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Show HN: I made a Chrome extension that helps battle impulsive procrastination

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Re: Show HN: I made a Chrome extension that helps battle impulsive procrastination

#61

Post by prashnts »

oceanghost wrote: post #59
acomar wrote: post #19

Maybe this is the wrong thread for this comment, but I'm wondering if I'm alone in this. Anyone else find they procrastinate for reasons another than a habitual need to check e.g. reddit/HN? I find for myself, it's very rarely that I'm procrastinating without any reason, but instead that I'm actively avoiding whatever it is I think I should be doing for any number of reasons. The list includes: * I don't have a clear…

You're describing what ADD/ADHD+OCD feels like. I recently realized I had a problem and went to a psychiatrist. The meds they prescribed helped quite a bit.

Agreed. I had my diagnosis little over a year and half ago, and I know all of these too well. In any case though, without a professional evaluation, one can never be sure.

Re: Show HN: I made a Chrome extension that helps battle impulsive procrastination

#62

Post by reitanqild »

acomar wrote: post #19

Maybe this is the wrong thread for this comment, but I'm wondering if I'm alone in this. Anyone else find they procrastinate for reasons another than a habitual need to check e.g. reddit/HN? I find for myself, it's very rarely that I'm procrastinating without any reason, but instead that I'm actively avoiding whatever it is I think I should be doing for any number of reasons. The list includes: * I don't have a clear…

My possible #1:

I am afraid that I will will be interrupted before I get anything done.

If this is the case: don't work from home unless you live alone or with understanding people, put headset on, turn phone off (or only sound for trusted allies) etc.

Make trusted allies, but be careful: I recommend framing it as a matter of being more effective and reaching flow state quicker instead of framing it as impediment.

Edit:

As others have mentioned: pomodoro. I'd also like to mention the autofocus system by Mark Forster.

Re: Show HN: I made a Chrome extension that helps battle impulsive procrastination

#63

Post by ChuckMcM »

acomar wrote: post #19

Maybe this is the wrong thread for this comment, but I'm wondering if I'm alone in this. Anyone else find they procrastinate for reasons another than a habitual need to check e.g. reddit/HN? I find for myself, it's very rarely that I'm procrastinating without any reason, but instead that I'm actively avoiding whatever it is I think I should be doing for any number of reasons. The list includes: * I don't have a clear…

Absolutely, I can check all of those boxes. The worst one is #4 for me, because when I work on task A I realize that I am not working on task B, C, or D. Of course it is somehow less bad to work on nothing rather than favor one task over the other :-). That said, there are many techiques for pulling through these issues. For #4 I set a timer and plan to work on task A for only 1 hour or what ever, and give myself permission to work on something else in hour 2 etc. But at the same time if I feel bad I'm not working on other tasks I know that I'll have used up my time for this task soon enough.

Self inflicted mind games to be sure but they can be helpful.

Re: Show HN: I made a Chrome extension that helps battle impulsive procrastination

#64

Post by dingo_bat »

I recall reading somewhere that Chrome apps would be discontinued on Windows and Linux. If so, would stuff like this also go away? Or does this count as an extension?

PS: news link http://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/chrome-apps-to-be-disconti...

Re: Show HN: I made a Chrome extension that helps battle impulsive procrastination

#65

Post by kohanz »

ents wrote: post #40
kohanz wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Self Control does this on Mac and is free. https://selfcontrolapp.com

Not as many features as Focus. I bought Focus and I am very happy with it.

Fair enough. I use Self Control and it works well for me. What features in Focus are the difference makers for you?

Re: Show HN: I made a Chrome extension that helps battle impulsive procrastination

#67

Post by ivm »

criddell wrote: post #52
jlbribeiro wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know your first 2 points too well. Most people would advise you to, calmly, break the task at hand into small tasks/steps. Personally, my problem is that the tasks are too high level (maybe an epic), which makes them overwhelming. By breaking them into easy-to-do-steps that forces you to plan your solution (1st point) and understand the problem (2nd point). You should break them into SMART goals (you've probably he…

What type of meditation works well for you? Have you tried Calm or Headspace? Any opinions on that type of guidance?

Headspace is a classic Samadhi+Vipassana meditation wrapped into casual language. I used it a bit for a couple of years and it's a great intro into the practice before going guideless.

I also highly recommend "Mindfulness in plain English"[0], I wish I found it sooner.

[0]: https://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-English-Bhante-Henepola-G...

Re: Show HN: I made a Chrome extension that helps battle impulsive procrastination

#68

Post by Kluny »

Exuma wrote: post #35
acomar wrote: post #19

Maybe this is the wrong thread for this comment, but I'm wondering if I'm alone in this. Anyone else find they procrastinate for reasons another than a habitual need to check e.g. reddit/HN? I find for myself, it's very rarely that I'm procrastinating without any reason, but instead that I'm actively avoiding whatever it is I think I should be doing for any number of reasons. The list includes: * I don't have a clear…

Very astute... I agree. I NEVER procrastinate if I am on a roll and have a strong grasp of things, say 80% of a project. Theres always that 20% though, maybe 10% that can be extremely challenging when you're right at that extremely complicated bit and you just spaz out and just open Facebook, reddit compulsively until you can get your footing. I've been doing this the last 3 days :(

Ahahahah yep, this is a very familiar feeling. Including the part where you're on reddit for three days.

Re: Show HN: I made a Chrome extension that helps battle impulsive procrastination

#70

Post by nerfhammer »

redpanda_ua wrote: post #2

I noticed I can visit same websites (twitter, reddit, HN) few times in the span of 5 minutes. And I don't usually even notice that, it's like a habit. To help me break the loop I made this extension. It only has basic functionality right now, and I want to add some form of statistics, and maybe more in depth personalization tools. Apart from that, I also plan to port it at least to Firefox, but may look into Edge and…

I might find it useful if I could block myself from checking those sites more often than x minutes each, rather than blocking them off entirely on a set schedule.
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