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Show HN: Why Do I Procrastinate? – Web MD for Procrastination

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Re: Show HN: Why Do I Procrastinate? – Web MD for Procrastination

#161

Post by sigi45 »

padobson wrote: post #93
skriticos2 wrote: post #51

Well, maybe sometimes this happens to me.. "I just go check the headlines on my favorite news sites and then I start my productive day.. and I drink this cup of coffee." .. 2 hours later. "Just this one headline, then I'm ready." .. 2 hours later. "Damn, where did the day go all of a sudden?" Of course the solution is to first do the work and then read the news.. but that's the rational part of my brain speaking - no…

Self discipline definitely has a momentum effect. My most productive days are the ones that start at 5am with a run, followed by a shower, meditation, and writing up a list of things I want to accomplish that day. Then I start working with my noise cancelling headphones and my flow-state playlist. It's very deliberate from start to finish. My least productive days are the ones where I roll out of bed randomly, when t…

I completely stopped doing this.

I read always more than I wanted and I didn't like to work after it because it killed ever chance of flow.

Now I look out or on the output of drink something or optimize what I'm waiting on.

Re: Show HN: Why Do I Procrastinate? – Web MD for Procrastination

#162

Post by fyfy18 »

tfolbrecht wrote: post #152

PERSONAL ANECDOTE ALERT: Since I've began working from home, something I've found helpful is assigning context to a physical space and moving from space to space to context switch. For example, I browse the internet and read news on my front porch, but my office is strictly work mode. My living room is strictly a space for relaxing and entertaining guests, my kitchen/dining area is for cooking and eating. It may soun…

When I started working from home last year, this was my biggest concern as I live in a one bedroom apartment so there isn’t space for multiple desks, and I use the same desktop PC for work and play. It turned out not to be a problem, as long as I am motivated by the work then I have no problem focussing no matter where I am working.

Re: Show HN: Why Do I Procrastinate? – Web MD for Procrastination

#163

Post by hanumanthan »

padobson wrote: post #93
skriticos2 wrote: post #51

Well, maybe sometimes this happens to me.. "I just go check the headlines on my favorite news sites and then I start my productive day.. and I drink this cup of coffee." .. 2 hours later. "Just this one headline, then I'm ready." .. 2 hours later. "Damn, where did the day go all of a sudden?" Of course the solution is to first do the work and then read the news.. but that's the rational part of my brain speaking - no…

Self discipline definitely has a momentum effect. My most productive days are the ones that start at 5am with a run, followed by a shower, meditation, and writing up a list of things I want to accomplish that day. Then I start working with my noise cancelling headphones and my flow-state playlist. It's very deliberate from start to finish. My least productive days are the ones where I roll out of bed randomly, when t…

As per the book - The Power of Habit - The 5am alarm and wake up is the keystone habit which in turn triggers further habits. I found this to be true where one good habit triggers many others and vice versa is true too

Re: Show HN: Why Do I Procrastinate? – Web MD for Procrastination

#164

Post by jackgolding »

WhompingWindows wrote: post #38
aidenn0 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Smoking and procrastination are both correlated with ADHD (for which dopamine has also been implicated) so there almost certainly is a correlation between them.

Oh true, I studied ADHD a bit, it's a neuro-developmental disorder of the dopaminergic system. Specifically, the motor cortex will develop more quickly/strongly than the executive function system, leading to a hyperactivity of motor activity and a hypo*activity of the "secretary" of the mind which filters/prioritizes/plans behaviors. Now there is a subset of primarily inattentive ADHD, which has less to do with movem…

I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was a kid and have recently (last few months) had some pretty bad anxiety - this comment makes me wonder is the anxiety just restless of the mind? Will tell my GP I have ADD next time I see him and see what he thinks.

Re: Show HN: Why Do I Procrastinate? – Web MD for Procrastination

#165

Post by DoingIsLearning »

tfolbrecht wrote: post #152

PERSONAL ANECDOTE ALERT: Since I've began working from home, something I've found helpful is assigning context to a physical space and moving from space to space to context switch. For example, I browse the internet and read news on my front porch, but my office is strictly work mode. My living room is strictly a space for relaxing and entertaining guests, my kitchen/dining area is for cooking and eating. It may soun…

100% agree on the importance of managing environmental queues!

Also not just physical spaces but other things like type of background noise, light conditions, even trivial things like posture, I feel they all seem to influence my ability to get into a state of 'flow'.

Re: Show HN: Why Do I Procrastinate? – Web MD for Procrastination

#166

Post by 76 »

skriticos2 wrote: post #51

Well, maybe sometimes this happens to me.. "I just go check the headlines on my favorite news sites and then I start my productive day.. and I drink this cup of coffee." .. 2 hours later. "Just this one headline, then I'm ready." .. 2 hours later. "Damn, where did the day go all of a sudden?" Of course the solution is to first do the work and then read the news.. but that's the rational part of my brain speaking - no…

Just out of curiosity, what's your favorite news site, that has so many interesting articles?

Re: Show HN: Why Do I Procrastinate? – Web MD for Procrastination

#168

Post by sritrisna »

In my case, I believe I managed to identify the root cause: 90% of the work I do is slightly over my head. As a bootstrapped solo founder and to stretch out the money I saved up I must do a lot of the tasks myself, which you would usually hire a specialist to do. This is not restricted to the technical aspect of my business but also concerns the legal, financial and sales side. So, imagine you’re a top of the line DBA with many years of experience and I ask you to take care of the front-end of the app as well as the backend, deal with the GDPR (without the help of a lawyer) and figure out sales in a market where traditional sales don’t work, you will eventually spread yourself thin. Now, this is how I overcome the challenge: as soon as I get a task which I don’t know how to tackle e.g. getting a firm grasp on double taxation avoidance agreements and procrastination sets in because I’m unsure where to get started, I break everything down into a single task and try to conquer it. Depending on the complexity of the task and lack of my knowledge how to tackle it the greater the procrastination. That procrastination, however, helps me, in turn, to process the task in ‘the background’ until I find a way to get started. Not sure if this makes sense, or if it is just me. On the other hand, constantly working on different tasks across professions has helped me to quickly learn the fundamentals of each sector/topic/issue/field. If it is really needed I can still consult with a specialist and save some money, because there is a baseline for discussion and I know exactly what I need/want.

Re: Show HN: Why Do I Procrastinate? – Web MD for Procrastination

#169

Post by [deleted] »

isostatic wrote: post #113
padobson wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Self discipline definitely has a momentum effect. My most productive days are the ones that start at 5am with a run, followed by a shower, meditation, and writing up a list of things I want to accomplish that day. Then I start working with my noise cancelling headphones and my flow-state playlist. It's very deliberate from start to finish. My least productive days are the ones where I roll out of bed randomly, when t…

I'm the opposite. If my brain has to engage before 10am the day's a waste. If I "ease into the day" then once I've dealt with the world on fire stuff about 11.30 I'll power through and before I know it it's 9PM and I've been massively productive.

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: Why Do I Procrastinate? – Web MD for Procrastination

#170

Post by mdekkers »

haskellandchill wrote: post #90
mdekkers wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Procrastination is the avoidance of activity due to a discomfort/fear/anxiety and subsequent inability to scale the discomfort wall that exists between you and the tasks' completion. Incorrect. The dictionary definition of procrastination is To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness or To postpone or delay needlessly . Literally meaning, from Latin, putting off until tomorrow. I…

The dictionary is holding you back my friend :)

Nope, I absolutely don't feel the need to ascribe my negative habits to some fear or anxiety whatever thing. Not everything in life is a drama. I am fully aware of my strengths and weaknesses, and my personal opinion is that ascribing a negative trait (procrastination) to something that is somehow "external" is a subtle refusal to take responsibility. Often (and I am not saying this is the case for OP) the "oh, this is a fear or anxiety I have" is followed by either the direct or implied expression of "so it isn't really something I can do anything about right now".

That is the attitude I found to be holding myself back in a dark past. What turned the page for me was reading "Invictus" from Henley, who was a man that was absolutely beaten and battered by life, and still refused to give up:

  Out of the night that covers me,  
  Black as the Pit from pole to pole,  
  I thank whatever gods may be  
  For my unconquerable soul.
  
  In the fell clutch of circumstance  
  I have not winced nor cried aloud.  
  Under the bludgeonings of chance  
  My head is bloody, but unbowed.
  
  Beyond this place of wrath and tears  
  Looms but the Horror of the shade,  
  And yet the menace of the years  
  Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
  
  It matters not how strait the gate,  
  How charged with punishments the scroll.  
  I am the master of my fate:  
  I am the captain of my soul.
Own your shit.
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