If I can do it, so can you

March 19, 2012 9:15 AM

Matt Haughey: Lessons From* A 40-Year Old "taking a longer term view of your work and focusing on life/work balance and having a happy life as well as a fulfilling career." One big reason why MetaFilter is my favorite place on the Web.

* incorrectly titled on the Vimeo page

Honestly, when I made this comment, I didn't know he had already said it all much better...

Also, Best. Simpsons Quote. Ever.

posted by oneswellfoop to MetaFilter-Related at 9:15 AM (25 comments total)

Just as a heads-up, I'm working on a transcription/essay from my notes so everyone doesn't have to sit through the whole talk. Should be done by tomorrow probably.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:27 AM on March 19, 2012 [10 favorites]

In that case, I apologize for posting this before the formal release. But still, RIGHT ON, DUDE.
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:30 AM on March 19, 2012

Welcome to middle age, matt. Your highwaisted pants are in the mail.
posted by jonmc at 9:31 AM on March 19, 2012 [3 favorites]

Metafilter is like the Taoist concept of a tree in a village with useless wood. No one cuts it down.
posted by Blasdelb at 9:36 AM on March 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

That was a nice thoughtful talk, Matt.
posted by carter at 10:00 AM on March 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Having seen this live and from the front row, I can say that mathowie was awesome, and meeting him in person was my Webstock highlight.
posted by szechuan at 11:08 AM on March 19, 2012

So who's going to take the hint and start the "Techcrunch for lifestyle businesses"?
posted by nanojath at 11:48 AM on March 19, 2012

Let's see if I've got this right, Matt.
1. Identify something that annoys you.
2. Find a way to automate it.
3. Get other people involved.
I think I'm ready.
posted by pracowity at 12:10 PM on March 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Hmm. Is there an easy way to check whether "Annoy-Matt-o-Tron 5000" is already taken?
posted by pracowity at 12:30 PM on March 19, 2012

No, that can't be right, pracowity, because Matt hasn't found a way to automate ME yet.
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:16 PM on March 19, 2012

I have already been replaced by a small shell script.
posted by entropicamericana at 1:40 PM on March 19, 2012 [4 favorites]

matt: one thing about backups, you should be constantly restoring the backup. Every day, you should be certain that you can restore your backup. My suggestion is to have a testing server that restores the latest backup every day.
posted by Freen at 1:51 PM on March 19, 2012

also, thanks. This was a truly excellent talk.
posted by Freen at 1:51 PM on March 19, 2012

mathowie, I may be out of the fashion loop, but what shirt are you wearing for the presentation? I'm not sure why I want to know, but I do.
posted by skynxnex at 1:51 PM on March 19, 2012

entropicamericana: "I have already been replaced by a small shell script."

The one that replaced me has a bug in it and nobody cares.
posted by vanar sena at 3:26 PM on March 19, 2012

That was a great talk, one that as I head in to the later quarter of my 30s I am fully relating to. I realized that I've spent the better part of the last 2-3 years trying to engineer my job in to something that keeps me at home 80% of the time, that lets me work from home when I'm not travelling and that lets me take an afternoon off to go hang out with the wife and daughter without having to notify the business weeks in advance.
posted by iamabot at 4:23 PM on March 19, 2012

Thanks Freen, yeah we try to periodically restore our backups. We should do it more often, but about once a month we double-check our database backups to see if we can restore them ok.

skynxnex, that shirt was crazy expensive, handmade in Brooklyn from an ultra-lightweight linen. You can wear it when it's the dead of summer (like it was in New Zealand that day) and you won't overheat while still looking respectable. It fits better than any off-the-rack shirt I've owned and I love it to death. Here it is at the FSC site.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:27 PM on March 19, 2012

One of Matt's other talks (the one where he talks about slowing the growth of MeFi) has really stuck in my mind when thinking about my own community and my own approach to the web.

Enjoyed this talk, too - thanks Matt.
posted by fake at 9:28 PM on March 19, 2012

The older I get, the more I'm focused on work to live, rather than live to work.
posted by arcticseal at 12:08 AM on March 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

Fantastic talk.

Didn't know you were battling a tumor Matt. My best wishes to you on that, and good to hear you're winning the fight.
posted by philipy at 8:25 AM on March 20, 2012

Oh I went ahead and updated the post, adding a semi-transcript of the entire talk based mostly on my notes and some on what I said.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 4:36 PM on March 20, 2012

That was really good. You're a good guy, man.
posted by cashman at 8:41 PM on March 20, 2012

Excellent, inspiring talk, Matt.
posted by onalark at 11:36 PM on March 20, 2012

It was mentioned in Mark Frauenfelder's GWEEK podcast this week, too.
posted by crunchland at 7:10 PM on March 25, 2012

(Now that I actually have the time to listen to it, I realize that it's more than just mentioned... Matt's a guest on the effing podcast.)
posted by crunchland at 6:53 AM on March 29, 2012