Top all-time · #15968
Dave Bennett
Personal blog · bennettnotes.comcareercultureproductivity
Dave Bennett writes Bennett Notes, a personal blog at bennettnotes.com about career, culture and productivity. Since 2019, 4 different Hacker News readers have linked it 22 times, most often “I Can't Do Anything for Fun Anymore; Every Hobby Is an Attempt to Make Money”. The last post was in 2024, 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 Dave Bennett's posts on success, side projects and doing things for fun. One commenter says his post on being obsessed with success "really nails" the wrong kind of desire.
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.
A collection of thoughts, notes and projects from Dave Bennett.
Most-linked posts?
- I Can't Do Anything for Fun Anymore; Every Hobby Is an Attempt to Make Money2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2019-04-23
- People Who Are Obsessed with Success and Prestige2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2020-01-06
What Hacker News says?
https://bennettnotes.com/ I mainly write about things that are on my mind or stuff that I struggle with. * People Who Are Obsessed With Success and Prestige - https://www.bennettnotes.com/post/obsessed-with-success-and-... * I Can't Do Anything for Fun Anymore; Every Hobby Is an Attempt to Make Money - https://www.bennettnotes.com/post/making-money-out-of-every-... * Where Are All the Fun Software Engineer Jobs? - h…
Comment linking /post/where-are-all-the-exciting-software-engineer-jobs/
on “Ask HN: What is your blog and why should I read it?”Submitted I Can't Do Anything for Fun Anymore; Every Hobby Is an Attempt to Make Money as a story · 488 points
HN discussionNote to OP, the link for your name in the page footer is broken: https://www.bennettnotes.com/bennettnotes.com
Comment linking /bennettnotes.com
on “People Who Are Obsessed with Success and Prestige”Submitted People Who Are Obsessed with Success and Prestige as a story · 378 points
HN discussionA very much related article, which can even be considered a response to the articles like OP of sorts, is “I Can't Do Anything for Fun Anymore”[1][2] by Dave Bennett. I seriously recommend reading it. [1] https://www.bennettnotes.com/post/making-money-out-of-every-... [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19727156
Comment linking /post/making-money-out-of-every-hobby/
on “Why you should have a side project”Submitted Getting too absorbed in side projects as a story · 203 points
HN discussionLike losing weight, I think it’s much simpler than people make it. Eat less and not crap. Exercise more. Desire / Curiosity is #1. (Not “I want money” — I must do X, solve Y, create Z) Discipline is probably number #2. (This other front page article really nails the wrong kind of desire: https://www.bennettnotes.com/post/obsessed-with-success-and-... ) Some people have 1, and little to no 2. Some people have 2, and…
Comment linking /post/obsessed-with-success-and-prestige/
on “How to be successful (at your career, Twitter edition)”Submitted I Feel Like I Have No Real Interests; My Only Interest Is Making Money as a story · 150 points
HN discussionSubmitted Friendly PSA – Your Job Doesn't Need to Be Your Passion as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Four Types of Business Ideas as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted I Will Build Something Great Once I Get an Idea as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Notes from the Mom Test: Idea Validation as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted I Only Live for the Weekend as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Ebooks Are Not Social as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Software Engineers Make Up 3.6% of the US Workforce as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Classifying and Translating Objects to Another Language in Realtime on Android as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Upload Speed Is Probably Too Slow as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Where Are All the Fun Software Engineer Jobs? as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Flying a Drone with JavaScript as a story · 1 points
HN discussion