Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved

wsj.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 123 posts

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

#31

Post by porter »

Kluny wrote: post #5

Ok, here's an idea for a procrastination preventer. It's like the ones you've seen already, which you add to your browser, and then they kick you off reddit after 15 minutes or whatever, or blog problem domains entirely. Instead of that, a popup that asks "what are you supposed to be working on right now?" with a short text input. You type an answer, and carry on procrastinating. Then after 15 minutes, it pops up aga…

Or maybe a next step plugin that just asks you every 15 minutes to complete your next step. Then you can do whatever you want until the next time.

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

#32

Post by chockablock »

hosh wrote: post #6

Yep. That's been my experience with procrastination too. I didn't get any headway with it until I started addressing the underlying emotions. It could be anything: anger, fear, shame, guilt, and at the bottom of it is existential anxiety.

Much of the article (and Hosh's comments) resonated strongly with me. I fall into the category that had quite a bit of therapy before making real progress on my procrastination. In my case, the key to the puzzle has been cultivating compassion for myself and others--especially myself! :)

A great book if you want more exploration of the emotional roots of procrastination is Burka and Yuen's "Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About It Now" https://www.amazon.com/dp/0738211702 ). It's not a 'quick fix' type book, but I found it helpful.

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

#33

Post by bbcbasic »

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…

Maybe procrastination ain't that bad. Maybe its the 8 hour day of continual focus, 5 days a week, for 2000 weeks that is unrealistic, give human nature.

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

#34

Post by hosh »

kmundnic wrote: post #22
hosh wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I don't remember -- I think though, as long as it is working for you, it works, yeah? :-D

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

#35

Post by bbcbasic »

kenesom1 wrote: post #30

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.)

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

That's procrastinating!

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

#36

Post by chillacy »

naveen99 wrote: post #26

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.

> Hacker types (intj, intp) don't procrastinate

Not necessarily: https://www.reddit.com/r/INTP/comments/29ui2d/why_are_intps_...

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

#37

Post by hosh »

kmundnic wrote: post #22
hosh wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

@kmundnic oh, I'd like to add something here, about the "missing out".

The first is suggesting that that wondering or doubt can be an entry point to explore something buried. You might surface up all kinds of interesting things.

The second is this: when Shakti pierces the 4th chakra and/or the hrit padma (below it) ... you'll gain a kind of "compass". From there on out, you'll always have a way of checking which path to go. It might mean staying with kundalini yoga, it might not be.

The journey getting to the center involves piercing through the 2nd ganthri, learning to surrender. It will be like peeling an onion. You'll cry. A lot. And you'll know it is worth it.

Whatever way you are choosing, you won't "miss out". Some paths are shorter -- and more intense -- than others. That "compass" is guiding you whether you are aware of it's influence or not, more so if you are re-affirming your dedication to the discipline. You take any path to it's ultimate end, and they all come to the same ultimate end.

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

#38

Post by mikekchar »

lighthawk wrote: post #27

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 mentio…

Breaks in pomodoro have always been bad for me too. I've been doing something else recently which is working well: 5 minute pomodoros. The idea is to start something and after 5 minute write down what you accomplished in that 5 minutes (just a quick sentence), then carrying on. I find that it gives me an awareness of what I am doing and allows me to insert decision points -- i.e., should I continue, is this productive, should I change strategy, should I get help, etc. The one extra question is: should I take a break. Very often I find that the quality of my work goes downhill without my realizing it. The short timer brings my attention back.

However, it does not help with my procrastination (hence posting this message...)

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

#39

Post by Joeri »

PopeOfNope wrote: post #25
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…

Instead of limiting your web browsing, I've found it to be more useful to eliminate certain sites. When things start going overboard for me I will stop visiting the web sites which are the biggest time wasters. The rest of the internet quickly loses its appeal, and though it is hard at first it is relatively easy to go cold turkey instead of trying to ration exposure.

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

#40

Post by erikb »

Kluny wrote: post #5

Ok, here's an idea for a procrastination preventer. It's like the ones you've seen already, which you add to your browser, and then they kick you off reddit after 15 minutes or whatever, or blog problem domains entirely. Instead of that, a popup that asks "what are you supposed to be working on right now?" with a short text input. You type an answer, and carry on procrastinating. Then after 15 minutes, it pops up aga…

Well, if you have read the article then you should know yourself already that this might not work. Instead maybe a better way would be to approach your emotional state, make it real, with a pop-up when the plugin sees you are procrastinating. Instead of asking "what should you do right now" better ask "How do you feel right now? Why don't you work?" and then lets you enter an answer, to create a diary for you about your emotional state, with stats of how much you procrastinated that day.
Post reply on HN