should be allowed to get by riding on the coat tails of truly inspirational, thought-provoking pieces.

"Random inspiration quote" - famous person.

Zenhabits has always been one of the fluffiest of the original 'productivity' blogs. For years they've found the lowest common denominator self-help/productivity inspirational approach—follow your dreams! Write! Do, live, drive, discuss!—And wrapped it in a veneer of trendy aesthetic signifiers. As some who tries to practice Buddhism I find their wholly superficial co-option of the word 'Zen' to be irksome, but even past that, they always seem to have the most banal, uninsightful take on whatever the self-help blogger concept of the moment is, whether everyone's agreeing this week that you should write something every day, or use a full-screen text editor, or work _less_, or get rid of all your possessions... Frankly, it's a cushy gig.

I agree they aren't very Zen. But Zen isn't very Buddhist either, it's more Taoism with a Buddhist gloss.

Can't argue with that. I'm a Thai Forest Tradition man myself. But I have a soft spot in my heart for Zen, formed back when I was a teenager and in the thrall of the exact same aesthetics that have made it such a buzzword on the internet today.

Zen isn't very Buddhist either, it's more Taoism with a Buddhist gloss.

Are you sure? That doesn't sound right to me. Zen is traced back to Bodhidharma, who came from Southern India. Taoism certainly didn't come from India. Moreover, Zen's almost nihilistic austerity seems at odds with the back-to-nature lyricism of, say, the Tao te Ching. It is difficult to imagine Lao Tse beating disciples with sticks.

How is this different from many of the other posts that are book shills? I reckon there's at least one post a day on the front page.

It's not fair to call it out when shilling is tolerated on HN, simply because you didn't like the article.

Sounds inspiring, but

>Time is often said to be our most limited resource, but it’s not true. We can create time. It takes the sheer force of will to do it, but it can be created.

Not really. We have exactly 24 hours each day. We can (and should) find ways to use it more effectively, and he explains that this is what he means, but it is definitely possible to get to the point where if you want to add something valuable to your life, you have to give something else equally valuable up.

Few things are more valuable than creating something great. Unfortunately the other things taking your time are necessary obligations and responsibilities whereas your pipe dream ideas are not.

I think everyone can agree that if you don't have time to work on what you value most then you suck at managing your time. No exceptions.

As someone who had to create the opportunity to learn programming once upon a time, I can verify the truth of the quoted remark. It's a crucially important perspective.

It's meant figuratively, of course. He's not suggesting you modify the space/time continuum by sheer force of will. Yeah, there are 24 hours in a day. But what's really meant here is that you can reconfigure the management of your time so as to create availability for your new project. It's the idea that you can create a period of time freed from other obligations. Unless you're operating at 100% efficiency, there's always a bit of fat you can trim in exchange for something else.

If you're uncompromising in your commitment, you'll find the way to pinch 5 minutes here, 20 minutes there, until you've got a chunk of time to work with and get things done. And until you do that, you'll continue to not have time.

How to Live on 24 Hours a Day by Arnold Bennett is a good reminder on how to find time here and there.

It's available for free at Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2274) or even Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/How-Live-24-Hours-Day/dp/144952849X).

Don't take it literally, as in "add more hours to a 24 hour day".

Think deeper: "spend less time with 'watching TV' as your top priority".

LOTS of people want to learn to program, want to write that book, want to start a company.

But rarely do they want it bad enough to do anything about it, including changing their habits.

I have to say, he lost some credibility with me right there. I have trouble believing that anybody who watches TV really understands the concept of a busy schedule.

So I just upvoted all of my critics. Fair points all.

That said, from a personal perspective, even though I'd like to I can't create more time through force of will. I could create more productive time, say, by developing the ability to worry less about stupid shit. But, ironically, my experience is that the best way to do this is to do occasional meditation, to relax more (and more purposefully) from time to time, and in many ways to take the exact opposite of the author's advice.

The philosopher Mark Kingwell puts it in existential terms: “Procrastination most often arises from a sense that there is too much to do, and hence no single aspect of the to-do worth doing. . . . Underneath this rather antic form of action-as-inaction is the much more unsettling question whether anything is worth doing at all.”

In that sense, it might be useful to think about two kinds of procrastination: the kind that is genuinely akratic and the kind that’s telling you that what you’re supposed to be doing has, deep down, no real point.

From: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2010/10/11/10101...

My favourite reminder of the importance of not wasting time is On the Shortness of Life by the Roman Stoic Seneca: http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/seneca_younger/brev_e...

Reminds me of a quote I'm fond of: "Procrastination is our substitute for immortality". - B. Kunkle

I have been unemployed. And I can tell you: lack of time is not the problem, for most projects. What is lacking is the will to actually do it. I find it often easier to actually do something, when you already have a (nearly) full schedule.

I can certainly appreciate and understand Leo's point not only philosophically but also through personal experience. I work at an investment bank and have about $200k in student loans. I want to start a company. My time is extremely constricted due to the nature of my job, and I can't quit because I have loan obligations each month. I've backed myself into a corner at a young age. I still have found time to begin putting into place some of the pieces necessary to launch a startup. At the same time, I have been training for a marathon, acting as a member on the board of director for a grade school and catching a few drinks with friends on the weekend. It is not easy and not always fun, but if something is important, we can always find more time. Sometimes you just sleep less...

Taking this a step further, there is something left out of Leo's discussion. Efficiency. Not sure where I read it, but the was a book by a CEO. He discussed how he used to work on his plane trips across the country because he didn't want to "lose" that time. After a while, he found that he was jet lagged and would be tired while on the ground for his meetings. It would take him days to recover. Now instead of working on the flights, he sleeps or gets enough sleep so that he will be rested and more efficient when he has landed.

The question that arises is simple. By jamming another 30 minutes or an hour of blogging or whatever into your day, do you jeopardize your efficiency throughout the day? It is the economic question of not only diminishing returns, but negative returns. The common example given in economic textbooks is that of an additional farmhand not only not adding value, but detracting from the value of the current farmhands.

I think we should be asking how can we prioritize more effectively.

Though true, it's easier said than done. Personally, I make music - though it's what i really like to do it'll probably never pay my bills. On the other hand I'd love to learn ruby on rails - without any developer background...unless you count FileMaker. After work there are only some hours to cover those interests, which are certainly not the only options and it's tough to figure out what to prioritize. In my opinion that's the real problem: Options. It may sound very general und superficial but there are so many things of interest, it can be overwhelming.

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