CGP Grey
17 HN recommenders · recommended in 10 months, 2020–2022
10:59 · 6.8M views · Apr 30, 2020
CGP Grey argues that your brain treats a whole home as one room during lockdown, blurring work, rest and leisure. He recommends creating separate spaces and routines for different activities to stay balanced.
HN recommends it constantly in work-from-home, burnout and procrastination threads as practical advice for separating work from life at home.
20 comments from Hacker News
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
If you can setup a dedicated work area, even if it's temporary, do it and restrict work to that space. That means you only use that space for work, and don't use the rest of your home. Your sofa is for relaxing, don't let work ruin a perfectly good sofa. CCP Grey [^1] has an excellent video on this. [^1]: this video (Video warning)
this video i found the above inked CGP Grey video to be helpful i watch it once a week to keep things in perspective. hope this helps others too
Checked out the video- really great! Thank you for the recommendation and here's the link for anyone else curious: this video
"Spaceship You" by CGP Grey has been a really powerful re-calibration tool for me whenever I feel unbalanced: this video