Hacker News Reader

Comment by ackbar03 | Hacker News Reader

Seems like a strange comment for the article but since you made it,

For me its not that I don't feel like doing work on most days. Instead I have periods where I am super uber productive and days where I feel completely exhausted. I can't tell if its a mental thing or rather there's actually something physically wrong Lol. My mind tends to be blurry like its rebelling and if I force myself to work hard I start feeling feverish. I have trouble figuring out if I'm not working hard enough or working too hard.

I wonder if its also like that for some of the successful startup founders out there too

View on HN

I really connected with how you said you are feeling because it is how I have been feeling. I work for a small innovation group (not a startup), so my work environment is flexible. I am also trying to bootstrap a startup project in my free time. I will have days that I am super productive and can get through a ton of work, but then I have other days that I just can't bring myself to work. It feels weird cause when I force myself to work I get way less done, so I then feel like it is pointless cause I get such little done compared to when I am in the mood for the work. I don't really know how I should feel about it cause I feel guilty on the days that I don't get as much done, but it feels like a waste of time and is draining to just sit there and force out a small amount of work.

I don't know whether this is true, and I'm writing this out of curiosity and not bad faith, but the most parsimonious explanation for this being the top comment is that both the writer and voters assumed (as I did before reading) that the essay was about time-of-day work rather than time-of-project-lifespan work.

But it's a good point! Faith fluctuates by day, and those low-faith days are when a small project is abandoned. I think graham's solutions (supportive friends, ambitious city, historical examples) are a good way to hold the faith when the general public and the project itself don't seem to warrant it.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com