Re:Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How...
by khamba on Sunday January 05, 2020 @12:51PM
(#21962654)
Could you recommend a good CBT book?
Re:Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How...
by sab24 on Sunday January 05, 2020 @02:02PM
(#21963154)
Feeling Good by David Burns is a truly excellent book. Although published in the 80's it is still very relevant and useful.
Re:Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How...
by combatentropy on Sunday January 05, 2020 @02:25PM
(#21963320)
I like Chris Thurman's books, like The Lies We Believe.
Re:Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How...
by yazaddaruvala on Sunday January 05, 2020 @01:19PM
(#21962858)
This is a great answer. I was going to say something very similar, but rather than a therapist, I’d recommend meditation!
Talking to yourself about yourself and seriously debugging, can be a lot of effort but long term, it is very rewarding.
I always say to people, “Emotions and intuition are just a complicated set of logic you don’t understand yet”.
Emotions can be a fog in your mind, blocking you from seeing the path from where you are to where you want to be.
Putting in the time to understand the root causes of your emotions, start to help map your mind and you can better navigate and find paths to your final goals.
Re:Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How...
by sjg007 on Sunday January 05, 2020 @02:38PM
(#21963441)
The root cause of your emotions are your thoughts.
Re:Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How...
by alamaslah on Sunday January 05, 2020 @02:35PM
(#21963418)
I like how on hacker news every personal problem can be solved by three activities; Therapy, Meditation, and...Salsa!
It's probably good advice. Although, I like to combine all three by doing painting and poetry. These activities might be better suited to some hackers.
To me, it sounds like you have a lot of questions to resolve first. I would do that before you change anything. For example why do you think you are doing a minimal amount of work and does that actually mesh with reality? How do you define and measure work output anyway?
You mention dealing with depression for example. In my experience dealing with depression itself is a full time job. That you held down a second job during that experience is a major accomplishment. Go easy on yourself.
Remember above all that your thoughts create your emotions. Ask yourself why do you feel that way. What thoughts underlie the feelings. Question those thoughts.
If you are in Mountain View or the bay area, I'd recommend going to the Feeling Good Institute. I'd also recommend reading Dr. David Burns book Feeling Good.
Consider CBT as a set of tools for your brain and human operating system. I would start by learning those tools first.