Dealing with Things – Page 9

Paul Ford on Being Polite

“Politeness buys you time. It leaves doors open. I’ve met so many people whom, if I had trusted my first impressions, I would never have wanted to meet again. And yet — many of them are now great friends. I have only very rarely touched their hair.”

I have few detractors and can’t really claim to have any enemies. Perhaps I’m not opinionated enough. Most likely it’s because I’d much rather be the polite person than the person who has to be right. Mr. Ford has a few tips for those who struggle with politeness.

“Love Your Life, Work Your Job”

“You are not your job. You don’t need to do it out of love or because it’s central to your character anymore than you’d expect any other laborer to, no matter what they do. Love your life, work your job.“

Artist Zac Gorman of Super Time Force and Magical Game Time talks at length about doing what you can & be happy regardless when it comes to work and your identity.

Mental Illness

When a man who spent decades making us laugh and cry takes his own life we have to wonder what we’re doing wrong. He gave us so much joy, but never found the help he needed. If you do not feel good – get help. I won’t judge or make fun. I can’t. I too have needed help with how I feel. It’s hard, but it does get better.

Cognitive Biases in Software Engineering

“This is one of the harder biases to get over in my opinion, because it means acknowledging our own limitations, and really stressing the fragile parts of the code that we write. We all want and expect our software to work, so we are inescapably drawn to evidence that confirms this desire. Keep fighting this urge, keep testing, and always question your assumptions.”

Jonathan Klein on how our brains deceive us when encountering issues in software development.

Maciej Ceglowski, creator of Pinboard on Cognitive Burnout

“Avoiding burnout is difficult to write about, because the basic premise is obnoxious. Burnout is a rich man’s game. Rice farmers don’t get burned out and spend long afternoons thinking about whether to switch to sorghum. Most people don’t have the luxury of thinking about their lives in those terms. But at the rarefied socioeconomic heights of computerland, it’s true that if you run a popular project by yourself for a long time, there’s a high risk that it will wear you out.

…

What burns you out is the constant strain of being responsible for a lot of other people’s stuff.

The good news is, as you get older, you gain perspective. Perspective helps alleviate burnout.”

It does seem circumspect to complain about the benefits of working in an air-conditioned, safe, not physically taxing office like one does, but man – is burnout ever a thing to worry about.

Congratulations to Maciej, doing anything for 5 years straight is amazing. Running a big and successful web-based company is even more impressive.