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Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it

deprocrastination.co

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Re: Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it

#241

Post by cedricium »

aazaa wrote: post #139

> Every small win is motivating. Every small win builds momentum. Momentum energizes. Starting small is an unreasonably good way to hack your brain. A book called "Tiny Habits" describes a system of behavior modification based on the idea: https://www.tinyhabits.com It gives the example of flossing. Instead of resolving to floss every night, resolve to floss one single tooth every night. It takes less than five secon…

In a similar vein, James Clear outlines this same sort of principle as "habit stacking"[0] in his book, Atomic Habits.

[0]: https://jamesclear.com/habit-stacking

Re: Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it

#242

Post by philwelch »

tayo42 wrote: post #233
matwood wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In general people have way more capacity than they believe. Our worlds are built around immediate, short term gratification. I find that doing something everyday that's uncomfortable helps me stay out of the short term gratification trap. Getting up early when the alarm goes off, exercising, intermittent fasting, BJJ, are all things that at times are hard and uncomfortable, but they are a constant reminder of the cap…

If getting up early means not getting a full night of sleep isn't that unhealthy? Not sure that should be encouraged

You just end up getting tired and going to bed early that night. If you can make yourself do it, it’s a lot more effective to fix sleep schedules by pulling instead of pushing.

Re: Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it

#244

Post by monktastic1 »

MadWombat wrote: post #218
digitalsushi wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish I had this written down somewhere, but I don't; perhaps it's well known enough that someone else can correct my mediocre paraphrasing: A Marine once told a civilian that everyone is programmed to believe their 80% remaining is their 0% remaining, and the courageous work of realizing that limitation is what unlocks the extreme feats that someone so well physically and mentally conditioned can undergo. I'm not m…

> everyone is programmed to believe their 80% remaining is their 0% remaining Of course. When I do my reps in the gym, I know I could do more if someone put a gun to my head. I stop because I don't want to hurt myself, not because I cannot do anymore. When I feel sleepy in the evening, I am fully aware that I could go 48 more hours without sleep if I really needed to. But would it be a good idea? No, it would not be.…

> not because I cannot do anymore.

Then it sounds like you don't actually believe you're at 0% remaining. What your parent is saying, and what I've observed myself, is that most people really believe they physically cannot (say) run any further.

Re: Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it

#245

Post by cirgue »

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…

I have never in my life regretted working out, but I regularly regret not working out. It is so weird to me that, despite hundreds of trials of this dynamic, by brain still hasn't totally internalized this lesson and I end up having to tell myself "dog it if you want to, just show up", then proceed to have a great time.

Re: Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it

#246

Post by summerdown2 »

twic wrote: post #181
ramblerman wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you are missing the forest for the trees. The point is to get over that mental hurdle of achieving perfection, which blocks a lot of people from getting started.

No, the point of this anecdote is that you get good at quality by pursuing quantity. It's an appealing idea because it's counterintuitive, and here on HN were are absolute suckers for contrarian ways to outsmart the herd. But we have been given no reason to think it actually works.

Well, in writing terms, it seems to have worked for Ray Bradbury:

> The best hygiene for beginning writers or intermediate writers is to write a hell of a lot of short stories. If you can write one short story a week—it doesn’t matter what the quality is to start, but at least you’re practicing, and at the end of the year you have 52 short stories, and I defy you to write 52 bad ones. Can’t be done. At the end of 30 weeks or 40 weeks or at the end of the year, all of a sudden a story will come that’s just wonderful.

From: https://lithub.com/ray-bradburys-greatest-writing-advice/

... incidentally, also Neil Gaiman's advice in the Masterclass lectures.

The reason it works so well for writing is, as Neil Gaiman points out, that if you work for a year on one story, you've probably practised starting a story 52 times. But you've still only practised finishing a story once. And getting into the habit of finishing things is one of the most important habits to get into.

Re: Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it

#247

Post by tripzilch »

heinrichhartman wrote: post #186
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…

In 2014, I ran 5km every morning. 356 days. I hated every single one of these runs. I did get better at it, but I did not end up enjoying it. Certainly was never "feeling amazing". Eventually dropped the habbit. Now spending more time in the Gym and on the Bike.

First, I'm not saying this would've helped you (I don't know), it's just a story and perhaps someone who is like me gets inspiration from it :)

If I hadn't created three excellent mix tapes (that I still use to this day!) when I started running 10y ago, I might have ended up in your boat. I didn't care much for the running, but having a burn out meant I shouldn't be on the computer as much, and I didn't know what to do with the time. In the beginning I was having fun with how far into the mix I could get before running out of breath (I didn't sprint or anything, just no physical condition to speak of), and adding to the mix as I got further. At some point I decided perhaps I needed another mix with alternating running and walking parts[0]. I adjusted the BPM to my natural running gait. Added a little intro for when I leave the house to when I'm on the street. Everything was chosen with the idea that I wouldn't get bored during running, so it was a sequence of the "best", most uplifting, powerful parts of each track, each lasting about a minute (or 128 beats maybe). Between runs I kept optimizing the mixes for a while, improving the splice points and crossovers etc. Unfortunately I lost the original Ableton project files to a fire. Thankfully I had shared the mixes to friends, who could at least provide me with the mp3 renders.

One day I'm going to add a fourth mix :) But I don't use pirated software any more, and not being a professional musician I can't really justify the cost of buying Ableton (or Bitwig, which at least runs on Linux). Unfortunately I've found no other free (or cheap) software that comes close to the ease with which you can simply splice and beat-match audio clips. Or just navigating and zooming a large audio file. Audacity is there when you really need something done, but it's hardly a smooth workflow.

[0] it's as if psytrance and psydub were made for this, one is exactly half the BPM of the other!

Re: Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it

#248

Post by hinkley »

Valakas_ wrote: post #160
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…

For me that doesn't work because then I learn that "yeah you say just walking but we both know it will end up in running." What works instead is I promise I will walk. And then I actually only walk even if I feel like running. That way you will trust yourself. If I say "ok i go to the gym 30 mins. just for a quick training." Then even if I'm in the flow at minute 30, I stop and go home. Next time I remember that and…

One of the things about training is that you shouldn't push yourself if you're under the weather or have other stuff going on.

It might be better for your narrative to be that you're only gonna walk and see how you feel.

Re: Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it

#249

Post by jxramos »

itchynosedev wrote: post #94
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…

I damaged my shin bones because I was running too much too soon and currently taking 2 months break. Side note, I used to run 20k every week, then stopped. Be careful of the problem on the opposite side of the spectrum: your body might not be able to keep up with your motivation.

That's a fascinating idea, our bodies may not be able to keep up with our motivation. I've been pondering a lot about how our minds can live in a fantasyland of imagination that can hold long runs of time never being put to the test. Physical reality is the great check and test for many things.

I had to stop playing basketball with the guys when my knee couldn't keep up with my joy of playing.

Re: Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it

#250

Post by hinkley »

JonathanFly wrote: post #3

>Start sloppy >Another trick to start sloppy - you might have high expectations of your finished work. >You want to write a great book, not just a good one. Or create a stellar artwork, or start a great business. >All those expectations can put more pressure on you than you can bear, leading you to avoid it by procrastinating. >Instead, you can escape those expectations by starting deliberately badly. I use this one…

At work I found calling this draft a 'straw man' gets quite a few more people off of the starting blocks.

It's just an avenue for having a discussion about what we actually want to say.

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