Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it • Hacker News Board

Re: Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it

#201

Post by Uberphallus » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 2:44 PM UTC

s_gourichon wrote: post #116

e19293001 wrote: post #29

I'd like to share this post[0]: The last two weeks I made it a goal to run 5km every morning. A few times, particularly today, I felt lazy and run down, but I got out of bed anyway and told myself that I'll at least walk. The next thing I know I'm running and feeling amazing and on to set one of my better times. The point: When you tell yourself "just one more game" or "just one more post", or "just one more video" a…

There is a company dedicated to tricking (voluntary and conscious) people from procrastination to actual sport, see https://www.squadeasy.com/ The main idea is to leverage the brain's sensitivity to cooperative team goals or competitive goals, plus some gamification. And it works! Disclaimer: the main founder is my brother, I was involved in the very first steps of the project, and I'm currently on a freelance missio…

Then tell your brother that they need to work on cheaters because my company uses Squadeasy and every year it's just a disgraceful experience.

I know it's tough, especially when a giant like Strava that gamifies the hell out of sport barely does anything, but for the sake of giving an example, a cheater from my company basically took a tcx from someones marathon and uploaded every other day with shifted timestamps. I know it because they used Strava and with summit I saw the gpx from their workouts and the lat/long data was always identical. Also from averaging like 10k a week, he shot up to 200k, magically.

At least I managed to get some people's points revoked because they tagged each other on Strava for every workout even if only one/two of them were actually working out.

Now if I couldn't stalk on them on Strava there's absolutely no transparency on Squadeasy and I wouldn't have been able to point anything out to the team. These guys for sure are setting their profile private next year to prevent people from calling them out (since they did mid competition last year, actually).

> Typescript

So frontend, it certainly needs work too. If there's any work foreseen in backend, especially crushing cheaters, let me know.

Re: Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it

#202

Post by InvisibleUp » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 2:48 PM UTC

Procrastination is a tricky beast.

I'm not going to discount advice like this, because it is helpful. But it is only one piece of the puzzle. There's a stark difference between "I don't quite feel like starting this yet, so I'll put it off for a little bit" and "I absolutely want nothing more than to start this but I can't force myself to", between laziness and a genuine inability to begin.

Not to give medical advice in the comments section of a web article, but if the latter description describes you, understand that most people don't go through those struggles. This may be an issue that needs more work to solve than reading self-help articles; it may be caused by burn-out or ADHD or some other executive functioning issue. Do look into this is procrastination is something you are constantly struggling with in your life.

I wrote [an article][1] about my experiences with procrastination and ADHD, if you're interested in more. I'd also recommend the fantastic [ADHD Alien comics][2] for a nice digestible summary of what ADHD is like.

[1]: https://invisibleup.com/articles/27/ [2]: https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHDAlien/

Re: Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it

#203

Post by 0xcde4c3db » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 2:58 PM UTC

JshWright wrote: post #114

theironlily wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this could do more with your running form and listening to your body than your will that kept you going. It might be worth checking out your form with a running coach. Either way, wishing you a speedy recovery.

You can absolutely injure yourself by running too much, even with perfect form, and before you would notice anything is wrong while "listening to your body".

Yeah, people say "listen to your body" like this is simply a settled issue and all you have to do is make a decision to be more responsible. Researchers have barely even begun to properly unpack variations in interoception or RSI susceptibility, let alone the interactions between them.

Re: Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it

#204

Post by fastbeef » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 3:11 PM UTC

sk0g wrote: post #167

fastbeef wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I stumbled upon this when trying to get started with my master thesis. In frustration, I threw a bunch of buzzwords and random thoughts at LaTeX and then stashed it for a day or two. After that, I picked it up, looked at it critically and went "well, this paragraph is obviously wrong, here's what it SHOULD say..." and two hours later I had a very rough draft finished.

Currently struggling with writing a bachelor's thesis hard, so any other ideas/ tips you have, would be greatly appreciated!

Write out the whole thesis as headers and fill all the sections with Loren ipsums until you have the page count you want. Then, start filling in the real text

Re: Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it

#205

Post by jkingsbery » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 3:12 PM UTC

"I have work to do, but I'll just check hacker news first... Oh, there's an article about how not to procrastinate... which is great, I'm trying not to procrastinate so much. Let me read that first before I start my work."

Seriously though, I agree with the approach. When starting a talk or writing a design doc, I'll sometimes just start with an outline or half-baked paragraph. From there, writing the rest comes down to filling out areas where more detail is needed, verifying statements, and so on.

Re: Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it

#206

Post by lazyjones » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 3:13 PM UTC

modi15 wrote: post #128

I have tried all these things, but they dont work for me. How about when you dont feel like working, simply don't work. Do something you feel like and then work when you feel like it again.

Yep, often when we don't find the energy and motivation to do something, there's something wrong that needs fixing. Depression, the work being pointless, FOMO and other desires that should be addressed. Work as escapism ("start sloppy until the task has all your attention") works sometimes, but it's not really victory over procrastination nor even desirable.

Re: Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it

#207

Post by werber » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 3:20 PM UTC

And sometimes, it's great to just let an idea go and enjoy the present. Enjoying your loved ones, and just doing "nothing", has been my favorite part of life so far. I have returned to things I never thought I would get around to and ended up finishing them, but not all procrastination is bad. Go to work, work 8 hours, and then ride a unicycle with a bunch of clowns, eat pizza with friends.

Re: Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it

#208

Post by lazyjones » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 3:23 PM UTC

e19293001 wrote: post #29

I'd like to share this post[0]: The last two weeks I made it a goal to run 5km every morning. A few times, particularly today, I felt lazy and run down, but I got out of bed anyway and told myself that I'll at least walk. The next thing I know I'm running and feeling amazing and on to set one of my better times. The point: When you tell yourself "just one more game" or "just one more post", or "just one more video" a…

Fitness routines and work are not the same thing. The former is IMHO pretty much a pointless waste of time (nothing bad will happen if you skip one day) and work usually just needs to be done eventually or there are serious consequences. The former thus needs self deception, while the latter just requires realization/visualization of its necessity and of the dire consequences.

Re: Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it

#209

Post by mcv » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 3:37 PM UTC

fastbeef wrote: post #204

sk0g wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Currently struggling with writing a bachelor's thesis hard, so any other ideas/ tips you have, would be greatly appreciated!

Write out the whole thesis as headers and fill all the sections with Loren ipsums until you have the page count you want. Then, start filling in the real text

Please double check for the lorem ipsums before you hand it in.

Re: Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it

#210

Post by slavapestov » Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 3:38 PM UTC

If you don’t feel like doing something it probably sucks and isn’t worth doing. Hustle culture is stupid. When you’re on your deathbed you’re not going to look back on your life and wish you had worked more or made mode money.