news.ycombinator.com
Ask HN: How are you preventing brainrot?
Hey there, full time software engineer of around 6 years here (post-grad). I’m using Claude Code half of the day now at work, I just can’t keep up with my team if I were to stop coding with AI. I’m more “productive” but my brain feels less sharp and am curious how others are staying sharp, I guess I just need to allocate time to learning new things again but wondering how others are dealing with this. Thanks!
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What's working well for me (ymmv): - Going for a walk at least 1h a day - Sitting 20min first thing in the morning in sun doing absolutely nothing - Working out every day, even if just doing some pullups or pushups - Trying to only use social media for work, not for pleasure - Talking to AI (Claude) while Claude Code is running in different session, about topics that are interesting to me I spent about 6-8h online every day on average Hope it's helpful
The best way: Measure things, list the results, and compare the numbers. Making determinations about product improvement based on numbers always requires original opinions. Most developers cannot do this, especially when the numbers contradict favored opinions.
I stay sharp by using AI to explore things I don't know. Kinda works. Helps if you enjoy testing unusual ideas.
I self-quarantined ever since AI took over the industry and it's been the most productive year so far. I essentially take the next problem to tackle and go insane for a couple days until it compiles. Highly recommend.
Chess on phone, with people, but disable chat.