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Procrastination is about managing emotions, not time

bbc.com

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Re: Procrastination is about managing emotions, not time

#31

Post by coldtea »

adventured wrote: post #22
suyash wrote: post #12

This is a gem of an article, I always looked at Procrastination from a logical approach, turns out the real reason is emotional.

They don't inherently conflict. Emotions can be logical, so it can stem from both at the same time. That is, a logical emotion isn't necessarily a contradiction. Procrastination may be more heavily dictated by emotion and that emotion may exist for a logical reason that has deep roots which you still need to introspect and resolve. The emotion itself has a cause. I view the two as more likely to be deeply connected,…

>They don't inherently conflict. Emotions can be logical

This is a semantics issue. Parent means logical in the sense of the process of thought, analysis, etc. Not in "makes sense".

Given that, emotions can be reasonable, but not logical. I.e. they can be valid descriptions of the situation, but they are not themselves some kind of logical analysis or reasoning - they are just feelings.

(On the other hand, a logical analysis can produce emotions. I.e. logically determining "the oxygen in our cabin runs out in 2 hours" can produce panic. And the opposite: an emotion might get us to think / perform a logical analysis).

Re: Procrastination is about managing emotions, not time

#32

Post by serioussecurity »

coldtea wrote: post #31
adventured wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don't inherently conflict. Emotions can be logical, so it can stem from both at the same time. That is, a logical emotion isn't necessarily a contradiction. Procrastination may be more heavily dictated by emotion and that emotion may exist for a logical reason that has deep roots which you still need to introspect and resolve. The emotion itself has a cause. I view the two as more likely to be deeply connected,…

> They don't inherently conflict. Emotions can be logical This is a semantics issue. Parent means logical in the sense of the process of thought, analysis, etc. Not in "makes sense". Given that, emotions can be reasonable, but not logical. I.e. they can be valid descriptions of the situation, but they are not themselves some kind of logical analysis or reasoning - they are just feelings. (On the other hand, a logical…

Most of my interesting papers have resulted from letting go of my "logical" brain and letting my emotions play with the problem until a line of attack opens, then I turn on the logic brain to get it done.

Re: Procrastination is about managing emotions, not time

#34

Post by temporaryvector »

idclip wrote: post #30
temporaryvector wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, mediation, mindfulness and several other techniques for controlling emotions were things that we tried with my psychiatrist. Meditation didn't really work for me but mindfulness sure did.

Oh yes i did mean mindfulness meditation, i have been to several mindfulness retreats (vipassanas) and used to have ADHD. I find cold showers and a morning/evening mindfulness sit work wonders.

I suppose I should clarify the kind of mindfulness I'm talking about. Basically what I was taught was how to pay attention to what I'm feeling and where those emotions are coming from. This helps a lot with lowering my anxiety and stress levels. Unlike meditation, this isn't something that I stop to do, aside from maybe a brief pause to take a couple of breaths, it's something I do throughout the day when I start feeling bad.

Meditation didn't work for me because it implied taking some time out my day to do it, and that would just and either become a way to procrastinate or something that I would procrastinate doing and contribute to my anxiety.

That aside, I think there's a lot of confusion about the terms "meditation," "mindful mediation" and "mindfulness" and I'm not sure I know the correct way to use them, but the above is what I mean when I say "mindfulness."

Re: Procrastination is about managing emotions, not time

#35

Post by rvz »

If you are going to procrastinate somewhere, you might as well do it here on HN. At least you can be inspired about other people's projects, tutorials and learn something etc. But reading generic news articles like this about procrastination? I don't think so.

Re: Procrastination is about managing emotions, not time

#36

Post by ivanhoe »

adamnemecek wrote: post #2

Procrastination is a signal that you hate what you are supposed to be doing. Don't ignore it.

Procrastination is a signal that task makes you feel uncomfortable, but that fear of it can be a result of many issues (boredom, laziness, feeling of incompetence, fear of making what seems as a hard decision, fear of people not liking it, fear of finishing as then you have to move to the next step, etc.). Usually it's far more complex than just "I hate doing it", because there's a deeper reason hidden behind that aversion.

Re: Procrastination is about managing emotions, not time

#38

Post by rl3 »

>Chronic procrastination is linked with mental and physical health costs, from depression and anxiety ...

I would argue that anxiety can actually be a cause of procrastination. It turns into a nasty feedback loop that can go something like this:

Anxious -> Procrastination -> [Depression] -> More anxious -> Repeat

Depression of course depending on the circumstances, but it stands to reason if you're a chronic procrastinator that frequently doesn't get done what you want to get done, depression will often follow in some cases.

I had the privilege of experiencing this cycle first hand due to pharmacological reasons when I was on a xanthine derivative for nine months. Methylated xanthine is chemically similar to caffeine, so being hopped up on that 24/7 was ultimately quite unpleasant. It was common for others to only tolerate the same medication for weeks due to anxiety issues. Once I went off the stuff, the procrastination ceased within days. It was like a new lease on life.

Which is ironic, because even years before that I'd always considered myself a bad procrastinator. No doubt habits and, to a greater extent emotional well-being (as the article states) are considerable factors.

I would also argue hypomanic features and ADHD can play a large role in procrastination as well. Furthermore, I suspect the two are often confused for one another and share similar pathology.

Re: Procrastination is about managing emotions, not time

#40

Post by onion2k »

adamnemecek wrote: post #2

Procrastination is a signal that you hate what you are supposed to be doing. Don't ignore it.

The opposite is true for me - when I have a task I know I'm going to enjoy I put it off for ages because I like the anticipation of doing it.

I also put off tasks I'm not confident about even if I'll like them because I fear the outcome. Failing makes me depressed.

Neither of these are hating the task itself.

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