CGP Grey
11 HN recommenders · recommended in 15 months, 2017–2026
6:06 · 15M views · May 31, 2017
CGP Grey's sarcastic animated video adapted from the book How to Be Miserable, listing habits that reliably make people unhappy. By inverting the advice, it shows what to avoid and prompts reflection on goals and routines.
HN recommends it widely in advice threads on depression, habits, and goal setting as a funny, memorable way to see what to do by seeing what not to do.
18 comments from Hacker News
having been, for want of a better term, ‘highly miserable’ in the past, the entirety of this article comes across as insidiously toxic and detrimental to the mental well-being of those who are suffering. there is a.. loosely similar CGP Grey video, which approaches the matter in a much more rational context [1] for anyone suffering, i emplore you to not read this and watch this instead; [1] - this video
I'm doing well. Ironically I think I'm doing better now than I would have been if the pandemic didn't happen; but still not in a particularly good position. Optimistic, though! If you're struggling, it's probably because the systems that you put in place at the start of the pandemic have broken down. (Kinda like how we eventually forget/give up on New Years Resolutions...) I'd recommend these[1] two[2] videos from CGP Grey to help. The first talks about the kind of things that you might be doing that are making you miserable, and the second about specific ways in which we can cope with the pandemic (and specifically a lockdown, if you are still in one). Brief notes: Avoid doing any of these things: * Staying still, avoiding exercise * Having an irregular sleep schedule * Maximizing screen time; going to sleep looking at your phone, and using it as soon as you wake up * Encouraging negative emotions, eg: by looking at the news * Setting unmeasurable or unachievable goals. Waiting for motivation to strike. * Obsessing over trying to be happy. * Following your self-destructive impulses Partition your house/space into the following spaces, and try to obey these rules about the spaces: * A space for exercise. If you don't have equipment, you can do body weight exercises. If you have access to safe outdoor spaces, make sure to use that too. Make sure you set a minimum amount of time, and stick to it. * A space for sleep. Do not use your phone here. Do not eat here. Do not linger he
I have most recently been trying to plan out at least 6 months ahead. How I am approaching this was inspired by some life events and some videos I had seen on Youtube. I really liked this video by Scott Hanselmann ( [LINK] ) about scaling yourself and I liked this video that came out recently ( this video ) about behaviours that maximize your misery. What I took from these two videos is that goals are important and in order to reach these goals, you need to find a way to keep yourself accountable without creating goals that are vague or unattainable. I have just started writing a bunch of to-do lists on Google Keep and then I try to group various tasks and assign 3 per day. The goal is to focus on 3 things per day that build into 3 major areas of focus for the week which fuels 3 goals for the month... and so forth. With that said, I missed some of the to-do's for a couple of days for this last week, but I prioritized other items that had come up spontaneously and completed the majority of the to-do's. At the very least, when I fail, I can at least look at what I had accomplished and not feel as bad. Hope this helps.
There is a good book employing the TRIZ mindset for self-improvement called "How to Be Miserable: 40 Strategies You Already Use"[0]. Although some of the outcomes the book lead you to can seem banal, if you approach them from the perspective of how to optimize misery, it can give you a new perspective. It certainly did for me in some areas. CGP Grey also made a video based on the book, called "7 Ways to Maximize Misery"[1] that may be easier to digest. [0] [LINK] [1] this video
There are a lot. I thought this one was really funny [0]. This one I found very interesting [1]. Somewhat different, is the Hello Internet [2] podcast, which is by Grey and Brady Haran who you might know from the Numberphile youtube channel [3]. It's basically the 2 of them chatting about random stuff, but I find it very entertaining. [0] this video [1] [LINK] [2] [LINK] [3] [LINK]