[HN Gopher] The value of doing a little
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The value of doing a little
Author : trms
Score : 123 points
Date : 2021-07-23 11:49 UTC (11 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (trms.me)
(TXT) w3m dump (trms.me)
| 2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote:
| Make Your Bed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgzLzbd-zT4
| sankumsek wrote:
| Reminds of this post that was HN 9 days ago:
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27833064. Both had some
| pretty useful tips for someone like myself who doesn't have a
| systematic approach for productivity.
| ollysb wrote:
| This article really got me back on track with my side project.
| I haven't managed to work on it regularly for a couple of
| months - always seemed a bit daunting on top of work. Now I
| turn up every day (think I've skipped one day since reading the
| article) and my only goal for the day is to review my todo list
| and give some thought to how I might tackle one item. I always
| feel like I can find the energy to do this and of course once
| I've actually got my mind on the task I generally end up
| spending an hour+ on it.
| mrwizrd wrote:
| I wish the author had said what fitness app they were using (or
| did I miss it?)
| trms wrote:
| It's Freeletics. I now added it as a footnote, thank you.
| onursurme wrote:
| There is a hadith in Islam : "Which deeds are better accepted by
| Allah? The continuous ones, even it is small."
| boruto wrote:
| I am ignorant about Islam. But would the hadith have a name? Or
| something like Christians citing the Bible.
| nafizh wrote:
| Here is the reference of the hadith (Prophet's sayings) -
|
| https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6464
| kiba wrote:
| Keep in mind that a person who do 100 push up a day is still
| doing 100x the pushup.
|
| That said, it's a good idea to get started, no matter how little
| or tiny your progress is.
| trms wrote:
| Definitely. In no world is 1 better than 100. In my personal
| experience, though, when I tried to set myself a goal of doing
| "100 pushups a day", I'd end up doing none since the effort
| seemed insurmountable. Telling myself that I'd only do 10 would
| make sure I'd keep doing that in the long run.
| ozim wrote:
| If you equate world with a person ... because I believe each
| person is a separate world/universe.
|
| You should only compare world where you do your amount of
| pushups with your world. Doing 1 pushup a day consistently is
| a lot better than world where you don't do any. Take into
| account that "metaphysics" of your world might never allow
| 100 pushups in a day ... well metaphysics of someones else
| world allows 100 pushups a day easily but that is different
| world with different metaphysics. Where I would say
| "metaphysics" equate to "physics" in terms of well "single
| person universe".
| katzgrau wrote:
| Tony Horton of P90x fame insists, "just press play"
|
| Basically, just get it started and see what happens. Even on
| the days I really don't feel like working out, just doing the
| bare minimum to get started will usually get me doing the
| full thing.
|
| And if I'm really not feeling it a few exercises in, I tell
| myself, alright, just go really hard on this next one and you
| can end early. Usually, I don't even end up quitting. Just
| take it in little steps.
| dorchadas wrote:
| I have absolutely found this too. On days I don't want to
| lift after a run, I just make myself start one set. And
| then I usually get going and do my whole routine. Of
| course, that fails on days I don't run at the gym (like
| today...)
| mupuff1234 wrote:
| I do a slight take on that which I found worked for me
| quite well during these pretty tiring times.
|
| Usually my normal workout would be 30-45 minutes of a
| guided class (peloton, etc). But in days where I'm just not
| feeling it, I select a bite sized class (~10 minutes). If
| after that short class I'm still feeling lethargic, then I
| call it a day, still being quite satisfied that I completed
| a "full" class. But usually I find that after "pressing
| play" my energy levels are restored and I end up adding
| another 20 minutes class on top.
|
| I feel this adds the benefit of knowing that there's a
| clear early "exit path" in which there is no act of
| quitting, since you do something till completion.
| trms wrote:
| That's a brilliant analogy. It reminds me of something I've
| read in Scott Adams' book on habits. [0] In the days he was
| supposed to work out, he'd just put his shoes on and see
| what happened. That would lead him to the next action,
| until 99% of the times, he'd end up exercising.
|
| [0]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17859574-how-to-
| fail-at-...
| Buttons840 wrote:
| I also enjoyed that book. I have a friend who has never
| been taught a lot of basic life skills and this is the
| book I would recommend to them, because it covers a bit
| of everything. It explains that eating well is important
| for our mental health, it explains that one should pay
| attention to how much of the talking they do in a
| conversation and make sure others have a chance to talk,
| etc. It hit on a wide range of good topics and I found it
| helpful.
|
| I'm a bit surprised how politically charged some people
| seem to be about this book though. You can see it in the
| Goodreads reviews, a lot of people giving it one star
| because it said something they don't like politically.
| This is not a political book. I don't remember any
| political commentary from my reading of it, but
| apparently people have found a sentence here or there
| that seems to maybe suggest support for a political view
| they disagree with, so they give it one star. But, it's
| only a few people doing this and overall this is one of
| the highest rated books I've ever seen across several
| sites.
| trms wrote:
| This is extremely on point. I was almost not going to
| post my comment including that book precisely because of
| the public's feelings towards the author.
|
| When you decouple the ideas in the book from the author
| though, and weigh them on their own merits, they hold up,
| at least for me, and that's all that matters.
| Etheryte wrote:
| As a former coach, I would recommend avoiding absolute takes
| such as this since they can easily sound right but be wrong.
| Just as you exemplified yourself, it is often better to start
| out small and then work your way up. Much more so for people
| with no athletic history, joint and/or weight problems, etc,
| doing just a few reps of easier exercises regularly rather
| than going all-in-and-bust on day one is the healthy way to
| go.
| Jtsummers wrote:
| There is at least one world where 1 is better than 100: The
| one where you actually stick with it. Getting out and walking
| (when I was fat and out of shape from a decade of being a
| programmer and video gamer) was better than getting out and
| running because I couldn't maintain running. Even a slow jog
| at that point was unmaintainable because it was more
| frustrating than anything. Walking was just walking, boring
| at times, but I was moving. Running came later.
| gumby wrote:
| Getting that start is really hard. My goal was one perfect
| push-up, and my method was to just do the best I could with
| the phone photographing, every morning. At first I couldn't
| even get off the ground. Within a month I could do one and
| get partway through a second. Now (a few months in) I can do
| 9, sometimes 10 perfect ones.
|
| I read this on some blog. Since i was a 100 push-up guy 15
| years ago, my approach was to try to maintain perfect form,
| even if I barely got off the ground. I forwarded the blog
| post to a friend who took the opposite tack: just get off the
| ground and then focus on perfecting one thing (back position,
| then arms...) until it was perfect before moving on. We ended
| up in the same place after a month. This is why the camera
| helps.
|
| (My then 14 yo decided to learn chin-ups...within a couple of
| weeks he could do 30 and carry on a conversation
| Jtsummers wrote:
| With regard to your friend's approach, that's how I became
| a competent swimmer. I took 4 weeks of lessons a few years
| back (I _could_ swim, but I wanted to be better). Each week
| we focused on a part of the form for the freestyle stroke.
| By the end I was able to swim decent distances (about 1 /2
| mile, later a shoulder issue ended my swimming for fitness
| goals) without totally exhausting myself before the end
| because of bad form forcing extra work.
| marban wrote:
| I work out 3h/d, 365d/y -- As soon as I go just a few minutes
| shorter, it invokes a slippery slope of contemplating to do
| even less the next day. In some way, doing more feels easier
| than less once you hit a certain plateau.
| nickthemagicman wrote:
| 3 hours a day, everyday? Are you an athlete?
| marban wrote:
| No, just ambitions.
| ensiferum wrote:
| 3h every day sounds like you either have incredible
| genetics, your workouts are low effort or you're
| "chemically assisted".
| matwood wrote:
| Or young. I did stuff like that in HS and then college.
| Lift then surf then whatever sport was in season happened
| almost daily.
|
| Now that I'm older, if I have my workouts (lift, cardio,
| and jiu-jitsu) all line up on the same day like what
| happened this week, it usually means a day or 2 of easy
| cardio and yoga after.
| zodiac wrote:
| Or you're a pro athlete
| marban wrote:
| 1h weights, 1h spinning bike, 1h recovery run.
|
| I used to run a half-marathon every day for ~two years
| but eventually got injured. Weights was the best decision
| to switch gears.
| tomjakubowski wrote:
| Do you think more strength work (i.e. weights) at the
| time would have helped you keep that up without injury?
| symlinkk wrote:
| What are you even doing in the gym for 3 hours?
| perlpimp wrote:
| This all good and fine however some of us have an abyss behind us
| pushing forward to doing exercise lest be rest of the day be
| wasted in a fog of adhd or likewise malaise. no zero days is only
| option for some of us.
| bvsrinivasan wrote:
| I loved "Atomic Habits" but the most _useful_ framework I found
| for "doing a little" is from the "Elastic Habits" book
| https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/48905847
|
| Basic Idea --
|
| 1. Have 3 options as well as 3 levels for each habit/task/project
|
| 2. The lowest (Mini) level should be something you can do on
| practically any day, no matter how bad things are.
|
| 3. Do the level you are comfortable with on any given day
|
| Example (For a health habit)
|
| Mini level: 1 pushup OR 10 steps walking OR One glass of water
|
| Second level (forgot what he called it) : 5 pushups OR 500 steps
| walking OR 3 glasses of water
|
| Pro level : 20 pushups OR 2000 steps OR 8 glasses of water.
|
| Set the numbers that seem like no-brainers to you. This tends to
| work _extremely_ well in my experience and accounts for varying
| environmental, psychological and physiological conditions.
|
| The book has a points system etc which I did not find useful but
| is otherwise a very good complement to "Atomic Habits"
| anyfoo wrote:
| That's a great system, thanks a lot. I inadvertently have a few
| "Mini" things that are ingrained as habits by now: Learning
| flash cards about math and electronics every morning. It's
| spaced repetition, so by now it's usually on around 3-5, which
| is quickly done. And, if I think about it, brushing teeth is a
| long standing one. Going to bed without brushing my teeth just
| feels all kinds of wrong.
|
| Anyway, what a great idea to introduce levels.
| blacktriangle wrote:
| That's a great model and one that I found particularly useful
| in weight lifting. Rather than stick to a strict linear program
| I would instead work up to whatever felt good for the day, then
| work at that level. Probably not the best strategy for young
| people or actual atheletes, but for an old guy who can barely
| prioritize excersize, choosing to adjust the effort relative to
| where I physically am on a given day is huge for keeping up
| consistancy.
| Etheryte wrote:
| As the body ages, time spent active trumps the volume of work
| on many levels. Chasing bigger volumes, bigger weights, more
| time under tension etc is a great way to stroke your ego, but
| also a great way to get an injury. Keeping yourself healthy
| and able to stay active will do you well, regardless of age.
| Props to you for finding this out the right way (that is,
| without getting an injury).
| kosasbest wrote:
| Never heard of Elastic Habits until now. Thanks for pointing it
| out
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(page generated 2021-07-23 23:01 UTC)