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0 pointsrl39y ago0 comments

While it isn't work, reading technical articles regularly on HN can be very beneficial.

In fact, the first thing I tell aspiring developers is to start reading HN on a regular basis if they already aren't. It confers a sort of broad awareness of various stacks and ecosystems over time that's hard to obtain otherwise.

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4 comments · 2 top-level

decasia9y ago· 1 in thread

Yeah, learning the culture of your profession -- with a broad awareness of different ecosystems and things -- isn't "immediately productive," but it's a simple form of professional development. (And in my opinion, enlightened employers understand that decent professional development is a really important part of the work process.)

jrs2359y ago

It falls into the important but not urgent quadrant of Stephen Covey's Time Management Matrix.

jrs2359y ago· 1 in thread

Depending on what articles one is reading, this activity could fall within "sharpening the ax" (which is also beneficial for the company).

scorpioxy9y ago

Absolutely and if keeping up with technology is not work then what it is "work"? Is it just typing out the code? What about when your IDE auto-completes your code? It's a little silly to think about it this way.

I try to keep my distractions to a minimum level but I've often encountered comments and articles on HN that have been of great benefit to my work and my clients. Things like a service I've never heard of, a library being used in a way that I haven't seen before or even just personal experiences.

Hell I even use HN to minimize distractions such as reading only the comments section about some new product Google/MS/Apple released(or is killing) just to get an idea of what's out there in the market and if it is of any use to me.

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