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Re:Ask HN: How do I overcome mental laziness? by p2t2p on Sunday April 19, 2020 @10:26PM (#22920605)
Same. I open my favorite moleskin A4 5mm graph notebook (graph paper is the only correct paper for notebooks btw), which is a treat to write on, I grab my favorite pen and start listing the tiniest, smallest steps I can make towards the solution.

Like "Open IDE and two terminals and point terminals to correct branch".

First, I enjoy the process - moleskin + favorite pen. Second, my brain started to think about the task. Third, I starting to get into flow state". Usually I jot down like a dozen of those steps or so and I'm pretty deep in the flow by then.

Re:Ask HN: How do I overcome mental laziness? by Cthulhu_ on Monday April 20, 2020 @04:49AM (#22922225)
I tried notebooks, but my writing is poor and I don't enjoy it. I usually stick with just opening a text document and writing bulletpoints. I can express myself a lot faster as well that way. Mind you I probably write too much thanks to being a pretty fast typist.
Re:Ask HN: How do I overcome mental laziness? by Insanity on Monday April 20, 2020 @07:28AM (#22922918)
I'm a fast typist too (about 600CPM) but I can't draw as fast on a computer as I can on a piece of paper. To me, paper still beats a computer for the initial 'idea' gathering because I like to just write anywhere on the paper and connect lines, circle important things, etc..

A computer is a great tool for documenting important things that I need to keep, but for scheduling my day I just use a notebook. I can browse through them for a couple of days but most pages will not be needed in a few weeks from now.

The important stuff that comes from this I do digitize with a tool like draw.io. Which I hate to use actually, it's not user-friendly to me, but it's what we use at work.

Re:Ask HN: How do I overcome mental laziness? by masukomi on Monday April 20, 2020 @07:27AM (#22922915)
have you tried dot-grid paper? All the benefits of graph paper (easy to draw lines and boxes, and have a straight edge to write along) but the "grid" fades into the background. Come to the dot grid side. We've got better drawings. ;)
Re:Ask HN: How do I overcome mental laziness? by p2t2p on Monday April 20, 2020 @09:27PM (#22930914)
I shall try that, thank you =)