I have had the cowboy hat in my possession for 24 days, so suffice it to say that posting and commenting here on Stacker News have become a comfortable routine.
While other regulars fiddle around with the optimal amount of zaps they should give, I have been more preoccupied with incorporating the use of SN into my life. So after 24 days, this is basically my routine these days:
- Start of the day - pay myself first: To help me manage the dread of having to slog for a living, I wake up and see if my balance has exceeded 500 sats. When it does, I withdraw whatever sats I have and just leave 500 sats. Having more sats in my LN wallet, albeit paltry, makes me feel that I have accomplished something before my work day starts. I then use 500 sats as play money. I zap more generously than in the past and don’t bat an eyelid when some territories require 100 sats to post. Because I have enough!
- Throughout the day - respond to messages: When I zap and utilise my sats with reckless abandon, I find that sometimes I’m hovering dangerously close to a couple of hundred sats. Nonetheless, I try to respond to messages Stackers have left me and zap them part of my stash. I have to readily admit that the amount I zap is partly dependent on my mood and mostly dependent on the pool of sats I have. Maybe I should come up with a more objective guideline and zap more towards the direction of value-addedness.
- End of the day - zapping popular posts and hanging out at the Saloon: One way to get rewarded with sats is to zap the trending posts. So I look at the top posts and see if I have anything else to add on. I never zap a post that I don’t leave a comment for; it just doesn’t feel right to me. I typically end my last engagement of the day with a reflection on what happened that day. I kinda like the sense of closure it brings me. And there’s a chance that I will wake up with more sats than the previous day. Surprise!
What’s your SN routine like?
My answer has little to do with sat allocation, although I've written about the current experiment with that if you want to read it.
My thing w/ SN is basically how to not spend too much time on SN. I wake up, do a bit of writing or art, then open SN and read all the notifications (some are replies to me, some are people I follow). Then I read recents, looking for things that are to my taste or that I'm trying to encourage; then to the main page.
After that, I try to not look at SN anymore because the major challenge at this era of my life is having my attention fragmented into a million pieces. This is the usual problem of modern life that people talk about (always checking their phone, etc) but with a bonus that with my job, and my hobbies, I am extremely subject to this fractionation, and it's become a serious issue.
This is relevant to SN bc there's so much compelling stuff here, and I see so many ways to be involved and help, and I actually feel like I'm kind of actual friends with a few people, and so it's tempting for so many reasons, but my life can't support it. I need those mental resources elsewhere, at least for now.
This is something I just can't wrap my head around. I believe you either live in Japan or Singapore now, right? Super expensive places. And yet you're talking about, at current valuations, having a feeling of 'security' from 21 cents a day? I just don't get where people's minds are calibrated on zap amounts. I know not everyone is rolling in the dough, esp compared to a North American white-collar worker, but is 21 cents really an amount of daily capital that elicits feelings? Esp when, as @siggy47 points out, and as @Undisciplined has described many times, and as @ekzyis's daily works of art have demonstrated, it's way easier to be in the green when you're zapping more?
I'd love to know more about your thinking / feeling on this issue, since I think a lot of stackers are in your same mental space. In the meantime, here's some extra play money -- my request is that you use it for your activities on the site vs withdrawing it, and see what you notice.
And fwiw, I second Siggy in noticing and appreciating what you bring to SN.
Hi, elvis!
Shucks, you got me. I freely admit that my first impulse when I saw your zap was to withdraw it to my LN wallet. Then I read that you wanted me to play with it and take note of any insights that crop up. Sure I will do that n play in the big leagues haha.
Now for why I only zap 50-60 sats (though that has increased thanks to @Undisciplined’s cajoling - I used to zap at most 20 sats haha)
So, I increased my default zap to 168 because in Chinese, it means “prosper all the way” (一路发”). It hasn’t even been one day but I have noticed certain changes:
Will get in touch again!
And thanks for the play money
I like that there's a new distinctive zap number out there and it's higher brow than the 420's or 69's that are often chosen.
Just wait until you see what your zap rewards start looking like. @ekzyis's daily posts give you a sense, but if you're like me, the first time you get rewarded several thousand sats for zapping content will be pretty impactful.
Only two days and i have cut back to 108 zaps on the third day to make my newfound habit more sustainable haha
108 is a significant number in Chinese culture too. It refers to 108 Heroes, the main characters of the Ming dynasty classic Chinese novel “the Water Margin”.
Neat
Feel free to add those thoughts to my second most popular post which was about that very thing.
Dang, that would have been the perfect post to link but I hadn't seen it till now.
It also contains this gem of a comment which I loved. I'd zap that guy but he hasn't been back for 5 months. Come back, @nightsofbitcoin!
I can see why you zap small comments 27 sats, because I just zapped you 28 sats (8 is the Chinese’s lucky number). Gotta spread the sats around!
Anyway I answered your 2nd most popular post and gave what I thought was a considered response to your interesting n existential question haha
I was doing 28 today as well. We'll see where I get to for tomorrow.
Nothing. I just wanna zap you more than you zap me for once hahaha
Can I just say that I see you all the time making quality contributions here. I think you may be cheating yourself of sats with your method. You will earn far more by tipping more. Build up some more sats, then tip quality posts early. For more details, check @Natalia's recent post. It really pays to pay others before yourself, as crazy as that sounds.
As an example, the first thing I do in the morning is donate a load of sats to the site. It's not completely out of the goodness of my heart. First of all, then I don't need to worry about my cowboy hat. Secondly, I know I have a chance to earn it back with good tipping and posting throughout the day.
You can trust siggy to know what's up. Just hover over that cowboy hat for a second.
To his point, I often make over 10k in rewards for my extravagant zapping behavior.
you can trust @Undisciplined to know what's up. Just hover over that cowboy hat for a second.
You can also trust @Natalia to know what's up, but you just sort of have to know that.
indeed! 😂
Thanks for your concrete suggestion. Before today, I only donated once to the pool. It could be 50 or 500 sats, I can’t remember which. Anyway today I donated 1680 sats to the pool because I really, really care about keeping my cowboy hat. Keeping the streak makes me feel like I’m winning something in life!
You're way ahead of where I was when I got started here. It took me a long time. Onward and upward!
What if I told you that you would have more play money if you zap others more 👀 and data speak for itself:
https://m.stacker.news/12973
I'm not a fan of sharing too much data in public, but since I'm selling the art of stacking - this was from yesterday, and I didn't even have too much time to do the zapping because I was busy with my own posts, so mostly all I did was zapping those who leave comments in my posts.
bad practice, you don't wait to zap the popular posts, you should be EARLY to spot those to-be-popular ones! Adding comments is good, but again be EARLY is the way.
But then again, I've also shared in my SSL that I'm not a sat maxi but a grow and fun maxi in SN:) Life is not about stacking sats only, the unseen are more valuable.
Thanks for showing me your rewards stash! It’s really motivating
And thanks for the pro tip. I would never have figured it out. Haha. I would be sure to support the OPs of recent posts from now on. Who knows? I might hit the jackpot haha
Billion sats question - how many territories do you follow? And what are they, if you don’t mind sharing?
As one of the zap optimizers, I start my SN day by setting my default zap to 1/10,000th of my wallet balance. (When my cowboy hat was as young as yours, I would set it at 1/1000th which yielded about the same quantity back then.)
Then I check my notifications. I like wrapping up conversations from the previous day before diving into what's new. I also like to keep tabs on how I did in the rewards rankings.
After that, it's a free-for-all of reading, zapping, commenting, and posting that solely conforms to the whims of the day.
Almost forgot, at least once per day I try to one-up @ekzyis in some way (or at least accuse him of malfeasance if I can't come up with something).
Cool. Because I’m like that too. I like to give a sense of closure to chats so that I don’t leave the other person hanging. The thing is, sometimes I’m preoccupied with stuff at that point in time or am just not in the mood to type. So I don’t always follow up until later. By then, the momentum will be disrupted because the other person has moved on. My bad.
I think with the 10k zap, I wanna give more attention to the comments I zap and leave more elaborated responses. It’s also to see if Stackers respond to me when I reply a couple of days later. I kinda think Stackers have the patience and stamina for on-off conversations.
And you had me googling the meaning of malfeasance. Never came across this word in squeaky clean, albeit stifling Singapore hahaha
That sounds hilarious, I'm sure I've seen your exchanges - but haven't picked up on it.
What's your all-time favorite accusation?
I don't know that any have been that great so far. It's usually related to him doing something shady to make his zapping look more impressive mine.
We'll have to check out the interactions and enjoy your fun.
Don't undersell yourself. I am already doing it.
On my part, I am just trying out many things and see what works for me -- that is being part of the family in terms of postings and replies and zapping and all. Still playing with everything anyways. When I get to your stage of having a daily routine, which I see, that it brings some stability dealing with stacker news, I would feel fulfilled.
I like that you found your edge here. Good writeup, man.
Here are some sats to help you hone your game. I hope you are having as much fun as I am. Keep the hat on!
Thanks man. Appreciate.
create + zap GT = stackALL DAY LONG 🤠Does GT mean great topics? I have been trying to work out what it means lol
Nice equation!
It can also be interpreted as "great topics," but I meant "good content." @Natalia came up with the formula :) I just added the GT.
N look at you going on strong!
I found it only a week ago or so, I was aware of it previously but hadn't had a proper look. It's now in my "Morning" bookmarks folder which I open as soon as I switch on the laptop, so it's an embedded part of my morning routine. Still getting used to things, lost my cowboy hat unfortunately, then found another, so that was great.
I load her up, hit the main page and click the posts I like, zap my favourites and the best replies, and then it lurks in the background and I have a quick look over the course of the day.
The bookmarks folder is such a good idea. Comforting and boosts self-love. Can I ask what else is in that folder? And just how long is your morning routine?!
Because my work day starts as 7.45am, I only have about 30 mins for my morning routine. So I find that I can only really focus on one thing. If I want to rush to finish a great book, it means I don’t get to spend time on Stacker News until later in the day
The rest of that folder of incredibly boring, fiat finance guff that I need but hate!
I subscribe to @Rsync25 and then only check https://stacker.news/notifications as my source of news... :)
What is it about @Rsync25’s writing that appeals to you so much? Cos of his in-depth knowledge of Cashnu?
Thx for sharing!
I just get notifications for the links @Rsync25 posts...
Hi cryotosensei! Sounds like you've got a nice routine going.
However, consider tweaking it by raising your 500 threshold to a far higher amount - in the thousands rather than the hundreds.
Not having that spending limitation could help free up your mind and your zapping.
Your wallet might thank you for it!
Love the whole idea of freeing my mind. That’s what got us into Bitcoin in the first place, isn’t it?
Will experiment more to be more generous with others (and self). Cos the energy i give out to the world will bounce back to me, right?
Arigato!
This guy gets it.
Wah thank you for reading this old post! Haha
Not that much.. but I always post 2 times everyday and comment top and hot post.. then open app in the next day if i gain SATs. Its not much to earn but im happy to see my SATs go atleast a hundred everyday.
Slow n steady does it
I'm gonna try at least one post a day
My SN routine is a bit quirky. I start my day by browsing random territories just to see what catches my eye, then I leave short, playful comments that make me smile. I don’t worry too much about sats — I treat them as a fun bonus. Sometimes I post links to unusual articles or personal experiments I’m trying out. Before sleeping, I scroll through the day’s posts and zap the ones that truly inspire me, enjoying the little surprises SN brings.
My Staker News routine is designed to maximize both engagement and productivity, with a keen focus on earning and utilizing hard-earned satoshis effectively. I begin my day by checking notifications, responding to replies, and catching up with updates from the people I follow. This ensures I stay connected with the community and contribute to ongoing conversations.
Next, I dive into the recent posts, looking for content that resonates with my interests or aligns with my goals. I prioritize posts that I believe deserve encouragement, rewarding insightful contributions with zaps. This selective engagement not only enriches my experience but also helps maintain a high standard of discourse on the platform.
After this initial burst of activity, I move to the main page to explore trending topics and popular discussions. Here, I look for opportunities to offer meaningful input, share my expertise, or ask thought-provoking questions.
Given the value of each satoshi, I am mindful of my time on SN. The temptation to stay engaged is strong, especially with the abundance of compelling content and opportunities to help others. However, I set clear boundaries to avoid attention fragmentation and ensure that my time on SN remains productive and purposeful.
This disciplined approach allows me to balance my involvement on Staker News with my professional and personal responsibilities, ensuring that every satoshi spent is well-earned and thoughtfully utilized.