OCD about Emacs

Why do I constantly think about new ways to configure Emacs, I always am thinking how to configure Emacs while I'm in the middle of doing something, it is so annoying, I would rather use Microsoft Word at this point bcs I don't have to think about anything when I just want to write something down, why should I keeping using Emacs if all I can do is try and configure it, and not actually use it.

Just stop configuring it then. You can use a preset emacs build like doom emacs or spacemacs and just not touch it if you want.

Improving how you do things is what software is all about. Just make good choices about the projects you pick.

> Why do I constantly think about new ways to configure Emacs Because you can? Easily? Playfully? It's like a giant open-stacks library. But one where you can write in the books and add more books. > I always am thinking how to configure Emacs while I'm in the middle of doing something Emacs is more interesting than some things we do, alas... > I don't have to think about anything when I just want to write something down Well that is (should be) true of Emacs also. But I guess it's a bit like reading a Wikipedia article. When you come across a link to something you'd like to know about, and you can just open that link in another browser tab, why not...? > I can do is try and configure it, and not actually use it Configuring it is using it. But yeah, I know what you mean. We've all been there (and may still be there)...

I notice this on myself a while I ago. I solved (kinda) doing this. Whenever I’m working and I come up with something that would be practical to have customized, I jot down the idea in a post-it and stick it on my screen. If by the next day I still find I need that customization/feature, I work on it. Otherwise I just thrash it. Keeps me from incorporating stuff into my config that looks nice or seems potentially useful but ends up clogging my config and my workflow. Hope this helps.

One thing that helps me resist this urge to configure is having to keep a working configuration between two systems (ie both windows and Linux). This forces you to consider what might break your config, and test it out, and get annoyed when things don't work consistently. Another thing I do is take advantage of the scratch buffer. Put a heading for each day or train of thought, then let stuff just sit there and flip back whenever. Then for a long-running emacs I just `:w scratch-todays-date.el` before closing. You could probably make a hook to do that automatically when closing. (tl;dr: trip yourself up in technical debt to detach. Then save what you still try to configure.)

Why do I constantly improve my workflow. I'm always thinking of how to improve my workflow while working, it is so annoying. I would rather use blackbox tools at this point to stay exactly as productive as I am now for the rest of my life. Why should I keep improving when it requires so much self-reflection and effort. Sarcasm aside, there is a balance between optimization and throughput. Maybe try using a literate org config and add TODOs to it instead of configuring and come back to them later.

That's why I switched to vscode. Sometimes worse is better. Also, don't try to create your own color theme ;)

> But I guess it's a bit like reading a Wikipedia article. When you come across a link to something you'd like to know about, and you can just open that link in another browser tab, why not...? There is this guy at our work who constantly has like 20~30 Wikipedia pages open. There is always like 3 to 4 rows full of tabs when you see his computer screen. He knows all the details of any German vehicle, motors used in them, German weapons from the ww2, differences between models etc.

Is what you're doing the rest of the time interesting to you?

It's good to see that switching to vscode prevents any preoccupations with Emacs.

Emacs is a means to an end. It's also a form of entertainment. But if the second aspect impedes the first one, and prevents you from functioning normally at work, you have a problem and you have to do something about it.

My config does the same things across Debian, Windows, and Mac. Sometimes, keeping the config behavior the same is *harder* than customizing for only one OS.

As one who suffers from a case of OCD, I can speak from years of experience by saying that the rabbit hole becomes deeper as Emacs and computer programming knowledge increase. This is due to the fact that new ways to customize the user experience come to light .... In my case, that led to tinkering with the C internals and taking over any Lisp library that I may possibly use more than just once. I've somewhat learned, but am still working on, the art of just creating a note on my todo-list of something that needs fixing in the future, versus deviating from a work-related project to go deeper down the rabbit hole for an unknown period of time (hours, days, etc.).

I'd suggest capturing what you want to do in some sort of note (this could be in emacs or even a note-pad), and set some time aside to prioritize and review those ideas later to see if they are worth implementing them in the future. By doing so you may notice that there is less 'churning' and you can also refine those ideas clearly and evaluate the benefit of spending the time and energy to do so. Org-mode does provide tooling to capture notes, but, I don't want to presume that you use it; I don't know what your current workflow is. On the other-hand, you could go the same route with Word, as there are many plugins and plug-ins available for it--thought you may end up paying money for some of them and not being able to find out how they work. Nor will you be able to change behavior of word if you find some behavior not to your liking. Though, if you find it's really unusable and all your time goes into configuring or fighting distracting thoughts of configuring, then by all means use an editor where this isn't an issue. Until you are in a place where your level of productivity and configuring emacs aren't competing for your time and effort, as that sounds really frustrating. Early in my time with learning emacs I did switch between emacs and vim, because I found using emacs exclusively was frustrating in that I didn't know how to use it yet. Eventually I found myself switching from vim to emacs and finally left vim behind altogether, but it wasn't quick or immediate. Though in the long-term I've found the persistence and patience quite rewarding. Follow your instincts and trust your judgement, if you feel so frustrated that you need to take a break--that's ok do that and perhaps come back to it later when you have had some time to reflect on what you are looking to get from emacs.

With great freedom comes great responsibility, sit it will require some self-discipline. When you have an idea about configuration follow two steps: - Is something broken and stopping me from being productive? - Yes: Fix it - No: Store it in a note and move on. Then once a week or whatever, go through your notes and decide what to implement.

Something like this works for me, too.

Switch to Windows. Things you’ve have taken for granted should no longer work well there. For instance, auto-revert-mode which will slow down Emacs significantly. (IIRC, magit also enables this mode under the hood by default? And every Emacs user I know uses magit…) Also, all the minor modes and third-party packages you don’t really need. It will stop you from fucking around too much. Or get an old laptop. Just my .02.

you may not like it but this is what peak Emacs usage looks like

I had the same feeling, to conquer it I started using org-now package. Now every time I have an idea to switch focus, I press C-c n n (opening now.org file) and add to “Today” a new item and return back to original focus. Occasionally I check ideas under Today and either actually do them or archiving via C-c $. With Emacs in particular, I recently declared Emacs bancrupcy after straigh.el and package.el collided and Emacs.app was crashing immediately after launching, so started from scratch. One of the principles I’m following in my v2 config is trying to be as “vanilla” as possible unless I have really good reasons to use external package.

Haha I just spent 2-3 days configuring/learning emacs ALL DAY, instead of working on my project. I'm new-ish to emacs, so been learning all about it. I even edited an elisp script lol. I actually avoided emacs at the start of this week and used eclipse, because although it has many bugs with the vim plugin, in general, I can write, run, and debug my code in it. I knew that if I loaded up emacs, I'd have to configure it and learn it's features, and have no code wrote. I believe I have a useful setup now, and some knowledge of how to do IDE-like things in emacs, so I'll take on board what others have said about adding other configurations to a todo list. For now, I'm gonna leave it how it is and get used to using it properly. Ricing is such a weird nerdy thing though, isn't it? Ultimately it just shows that you enjoy using it, and you'll be more efficient in the future, or at least more knowledgeable. I think part of it is knowing that you can change/fix problems with it. Eclipse has this weird bug that whilst typing it deletes, overwrites, or inserts random text. Super irritating, and I just ignore it, write the line again and swear, hoping for a better editor. I think if that was in emacs, I'd be able to fix it or disable whatever caused it. I used to switch from window manager to window manager and was always making a new config, and wrote loads of scripts and even extended a progam. Then I moved to Xmonad, wrote the config once/twice and not really changed it in years now, which is nice. I have however forgotten how the haskell works, so maybe that's why. Once you land on a setup that feels good, you'll wanna keep it :).

It will ease with time. There's only that many things to configure. I promise! (I spent over 5 months of just tweaking and configuring and eventually, now, I'm just happy with it).

I still tweak Emacs, but after I switched to a very minimal Doom-Emacs configuration, I don't tweak it as much as I used to. Doom-Emacs has a particular way of doing things, and that helps me to keep my configuration focused.