How to Juggle Priorities (2023) | Hacker News Reader

How to Juggle Priorities (2023)

ashleyjanssen.com

69 pointstarf31 comments

I think one of the major things missing from this post is that if you are going to drop a ball, you should communicate you are dropping it to the relevant stakeholders / family / friends / etc. That generally lessens the blow of dropping it significantly in my experience.

Typically there are three throws per second. Communication latency to stakeholders is too low while juggling to achieve desired goal.

What does this even mean? Especially the first bit

It means they're for some reason talking about juggling balls.

3 throws per second is the rate of action required to perform juggling literally. The implication is that communicating between the miss that causes the fall and the event of dropping the ball must happen in less than 1 second. Translating back to the metaphor, communicating that the ball is being dropped before it hits the ground is a task as hard as the juggling itself.

https://m.twitch.tv/clip/RefinedGracefulGrouseItsBoshyTime-b...

Yeah but only in earth gravity. Depending on your remote work location things change substantially, though I’m not sure exactly how in your mixed metaphor.

Remote work is like juggling scarves -- especially if there are more than a few time zones in between. Things can stay in the air a bit longer which also can mean juggling more.. and moving your hands twice as fast.

And then also having the time to put those scarves in the laundry.

Sometimes, but sometimes that communication is itself a plastic ball that you can drop without issue. Even if that person never speaks to you again, if you are not close it may not matter.

What does matter is reputation though. If you have promised to do something than communication becomes a glass ball if you want to be "a man of your word". Have a good reputation is important, but exactly what good reputation means to everyone is different and that is okay.

I support this.

The first thing to come to peace with is that no matter which ball you choose to let fall, it's gonna piss off someone and that someone is going to be very certain and very much in your face about the fact that from their point of view, you did the wrong thing. Get used to people telling you you're wrong.

This isn't a bad metaphor altogether and I appreciate that the post advocates for one thing that all too many such ideas ignore: talking to people and asking them what matters to them. You can never know if your kid finds something truly important until you ask them and damaging your relationship with your family is never worth the marginal or even huge successes at work.

I see there are two big ways people approach success in life, either supporting others or pioneering some thing. This seems like a good way to look at priorities if you take the support approach. For pioneering, you just don’t know what is glass or plastic, that’s what you’re trying to figure out. I wouldn’t stretch this metaphor to cover that situation.

When scrolling a social media feed become one of these priorities, what you need is good sleep instead because when your will power is low, it really means you are not getting enough Zz.

I once read somewhere that, “Life is Tetris, Businesses are Chess.” And so, for some, you also play Chess trying to fit in the non-stop flow of the Tetriminos of life.

Makes sense. Important to remember when working on like 6 different projects at once.

Honestly this is stupid, if you want to have integrity the answer is to have less balls in the air.

Yeah this feel way overblown. Just do less. You probably don't need to try and juggle so many things.

That would make sense if you knew how hard things were going to be and if you could predict external responsibilities.

For example if I plan to meet a friend tomorrow, but tonight my child unexpectedly gets sick, I can call the friend and say, "Sorry my child got sick. How about next week?"

That might happen multiple weeks in a row, but eventually (assuming a patient friend) we'll get together and renew our connection. On the other hand, if I played it safe, and said, "I'm too busy for friendships now that I'm a parent," we would both have less friend-time.

The metaphor is terrible, juggling balls of very different weights would already be nearly impossible. Trying to keep track of them so you know which ones you can drop is a much harder problem then just sticking to a number you can reliably juggle.

Juggler here. Juggling balls of very different weights works. Our brain and bodies are amazing.

I watch a guy juggle a bowling ball, a machete and an apple. For a while I had my own Goodwill bowling ball for juggling.

Amateur juggle here

It's very hard, and doesn't cut as a metaphor for making your life easier

Another analogy might be that there can only be so much on the stove at a given time.

True, but you can put things on the back burner, and let them simmer for a while.

Only 4-6 burners on a stove though, not 20.

Some stuff will actively not be on the stove.

That is a bad idea. Some of those balls in the air are things you should be doing but can skip. Exercise is a perfect example - we all know that it is important for good health, but it is also something that if you skip a day here and there it is okay (just don't let one day skipped lead to a week). Similarly I practice my musical instruments, but I often skip that when something else comes up, but I have no interest in not having practice as a ball in the air even though I drop it more often than not.

Life only rarely goes perfectly to plan. You will have to change plans at the last minute because of emergencies, but planning to do nothing just in case there is an emergency is a bad plan. Your boss will ask you to work late. Your kids will get sick. You will get invited to a last minute event. It is likely that you will be involved in two different activities that schedule an event at the same time. All of these are a sign of a fulfilling life, not of a problem.

Fulfilling for some. A system without slack is a brittle system.

I really have nothing more to say but I manage to find slack, and when life throws me a new ball to juggle I can deal with it, and use the spare time, energy, and focus to deal with them properly -- rather than become winded, stressed, and pressed.

I have always tried to find fulfillment with less, rather than more. The people I see zipping around from thing to thing have superficial and shallow experiences. Then they end up being superficial and shallow people. Chicken or egg?

However, nothing is more irritating than having to personally deal with the "zippies," high on whatever stimulant (caffeine, nicotine, amphetamine, etc.) so they can have the "energy" to "deal" with life's "responsibilities."

There's something to be said about work ethic, being able to push yourself to your limits, and balance on the razor's edge -- there is something special in that. However, lacking any sort of overarching focus is a much more common and base state of being. "More must always be done!" Yet they haven't taken any time to step back and reflect if what they're doing is even worth anything -- even the ancient generals figured that out.

What about how I described music practice isn't slack?

It's an inefficient allocation, in my view. I consider exercise (and a few other things) to be necessary to sustainably perform at a certain level.

I don't see them as merely enriching things, but necessary things in order to maintain my spirit (body, mind, and soul). In the vein, they gain priority over everything else. If life comes to a point where I have to sacrifice the things that keep me going (say for instance sleep, food, sunlight, and social interaction; for you it might be family), then I must figure out how to get rid of the other "balls" ASAP with the least amount of cost. And once that's taken care of, were they really that important if they're so easily disposed of?

If you lose your spirit, or let it wither by a thousand cuts a la burnout, what do you have left?

Exercise is needed I agree. However skipping an occasional day is not a problem - in fact rest days are sometimes helpful. I've already decided to skip today because it is raining. Of course if I lived where it rained everyday I'd have to find a different option, but since most days are sunny I can just skip a day without harm.

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