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To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved

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Re: To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved

#21

Post by imgabe »

spdustin wrote: post #19
hashberry wrote: post #4

I am a remote worker and suffer from chronic procrastination. "Understanding emotions" is an oversimplified solution because many are addicted to procrastination. It's like asking an alcoholic to understand the emotions of why he drinks. I have procrastinated as a student and my entire career and have always gotten away with it. I've been rewarded with praise of my great work, higher paying positions, and bonuses. I…

I don't mean to sound flippant, but it seems like AD/HD to me. No real concern for due dates far off in the future: "Look, it's either due now or not now ." Describes me perfectly. :)

Wow, I have said almost exactly this before. "There are only two deadlines: today and not today."

Re: To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved

#22

Post by kmundnic »

hosh wrote: post #17
kmundnic wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

May I ask, what specific technique/type of meditation have you been practicing? I've used some meditation exercises coming from kundalini yoga to tackle other problems, and they have worked wonderfully. Nevertheless, I haven't encountered something like what you're mentioning. Thanks!

Meditation will follow the same principles regardless of the specific techniques or tradition. The reason is that there isn't much to it. When you come down to it, there isn't much difference among Zen (Chan), Vipassana, Insight, Taoist shengong meditations, etc. This is because they all touch on the same ground of being (emptiness). (And yes, you'll find this in Western traditions and indigenous tribal traditions).…

It does! And actually, everything that you've mentioned has started to surface. But since I've only tried one specific technique/tradition, I was wondering if I was "missing out".

I'd say I've practiced kundalini yoga, since the Kundalini process definitely started. Nevertheless, I'm wondering who is the marketing expert now.

Re: To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved

#24

Post by brc »

hashberry wrote: post #4

I am a remote worker and suffer from chronic procrastination. "Understanding emotions" is an oversimplified solution because many are addicted to procrastination. It's like asking an alcoholic to understand the emotions of why he drinks. I have procrastinated as a student and my entire career and have always gotten away with it. I've been rewarded with praise of my great work, higher paying positions, and bonuses. I…

I think we have a lot in common.

The thing I sometimes wish for most is a 'hard reset'. When I was a lot younger I achieved this just by changing everything - cities, jobs, possessions, relationships. The resultant clear space was intoxicating as there was no 'cruft' of incomplete tasks nagging away at the edges of ether consciousness. As you get older this is virtually impossible or at least very difficult because of the people we share life with. Writing down endless lists can help to declutter the mind and allow focus - this is the core of the GTD strategy. However the things are still not done.

I also have been given rewards for procrastinated tasks, and some of my best work has been done last minute. Yet I recognise that perhaps that work would have been even better with more preparation.

So I'm currently without a great strategy, still getting work done but perhaps failing in other areas where other non-work goals are not necessarily being completed. I think decluttering (physical and mental) is the key but this in itself takes serious effort and can involve anguish (throwing things out and abandoning goals and tasks takes commitment)

Re: To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved

#25

Post by PopeOfNope »

hashberry wrote: post #4

I am a remote worker and suffer from chronic procrastination. "Understanding emotions" is an oversimplified solution because many are addicted to procrastination. It's like asking an alcoholic to understand the emotions of why he drinks. I have procrastinated as a student and my entire career and have always gotten away with it. I've been rewarded with praise of my great work, higher paying positions, and bonuses. I…

addicted to procrastination.

Close. We're addicted to all manner of other things that give us that instant dopamine hit. When you ask somebody what do they do when they procrastinate, they rarely say they do something productive[0]. Instead, it's an activity that's designed to trigger that instant high: browsing the web, playing video games, eating, smoking.

My reward system is completely divorced from reality. I get rewards all the time for doing absolutely nothing. It's supposed to be, you do some work, you get a reward. You go fishing, dinner is your reward. You build a treehouse, the satisfaction of a job well done is your reward. But what do you do when you can get 100x the reward just clicking through hacker news?

I'm currently working on resetting my dopamine threshold by limiting my web browsing to 1 hour a day and meditating more. I'll be honest, it's not going well so far.

[0]: some do, but they don't consider their procrastination as a problem.

Re: To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved

#26

Post by naveen99 »

I thought I was having procrastination issues. Turns out I was in heart failure from an atrial septal defect. Get a cardiopulmonary stress test, check your thyroid, blood sugar. Make sure it's not a treatable physical issue too. Hacker types (intj, intp) don't procrastinate.

Re: To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved

#27

Post by lighthawk »

One technique mentioned was delaying access to common timewasting sites. That is way too complicated and doesn't get the job done. Just put it in your hosts file and "block" it by pointing it at 127.0.0.1. If you really need access, "unblock" it by undoing that. This sounds stupid, but it really helps. Everytime you waste time at a site, add it. That works for most sites- not all, but enough.

Another technique mentioned was breaking tasks up into hour blocks with rewards. This sounds like Pomodoro technique. I tried that on multiple occasions and it never worked. The timer and breaks distract me and interrupt whatever flow I might have been lucky enough to get into. I've never worked with anyone that has continued to use this technique. Rewards in-general work, but I'd just have a reward when done with a task and have smaller tasks.

Here are other techniques that really work: (1) Find work you like to do and that you are good at, and find an environment where you excel. If you can't, then try to reduce stress through music, taking brief walks, etc. (2) Sleep more. (3) Lose weight in a healthy sustainable way. (4) Get exercise regularly. (5) Take care of your physical and mental health. (6) While at work, write down one thing you need to do. Finish it before doing anything else, unless there is an emergency you should assist with. Repeat.

Re: To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved

#29

Post by brazzledazzle »

spdustin wrote: post #19
hashberry wrote: post #4

I am a remote worker and suffer from chronic procrastination. "Understanding emotions" is an oversimplified solution because many are addicted to procrastination. It's like asking an alcoholic to understand the emotions of why he drinks. I have procrastinated as a student and my entire career and have always gotten away with it. I've been rewarded with praise of my great work, higher paying positions, and bonuses. I…

I don't mean to sound flippant, but it seems like AD/HD to me. No real concern for due dates far off in the future: "Look, it's either due now or not now ." Describes me perfectly. :)

Yep. ADHD is not a problem of perception, it's a problem of motivation. A problem of inhibition. "ADHD is a failure to direct behavior forward in time." "They are best thought of as executive deficits, not attention deficits."

For anyone who wants to really understand the disorder (even those who have it and think they have a good grasp on it) Dr. Russell A Barkley, PhD is a great place to start. In particular this video, "Essential Ideas for Parents": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCAGc-rkIfo

If you have ADHD I can't recommend his books enough.

Re: To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved

#30

Post by kenesom1 »

People procrastinate because work is painful. Naturally people want to avoid pain.

To stop procrastinating:

- Stop doing things that are painful. Do other things instead.

- Improve your pain tolerance by becoming stronger, better rested, etc.

(Disclaimer: haven't read the article yet.)

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