Research into the reasons for procrastination and how to stop • Hacker News Board

Re: Research into the reasons for procrastination and how to stop

#81

Post by abalone » Sat, Apr 30, 2016, 1:24 AM UTC

heimatau wrote: post #71

abalone wrote: post #44

That title sure promises a lot. I read all the way to the end and this is their solution: 1. Forgive yourself 2. Ignore your feelings about whether you're in the mood to work on it 3. Break it down into small steps I would say #2 is easier said than done for an extreme procrastinator. But, decent article. Sometimes it's good just to hear that change is possible. I would add to it that once you adopt new patterns they…

I was thinking about this article and feel it 'clicked' for me. Especially since HN had another article about procrastination recently [1]. I know abalone is saying it's all about emotional management but...I feel the writer of the article was confused since they quote 'you don't tell a depressed person to be less apathetic' yet the author seems like they are encouraging emotional management. My big takeaway from thi…

> I feel the writer of the article was confused since they quote 'you don't tell a depressed person to be less apathetic' yet the author seems like they are encouraging emotional management

Those are not in conflict. A clearer analogy would be, you don't tell an alcoholic to just stop drinking. You focus on judgement-free emotional support systems. You go to meetings, you get a chip for making it 24 hours sober, 1 month, etc.

I'm glad you didn't need something like that to overcoming procrastination. But a lot of people don't need full-on Alcoholics Anonymous to get their drinking in control either. Hardcore procrastinators probably need more.

Re: Research into the reasons for procrastination and how to stop

#82

Post by unfocused828 » Sat, Apr 30, 2016, 2:52 AM UTC

drb311 wrote: post #5

2 ways to deal with procrastination: 1. Don't worry about it. We all procrastinate and most of the time it works out OK. Our instincts know what they're doing. 2. Break tough tasks down into very, very laughably small tasks. Don't even worry about doing them. Once the first task in the list is small enough you'll think "sod it" and do it right away. If you try to improve your self control you will fail. Go with the g…

> Don't worry about it

As an engineer who has been fired twice for performance problems, I don't have that luxury.

> Break touch tasks down into very, very laughably small tasks.

This works well if you've used the technology/tool before and you feel like you understand what you are doing. It is very difficult if you are in the circumstance of having to learn things as you go and having to prodding at things and trying things to figure out how things work. In cases like these, it is better to just figure out what the smallest first step is and iterate that way.

Unless of course you have the breathing room to spend time working through a tutorial on whatever set of abstractions you are trying to work with.

Re: Research into the reasons for procrastination and how to stop

#83

Post by DiabloD3 » Sat, Apr 30, 2016, 2:56 AM UTC

typicalbender wrote: post #6

willcodeforfoo wrote: post #3

Oh the irony. I came across this here, while procrastinating, and decided this was too long so I sent it to Instapaper, where I will probably never read it...

Somewhat off topic but I hadn't heard of Instapaper before, have you used Pocket and if so what do you like better about Instapaper? Looks like they have a speed reading and kindle sync option which is pretty cool.

I personally like Pocket over Instapaper. It seems to work better for me.

Re: Research into the reasons for procrastination and how to stop

#84

Post by knivets » Sat, Apr 30, 2016, 3:09 AM UTC

I think procrastination has to do with mental award system — we tend to choose tasks which will bring the award as quickly as possible. But those tasks are usually not very productive, while those that are productive require significant time investments. Basically, it is about instant/delayed gratification. So the answer, I think, is to pick jobs/tasks that are more balanced (average time to achieve gratification, average productivity). I think this is what "job you enjoy doing" should look like.

Re: Research into the reasons for procrastination and how to stop

#85

Post by lackbeard » Sat, Apr 30, 2016, 3:16 AM UTC

drb311 wrote: post #5

2 ways to deal with procrastination: 1. Don't worry about it. We all procrastinate and most of the time it works out OK. Our instincts know what they're doing. 2. Break tough tasks down into very, very laughably small tasks. Don't even worry about doing them. Once the first task in the list is small enough you'll think "sod it" and do it right away. If you try to improve your self control you will fail. Go with the g…

There is nothing I procrastinate on more than breaking a large task down into smaller tasks. Seriously.

Re: Research into the reasons for procrastination and how to stop

#86

Post by lackbeard » Sat, Apr 30, 2016, 3:16 AM UTC

drb311 wrote: post #5

2 ways to deal with procrastination: 1. Don't worry about it. We all procrastinate and most of the time it works out OK. Our instincts know what they're doing. 2. Break tough tasks down into very, very laughably small tasks. Don't even worry about doing them. Once the first task in the list is small enough you'll think "sod it" and do it right away. If you try to improve your self control you will fail. Go with the g…

There is nothing I procrastinate on more than breaking a large task down into smaller tasks. Seriously.

Re: Research into the reasons for procrastination and how to stop

#87

Post by PerfectElement » Sat, Apr 30, 2016, 3:50 AM UTC

drb311 wrote: post #5

2 ways to deal with procrastination: 1. Don't worry about it. We all procrastinate and most of the time it works out OK. Our instincts know what they're doing. 2. Break tough tasks down into very, very laughably small tasks. Don't even worry about doing them. Once the first task in the list is small enough you'll think "sod it" and do it right away. If you try to improve your self control you will fail. Go with the g…

Breaking things into small pieces works great when you know what to do. The tasks that I find myself procrastinating the most are the ones that are hard to break down. For example, right now I need to implement a feature that will touch many parts of a software. I don't know how to do it yet, and figuring out the best way to do it will require a lot of mental effort, because I need to take several technical and business variables into consideration.

Re: Research into the reasons for procrastination and how to stop

#88

Post by dreeves » Sat, Apr 30, 2016, 4:07 AM UTC

clentaminator wrote: post #45

The real reason you procrastinate: You fundamentally don't want to be doing whatever task it is that you're avoiding, and while it might be the logically "correct" thing to do, that doesn't mean you want to do it. What we want and what we are pushed into doing are not always aligned. News at ten.

Sounds like you're espousing the doctrine of Revealed Preference! Here's my reductio proof that actions don't always reveal preferences: http://blog.beeminder.com/revealed/

Short version: People sometimes use commitment devices (like Beeminder!). Doing so is an action and the preference it reveals is that the person engages in actions contrary to their own preferences!

Re: Research into the reasons for procrastination and how to stop

#89

Post by tonmoy » Sat, Apr 30, 2016, 5:46 AM UTC

agumonkey wrote: post #79

dazc wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- the idea that, if you can do something in 5 minutes or so, just do it rather than keep putting it on to do lists. This seems so obvious now I've read it. When I think of how many small tasks I've never got around to doing it's embarrassing.

often, no matter how stupidly simple a task is, I'll goo full meta and reflect on how to do it properly, the solve all these problem on paper by reflecting on how to do them properly, hey, time to take cook dinner and the garbage out !

Pondering about the task isn't really procrastination. In fact some of the most productive people I have seen in my life do exactly that.

Re: Research into the reasons for procrastination and how to stop

#90

Post by agumonkey » Sat, Apr 30, 2016, 6:37 AM UTC

tonmoy wrote: post #89

agumonkey wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

often, no matter how stupidly simple a task is, I'll goo full meta and reflect on how to do it properly, the solve all these problem on paper by reflecting on how to do them properly, hey, time to take cook dinner and the garbage out !

Pondering about the task isn't really procrastination. In fact some of the most productive people I have seen in my life do exactly that.

I understand and agree, but when nothing ever progresses, not even your understanding, it's not good. A `while true {}` in disguise