But I'm sure there's a ton out there still.

I'm from the US and I've traveled to ~10 countries which I didn't speak the native language.

In some countries the locals are able to communicate in English/Spanish, and in others, not so much. What would be interesting to see is what % (or an estimate) of the locals can communicate in one of the languages you know (that's probably a hard problem to solve and not sure if the data is readily available) vs whether it's the official language.

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36724573

Points: 4

# Comments: 4

So, I guess my response would be, "out of need"! :)

I was previously a "consultant" (I sat on a professional services arm of a tech company). We sold a tool that was very powerful, but often required a customization for each individual client in order to unlock the true value of the tool. Once it was customized, it still required ongoing maintenance but significantly less effort.

We offered professional services as we way to streamline the "customization" process as well as train the clients' staff how to operate (and further customize) the tool. We were experts with the tooling, so we knew the optimal ways to build things vs. someone who is just reading documentation & trying to figure it out from scratch.

Probably in the short-term, this was a large expense for the customer, but if you were to visualize an expense comparison over time, it was probably significantly cheaper than forcing your staff to learn everything from scratch first, then build out the customizations, all the while they're unable to make progress on their other efforts.

So, I guess it really depends, but this was my experience.

If there’s any common pitfalls you’ve seen your customers run into and can share with OP, I’m sure (s)he would be grateful! :)

I’m just focused on learning from where I’ve gone wrong & improving my self knowledge to ensure I don’t dig myself into that hole again!

I've seen this happen: https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/w4eo12/usi...

I don't have any great pointers unfortunately, though I met someone not too long ago who has a product to help with monitoring AWS costs: https://www.cloudforecast.io/

Disclaimer: I've never used this tool as I don't use AWS but if I did have to use AWS, I would likely try something like this at least early in the game to avoid getting rekd.

It's beginning to change and I can say that the biggest factor that's triggered the change: me/my mindset.

I used to go all in, every day. I was super motivated and wanted to stand out and deliver super high quality and I wouldn't quit until the job was done. Part of it was imposter syndrome, but also a big part was that I held myself to high standards.

I still hold myself to high standards and am self-motivated, but I've realized that I don't always need to be operating at 100% to be effective. It's important to build up your reserves during times when there's relatively low pressure so that you have the energy available to tap into when a big delivery comes along.

Also, I can only speak from my own experience here, and different things work for different people. I can say that in the past year or so, I've been focused on: * increasing impact while reducing effort (because really, the impact is the most important thing) * taking time for myself every day, knowing when to call it quits if I notice I'm spinning my tires * remembering that not everything has to be done today

I really care about the work that I deliver, but I also am aware that the company I work for pays me for my cognitive function, and so I focus on optimizing this.

A car that's driving at full speed runs out of gas quicker than a car that's light on the throttle.

Break your day up into time blocks (Cal Newport has a lot of great content regarding the concept of Deep Work).

Get outside.

Make your bed in the morning to start off with a small win.

Allow yourself 15 mins without any technology to sit with and sort your thoughts (this can absolutely suck and be uncomfortable at first).

Remind yourself of the things you're grateful for.

Pay attention to what you're feeding your mind as well as what you're feeding your body. This is growing in importance every day in the information age.

Reduce the friction between yourself and the things you "have" to do to make them as easy as possible.

Remind yourself that you have a finite amount of cognitive ability each day - ask yourself what you want to "spend" it on.

Tell your family & friends that you love them.

Be nice to others, treat people with respect and help people if you're able. It feels good.

Find ways to laugh and don't take things too seriously.

I've been in the process of moving so I haven't read through many of the responses, but it seems as though there was plenty of interaction between others which is cool!

I'll definitely review everything I can over the next week and follow up, I'm genuinely interested in understanding how others perceive this situation as well.

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36567918

Points: 398

# Comments: 730