Ask HN: When does reading become procrastination?

3 points by popedriver 2 years ago | 6 comments

I have a long list of books that I'd like to read (classic novels, famous nonfiction, etc.), but I often find myself wondering whether I use this booklist as a means of "productive procrastination". Should I be spending this time working on projects / learning new technical skills instead?

Surely reading isn't always a bad use of time, as there are an incredible amount of successful / famous people who swear by spending great amounts of time reading (Benjamin Franklin and Charlie Munger, to name a couple). But how much is too much? If I'm spending all of my free time reading, then I'm not spending it doing.

I'm curious to hear how others think about this, as it's something I wrestle with frequently. (For reference, I am a guy in my 20s who graduated from college last year.)

onco 2 years ago |

I definitely see what you are saying, but I don't think its procrastination. Knowledge compounds, meaning the more you learn, the more you can learn. Beyond learning, reading is associated with many positive outcomes, such as increased empathy[0] which is probably a differentiator in technical fields.

As for technical skills, I think it was Bob C. Martin or Andy Hunt who said that if you read one technical book a year you will be ahead of most of your peers.

My personal opinion is if there is a project you want to work on, do that. But if you aren't excited by anything at the moment, keep reading! Following your passions gives you a deep well of energy and it seems you are passionate about reading, so I'd lean into that and not worry too much about it. Its not the worst thing to be well-read.

[0] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/novel-finding-rea...

AnimalMuppet 2 years ago |

It's only procrastination if you have other things that you should be doing, and you are not getting those things done in a timely manner.

For this next minute, choosing to do anything means choosing against all the other possible things you could do with that minute. You could be working out, learning a new coding language, learning Swahili, learning how to cook, learning how to paint... (Fill in the things that you have at least some degree of interest in doing.)

But there's nothing wrong in not doing any of those things in this minute. There is also value in just stopping, and doing something you find relaxing, fun, interesting on its own (as opposed to interesting for the value it could bring you later). There's a balance here. Yes, invest in your future. And yes, take some time for "not working on the future" now.

wannabebarista 2 years ago |

There's clearly not a one-size-fits-all answer to this. I am a big advocate of reading widely and often especially during your early career. It's surprising how often tidbits from seemingly unrelated areas help one contextualize situations and generate new ideas. Plus, work time during one's early early career is usually unproductive work-wise but highly productive learning-wise.

A related problem is how to balance reading the background material with getting started on a project. How many papers should one read in an area before writing their paper? How familiar should one be with a technique before presenting the results to business partners?

Daedren 2 years ago |

Reading novels is just another hobby, much like watching TV and whatnot.

It is impossible to be productive at all times, it's very important to have times and the means to relax.

However if you have an objective in mind, and you're finding yourself incapable of doing it because of your hobbies, only then I'd start considering it to be a problem. (It becomes procrastination)

mytailorisrich 2 years ago |

It's not about how much you read, or whether it's too much. It's procrastination if you read to avoid doing something else that you should be doing.

pestatije 2 years ago |

when you do it for entertainment