Ask HN: What are some available force multipliers that most people don't know?
314 points| newsbinator | 5 years ago
Likewise concepts like Compound Interest and arguably knowledge of fallacies, such as "sunk cost fallacy".
What are some force multipliers that are available to most people, but which most people don't regularly put into use?
[+] [-] ahelwer|5 years ago|reply
People get all worried about losing their followers & social connections. The social fabric is very adaptable. It does not require public technological codification. You realistically only need fewer than five good friends to be happy; text them. I can guarantee your followers don't care about you at all. The ones who do will reach out to you in other ways.
Since the OP also listed a fallacy, one in the same vein is the endowment effect - where people value things more simply because they already possess them. Consider the example of you holding a stock priced at $200. Now consider an alternate universe where you didn't own that stock but had $200 cash (plus some extra for transaction costs). Would you buy the stock? If not, you should probably consider selling it. This same thought process can be applied to nearly anything in your life: job, significant other, city in which you live. It's good for keeping you out of traps.
[+] [-] violetgarden|5 years ago|reply
I worked hard to start reading longer form articles and books again, but my attention span was so crippled! It was a really weird experience to quit reddit and social media. I still get memes from my friends, and I would have found them funny before, but now I’m so out of the loop I find the majority of them to be so half hearted. I guess memes are funnier when you’re reading tons of them and get that quick jolt of amusement.
[+] [-] alecr95|5 years ago|reply
I've completely dropped twitter/facebook/etc, but have found that I keep coming back to HN and reddit primarily to keep some level of awareness of things that happen outside of my "bubble".
How would you maintain that level of awareness while still dropping those social media platforms?
[+] [-] alexpetralia|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] clinta|5 years ago|reply
Twitter and Reddit are flexible enough that you can use them strictly professionally and be better for it.
[+] [-] city41|5 years ago|reply
I do agree with you overall though. I have a virtual desktop dedicated to social sites, and a separate desktop for work, and I keep myself always aware of what "mode" I am in.
Facebook is utterly useless, I deleted my account years ago.
[+] [-] QuadrupleA|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nagarjun|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jb3689|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fma|5 years ago|reply
If I do post on Reddit I'll disable inbox replies and just check once a day or something for any replies.
Edit: Also since HN doesn't have a 'disable inbox' type (that I know of?), 75% of the time I'm not logged in. I'll log in if I really have a comment and then log back out.
[+] [-] pritovido|5 years ago|reply
HN gives me a treasure of information in so many areas I have found invaluable when I need it.
Just use something like Zotero so when you see something interesting, you just give a quick look at it, and save it without spending a significant amount of time.
And also learn to manage yourself. Without it you will not need facebook to waste your time, you will fantasy dream while looking at the window or staring against the wall.
[+] [-] stjohnswarts|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rbosinger|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] novaleaf|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] k__|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] theriddlr|5 years ago|reply
Man on a bicycle can go three or four times faster than the pedestrian, but uses five times less energy in the process. He carries one gram of his weight over a kilometer of flat road at an expense of only 0.15 calories. The bicycle is the perfect transducer to match man’s metabolic energy to the impedance of locomotion. Equipped with this tool, man outstrips the efficiency of not only all machines but all other animals as well."
http://www.bikeboom.info/efficiency/
[+] [-] karl_gluck|5 years ago|reply
This is among my favorite devices of all time. It is quick, nimble, and lightweight. It has completely replaced walking, a car or a bicycle for my local trips. While there is a learning curve, unlike a bicycle, it has required almost [2] no maintenance in ~4000 miles of riding, and both hands are free to hold things so I can carry much more than I ever could on a bike. I've transported a desk, groceries, a 50 lb box of firewood, gardening tools, and so on. Plus, riding one is just plain FUN: it feels like skiing or flying. You really have to try it to know.
A pessimistic estimate of the V5F monowheel's efficiency:
* Battery = 320 Wh = 275335 calories
* Weight = 12 kg for the device, so with a rider around 95kg
* Range = 20 km on the low end (25-30 km is typical, manufacturer claims 38±3 km)
Efficiency = 275335 calories / 95000g / 20km = 0.14 calories/g/km
An optimistic estimate given my actual riding experience:
Efficiency = 275335 calories / 91175g / 30km = 0.10 calories/g/km
[1] https://www.myinmotion.com/products/solowheel-glide-2
[2] It still works just fine despite me beating the hell out of it, but the battery has worn down to ~70%
[+] [-] andai|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] polynomial|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] upstill|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] plq|5 years ago|reply
I wonder whether this will still hold true when the costs of building and maintaining
is not ignored.[+] [-] cdeutsch|5 years ago|reply
Take all the transportation conveniences a regular bike can without getting sweaty.
[+] [-] mitchtbaum|5 years ago|reply
https://www.pinterest.com/naturallymitchell/cars/
[+] [-] DenisM|5 years ago|reply
Static typing. It's like having a secretary who is doing all the writing, and you only have to think big things. It's a relief.
Higher-level abstractions such as query languages (SQL, LINQ) or markup languages (eh...). Forest for the trees etc. Also DSLs (consult someone with experience first - far too easy to get bogged down).
The most productive way to write software is to borrow something already written. Don't hesitate to buy components from professionals - you're paying for better support, longevity, and less version churn.
[+] [-] raverbashing|5 years ago|reply
Funny. I see this as exactly the opposite.
To me static typing is a bureaucratic delay where you have to tell the computer what it already knows (but thank the deities for "auto" or the walrus operator in Go) and dynamic typing as the computer just doing what you tell it to do without bothering me with trivialities.
Yeah, maybe static typing makes the IDEs smart, but I dislike IDEs being "smarter" than compilers, I mean, the compiler should be the smartest one. If your IDE knows x is an int, why can't the compiler know?
[+] [-] nsilvestri|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Ologn|5 years ago|reply
The best programmers I have worked with always pay attention to this. They quickly address any barriers in the way of an easy and simple build.
[+] [-] nlitened|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] WhompingWindows|5 years ago|reply
Sleep, diet, exercise, attention, focus, productivity, knowledge, workflow, socializing -- anything we do repeatedly is a habit. Right now, in each and every moment, we are all the average/sum of the daily habits of the past few years.
So, the "level" we achieve in each domain is a lagging indicator of our habits; fat stores up over time, dirty dishes stack up, lack of knowledge is the result of lack of learning habits, etc.
If you make weekly improvements to your habits, that means small changes are sticking each week. While 1% better doesn't seem to matter much in the short run, if you stack 1% every week, in one year you're now 50% better in your routines.
How to do so? Here are some ideas:
-Make the bad habits harder to do. Keep the snacks, games, distractions out of reach, so you have to expend extra effort to get to them. You want high-effort barriers to beginning bad habits.
-Make good habits easier to do. Prepare yourself for workouts in advance. Commit yourself to things that will be helpful. use daily streaks, motivation, positive thinking, and imagination to encourage your good habits.
For more information, check out James Clear + Sam Harris' conversation on the Making Sense podcast (or the Waking Up app).
[+] [-] abhayhegde|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Briel|5 years ago|reply
Since many of us are taking online calls now, this is a great time to record your side to hear how you really sound like. You may be quite surprised - it's not just that your voice sounds different, how often you use filler words, repeat yourself, ramble and the tone that you used can be quite different than what you thought it was. From there, you can identify your weak points, practice (speak on your own and record it) and improve.
[+] [-] TamDenholm|5 years ago|reply
I can use my tech skills to MASSIVELY enhance the trades side of the business. While i can do enough of the trades myself to cover my employees sick days, emergencies, etc, i dont do it day to day. I run the business and make sure i'm using my primary tech skills to grow us. Its working well so far.
[+] [-] nikivi|5 years ago|reply
That assumes the essentials of proper sleep, nutrition and basic fitness are taken care of [3]. Aside from this meta 'help' stuff, the one tool that was a 100x force multiplier for me is Karabiner [4]. Share it on HN all the time but no one uses it. :|
1: https://www.swyx.io/writing/learn-in-public/
2: https://joelhooks.com/digital-garden
3: https://wiki.nikitavoloboev.xyz/health
4: https://wiki.nikitavoloboev.xyz/macos/macos-apps/karabiner
[+] [-] Balgair|5 years ago|reply
I know this one seems a bit obvious, but in the workforce, I rarely see people with them.
Work journals are not very exciting. But just writing things down really makes a difference somehow. Those boring meetings become slightly less boring when you take notes. That thing from six weeks ago doesn't slip by you as readily. That person's name on that one call isn't a mystery. Your year end report is chock full of stuff, not just a few .ppt bullet points of a few highlights.
It's pretty straightforward, and just takes about two weeks of practice to get into the habit. For the effort, it really does multiply.
[+] [-] PragmaticPulp|5 years ago|reply
Achieving ambitious goals is much easier when you break it down into weekly or daily habits.
Practicing something once per week means 52 times per year, or 520 times per decade.
Practicing something every other day becomes 182 times per year, or a massive 1,825 times in a decade.
Just imagine how your life would be different if you had 500 x 30 minute workouts over the next decade. Or 1,825 x 30 minutes of reading another book.
Putting 30 spare minutes to use once a week isn't as difficult as it sounds if you make it a priority. The results add up over time.
[+] [-] yummypaint|5 years ago|reply
Most workflows can benefit from multiple monitors. it's a silly thing to be bottlenecked by screen area on a fancy computer when used 1080p monitors are nearly free in 2020.
Take regular walks and use that time to think. There is something about a steady walk that seems to improve problem solving, especially for more abstract/creative things.
When working, put the cell phone out of view and out of reach. It's too easy to subconsciously pick it up and start scrolling a feed before realizing focus had been broken.
[+] [-] motohagiography|5 years ago|reply
Pareto distributions: start with hypothesis that any attribute you are looking for in a given sample is Pareto distributed in the whole. Applies to everything. It's more than the 80:20 rule. The shape of probability distributions in general (s-curves, bathtub curves, etc) is a useful filter for a fast path.
Negotiation: I recommend starting with the classic, "getting to yes." The level of confidence you can bring to a discussion when you have a clear idea of what the outcomes look like, and to have pre-accepted them, is a form of charisma. Learning it is also good for the culture in general.
[+] [-] thih9|5 years ago|reply
Could you elaborate?
[+] [-] miketery|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] irjustin|5 years ago|reply
All jokes aside - Learning a section of domain you interact with regularly just enough to be dangerous.
Example is, as a programmer, doing product management job for 6 months or vice versa.
Danger here is it's easy to wield that new found knowledge as a weapon for evil - such as talking down at people, when really you want to be using it to be more effective.
But thankfully, most people have seen it done well in one form or another - a product person who can speak technical and not be jerked around or an engineer who has a keen eye for product flow or growth efforts.
[+] [-] valw|5 years ago|reply
Most people tend to assume that they have a fixed amount of energy, motivation and ability for their work, and don't realize how much these can be inflated by positive emotions.
This is where a musician finds the perseverance to do the technical exercises that get her to playing a piece. And where a budding scientist finds the patience to work through a complex topic in spite of all the overwhelming conceptual hurdles. And where a programmer gets the motivation to learn arcanes of some obscure tool.
[+] [-] sorum|5 years ago|reply
Not talking about your style, prose or grammar, but how you structure the points you want to come across. It's not just useful in the context of "business writing", it's useful whenever you want something from someone else: to take an action of any kind.
I see it every week at work where people put a presentation together at first glance seems to be coherent, but if it had been written out as a document / memo, you'd easily see the gaps in their thinking. Forcing yourself to write out full sentences (not bullet points) into paragraphs and those paragraphs having a logical connection to each other, shines a spotlight on places where your thinking is weak or there are unfounded conclusions.
Here's the good news: there's one book that will teach you this thoroughly: Barbara Minto's - "The Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing and Thinking". Bad news: the book is out of print, since the author wants people to either buy her courses or her updated textbook which she charges $150 for (not a typo): http://www.barbaraminto.com/textbook.html
The book is insanely useful, so find a used copy of the 1987 or 2002 edition in a used bookstore.
[+] [-] quelsolaar|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sidyapa|5 years ago|reply
Creating can be blog posts, photographs, videos, software anything, doesn't matter as long as atleast one other benefits from it, just one.
[+] [-] bsenftner|5 years ago|reply
This is the entire collected set, but individual collections for each specialization are also available. https://store.hbr.org/product/harvard-business-review-guides...
It is shocking how fantastic this series is and how little the tech world knows about it.
[+] [-] nagarjun|5 years ago|reply
1. iOS Shortcuts - Lets you perform repeatable actions in the tap of a button. Most of us do the same thing over and over again every day. The few seconds you save not having to re-do something everyday really adds up over time. I'll give you a personal example. I've been trying to maintain a journaling habit for a while. None of the existing tools fit my need. I now have a Shortcut that creates a journal entry in Bear (https://bear.app) every afternoon for me to fill in. This simple automation helps me maintain my journaling habit because I don't have to use another journaling tool. I already use Bear for everything. Bear doesn't have an in-built journaling feature but Shortcuts lets me use it the way I want.
2. Learn keyboard shortcuts - you probably use a bunch of different software every day. Take some time to learn and get used to using keyboard shortcuts. The instant gratification you get from being able to rapidly navigate through the UI boosts your productivity.
3. Use checklists - checklists are useful for your personal and professional life. I have a Todoist project called #checklists where I store a bunch of different checklists like: start of the month, everyday checklist etc. In my everyday checklist for example, I have tasks like "Drink 3 litres of water", "Read for 30 minutes", "Workout", "Top 3 priorities for today", etc. I set these lists to repeat monthly, every day etc. (something you can do very easily in Todoist). This helps me form habits easily. A huge part of habit forming is to have someone (or some tool, like Todoist) nudge you to get started or remember to do something.
[+] [-] cprayingmantis|5 years ago|reply
Kindness in your workplace and home is a huge force multiplier. Machiavelli asked is it better to feared or loved and my answer is loved 1000x over. People will do for one they love things that couldn’t be imagined for one they fear.
Furthermore it’s relatively easy to be kind. Kindness comes in many forms: remember someone’s birthday, give them a ride home, try out their app, buy something cheep from their side hustle , check their mail for them when they’re gone and water their plants, be honest about their performance at work and what they can do to improve, buy your team donuts one morning. All these are easy ways to show a little kindness.
Don’t try and take the shortcut and try to be nice or liked that’s not the same as showing kindness. It’s so easy when someone asks how they’re doing at work to brush it off and say “you’re doing fine!” all cheery but it’s another thing entirely to say “hey you’re doing good but you can improve on x and here’s the way I did it”. It doesn’t cost anything to be nice but true kindness can cost quite a bit and be uncomfortable.
[+] [-] _Microft|5 years ago|reply
[0] Of course there are exceptions to this rule, especially in e.g. mathematics. I bet Terrence Tao can eat almost everybody's lunch in math.