Top all-time · #13467
Arun Prasad
Personal blog · arunkprasad.com/log · on HN as akprasadphilosophyproductivity
Arun Prasad's personal blog at arunkprasad.com covers philosophy and productivity. Since 2022, 5 different Hacker News readers have linked it 17 times, most often “Unlearning perfectionism”. The last post was in 2022, but the archive is still widely read.
Too few sampled comments (3) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link Arun Prasad's posts on perfectionism, procrastination and goal-setting, such as 'Unlearning Perfectionism'. Commenters cite them as personal help with anxiety and perfectionism.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 3 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- Unlearning perfectionism4 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2022-02-05
What Hacker News says?
Process over outcomes; systems over goals; growth mindset over fixed mindset; satisficing over maximizing; professionalism over amateurism; boring fundamentals over flashy tricks; response over reaction; agency over passivity; presence over regret and worry. Unlearning Perfectionism https://arunkprasad.com/log/unlearning-perfectionism/
Comment linking /log/unlearning-perfectionism/
on “Do quests, not goals”Submitted Unlearning perfectionism as a story · 590 points
HN discussion> for the “smart” person, failing at a task takes a stab at the heart of their identity. Self cushioning in a cloud of rationales “well, I can’t do X but at least I’m smart” means that if “being smart” is ever questioned, the possibility of them failing terrifies them. Yes, I see it much the same way. If you're curious, I wrote about a related theme a few years ago here [1]. > When the work is uncertain, she withers…
Comment linking /log/unlearning-perfectionism/
on “How to do things if you're not that smart and don't have any talent”Submitted Who Uses To-Do Lists? as a story · 217 points
HN discussionThis was a good read for me, I'm not cured but it helps. https://arunkprasad.com/log/unlearning-perfectionism/
Comment linking /log/unlearning-perfectionism/
on “A systems model of anxiety-driven procrastination”Submitted “Ting the Cook” from the Zhuangzi as a story · 4 points
HN discussionThank you for this wonderful comment. I'm especially struck by that word "fundamentals," as I think their very ordinariness makes them easy to neglect. I tried working through some of that conceptual space here: https://arunkprasad.com/log/amateurs-and-professionals/
Comment linking /log/amateurs-and-professionals/
on “Who Uses To-Do Lists?”Submitted What Makes Documentation Bad? as a story · 2 points
HN discussionI decided to take you up on that vicariously and spent most of the evening reading my copy again. How refreshing it is! I'm sure you have your own copy, but here is my transcription of the story about Ting the cook from chapter 3: https://arunkprasad.com/log/ting-the-cook-from-the-zhuangzi/
Comment linking /log/ting-the-cook-from-the-zhuangzi/
on “How to Be Useless”Submitted God Is in the Details as a story · 2 points
HN discussionHere is another passage I love. I hope you enjoy it: https://arunkprasad.com/log/ting-the-cook-from-the-zhuangzi/
Comment linking /log/ting-the-cook-from-the-zhuangzi/
on “How to Be Useless”> I’m confused, is this not a blog post? It is, but AFAICT the entire blog is just this post. > I also find it’s a lot of work to do the research and all, time I maybe rather spend on building things I found it useful to set a timer and write about small things, e.g. through this post [1] about blocking websites with /etc/hosts. It took about 20 minutes and I can share it with my interested friends. If I were a litt…
Comment linking /log/how-to-break-the-habit-loop-for-distracting-websites/
on “Why don't I have a blog?”I completely empathize, and it's why I held off on it for so long. But recently I quit my job and decided to start in order to keep myself accountable. I've been pleasantly surprised by what I've gotten out of it so far and wrote down my thoughts here: https://arunkprasad.com/log/why-i-blog/
Comment linking /log/why-i-blog/
on “Why don't I have a blog?”Two quotes from my favorite go (board game) player that seem appropriate: For writing without thinking: > You have to soak up the fundamentals as you practice on your own, studying them until they become a part of your very being. If the fundamentals do not operate subconciously when you sit down to play, you have not mastered them yet. For fast boring code: > Go is the kind of game in which you are an expert if you…
Comment linking /log/kageyama-7-dan-on-amateurs-and-professionals/
on “Write shitty code”I found this article insightful (was posted here a while back): https://arunkprasad.com/log/unlearning-perfectionism/
Comment linking /log/unlearning-perfectionism/
on “Ask HN: How did you overcome perfectionism?”- Block most social media, including Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube (!). I can always unblock them if I need to, but having them be "default blocked" means I'm more intentional about when and how I use them. - Do one hour of exercise a day, preferably in the morning. Even if it's a light morning walk. I find it sets a healthy tone for the rest of the day. - Actively reach out to friends and family. Even if it's small…
Comment linking /log/how-does-ssh-work/
on “Ask HN: What lifehacks actually changed your life?”Perhaps a counterpoint to this post [1] yesterday? I sympathize, but I'm not sure I buy it. > There are no dates Perhaps not here, but the author's Current Projects page [2] certainly has one. Anyone who's worked at a large enough company will know that documentation goes out of date constantly, and I figure something similar applies for personal websites. If anything, blogging does a much better job of showing its…
Comment linking /log/why-i-blog/
on “This Website Is Not a Blog”