Are you addicted to (email, the web, coffee, alcohol, etc.)? | Hacker News Reader

Are you addicted to (email, the web, coffee, alcohol, etc.)?

mathoda.com

11 pointsmathoda18 comments

I clinically have a significant sign of addiction towards email, the web, coffee, alcohol, weed, snowboarding, listening to music, and the best... hacking!!!

Should I seek help?

Yes. With proper help, you could add a few more to your list.

When you're cutting turns on the snowboard, don't you find it hard to keep typing without spilling your cup of spiked coffee?

Maybe it's easier if you're stoned.

What else are you going to do with your time? If doing things you enjoy often is wrong, call me an addict.

Looks like we have a few things in common - spring is nice but I had some great times snowboarding this winter.

Same addictions here, minus the snowboarding. I really need to be more active. That might cancel out some of the effects of said addictions.

You feel guilty about all of these?

subtract weed and add ultimate frisbee (weird right?) and you've got me.

This doesn't seem to differentiate between an addiction and a hobby.

Everyone's joking around in these comments, but... in my current job (working for a huge silicon valley company) I hear quite a few stories of people addicted to speed pills or similar "uppers" because they need the energy to keep up with work. Or Ambien, after a lot of irregular sleeping schedules. A lot of times it's hard to admit it because it's tied up with feelings of worrying you're not good enough. But a lot of people say it's okay, too.

Anyway, I'd be curious what the HN community thinks about the more-addictive but arguably-better-for-working sorts of drugs.

Also, Melatonin is available OTC in the USA and is a much more reasonable way of correcting irregular sleep schedules. The pills are usually 3mg but most doctors recommend taking 1mg which is closer to the body's normal amount of melatonin. 5-HTP (straight up serotonin) would also help with sleep.

It's a bad idea to use speed regularly because tolerance rapidly builds to addictive hard drugs. The greatest productivity enhancement would come from very occasional use of stimulants to give a sustained productivity boost over a single day.

Seems like it needs a 5th question. Perhaps: how long could you have answered positively to these questions?

Email/web/coffee/alcohol/hacking 1. yes/yes/yes/yes/yes 2. yes/yes/yes/yes/yes 3. yes/yes/yes/yes/yes 4. yes/yes/yes/yes/yes

Is this list flawed or me?

internet porn: ultimate enemy of productivity

Why even try to make it into an acronym when you have to work that hard for it?

Shit. I drink too much. Maybe not first thing in the morning, luckily;)

yep

first response "No way, I can quit any time" ... then I hear the song ...

Breath it in and breath it out and pass it on it's almost out We're so creative and so much more We're high above but on the floor It's not a habit it's cool I feel alive If you don't have it your on the other side The deeper you stick it in your vein The deeper the thoughts there's no more pain I'm in heaven I'm a god I'm everywhere I feel so hot It's not a habit, it's cool I feel alive If you don't have it your on the other side I'm not an addict (maybe that's a lie)

It's over now, I'm cold, alone I'm just a person on my own Nothing means a thing to me Oh, nothing means a thing to me

Youtube video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-3DzM1KSnU

Reply on news.ycombinator.com