I recently adopted a timed activity method. I make a list like: Eat, Watch TV, Code, Playing Games, Play Guitar etc. I then allocate a timeframe for each one. Every week night after work I do it like: 30m eating and watching netflix at the same time, 20m hard exercise, 60m guitar, 60m coding, 60m gaming, 60m reading. All timed with my smartphone. This is key. It must be timed with an alarm at the end. There's always more or less 290 minutes available each night to allocate. If I remove one activity I just double the time of another one and so on. This way the procrastination was completely obliterated. Also I can more easily maintain really useful habits like exercise everyday, practice something everyday etc. I can exchange reading time for meditation time for example. At weekends it's the same idea, just with more activities and/or bigger time frames. The more time you have the easier it is to waste it all if you don't organize yourself;
Procrastination is about managing emotions, not time
251–260 of 368 posts
Re: Procrastination is about managing emotions, not time
#252Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ultimate issue it does not tackle is lack of real reward. Usually when we do something that is not strictly required of us it's for a reward. (Including mutants who like solving problems just for the sake of solving problems.) Abstract rewards are obviously not rewards. They're hypotheticals. Most of the time we do not get rewarded for work, much less proportionally to effort. This of course over time ruins self-cont…
I understand what you're saying, but I'm not sure I agree. Both articles discuss the concept of rewards extensively, though sometimes using different terms, which is what might have led to your conclusion. For example, in the 'why people procrastinate' article, this falls under reasons such as 'lack of motivation' and 'rewards that are far in the future'. In the 'how to stop procrastinating' article, this falls under…
The main problem I had with the article is lack of actual solution for this perception.
It only provides a general rule which does not work because you cannot change a reward for a task, and self deception taxes the other systems responsible for procrastination.
Re: Procrastination is about managing emotions, not time
#253I went 35 years of managing to be a capable, but never exceptional, achiever -- in high school, college, and in my career. I've also been a terrible procrastinator all during that time. It was never evident to me in school because I'd get the same grades as the kids working substantially harder than me. However, once I got into the workforce, and it took me many years to realize it, that performing to the "mean" was…
> ADHD (particularly the attention side, as an adult) I take it that means hyperactivity wasn't one of your symptoms? I have the suspicion that I suffer from ADD (you basically described the same life I've had), but the hyperactivity part makes me unsure of myself.
460-375BCE - Greece - Hippocrates on people who couldn't focus but were good at reacting to events - attributed to an "overbalance of fire over water"
1693 - Scotland - John Locke - in "Some Thoughts Concerning Education" - discussed a class of students who "could not keep their mind from straying"
1798 - Scotland - Sir Alexander Crichton - "The Disease of Attention"
1800s - Various - Medical Textbooks of the time - referred variously to conditions “nervous child”, “hypermetamorphosis”, “mental instability”, “unstable nervous system” and “simple hyperexcitability”
1902 - England - Sir George Frederick - describing the same systems named the condition an “abnormal defect of moral control”
1937 - USA - Charles Bradley - first began experimenting with prescribing benzedrine (an amphetamine) to Children initially for headache and noted that it greatly improved focus in those who previously had not demonstrated that ability, but could not explain why stimulant drugs could induce a calming effect.
1944 - Switzerland - Ritalin developed (Methylphenidate, Rita from his wife) as a safer replacement to benzedrine
1968 - USA - DSM-II lists these by now well recognised and medicated symptoms as "hyperkinetic reaction of childhood"
1980 - USA - DSM-III - changed the name to "Attention Defecit Disorder"
1987 - USA - DSM-III (3rd edition) - changed the name to "Attention Defecit Hyperactivity Disorder"
1994 - USA - DSM-IV - refined the disorder into it's currently diagnosed form with 3 different types of ADHD, namely: Inattentive Type, Hyperactive/Impulsive Type and combined type.
2013 - USA - DSM-5 - refined to acknowledge that the 3 different types are not in fact types, rather presentations that can change over the course of an individual's life.
or...
maybe it's a newly invented fake phenomenon
ps - not a response to the comment preceding :)
Re: Procrastination is about managing emotions, not time
#254Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ultimate issue it does not tackle is lack of real reward. Usually when we do something that is not strictly required of us it's for a reward. (Including mutants who like solving problems just for the sake of solving problems.) Abstract rewards are obviously not rewards. They're hypotheticals. Most of the time we do not get rewarded for work, much less proportionally to effort. This of course over time ruins self-cont…
You can reward yourself for completing a seemingly arbitrary task. Every morning after completing my Anki flashcards, I force myself to lean back, smile, and feel proud for completing an exercise in discipline, even though I don't _really_ care about the cards. This alone is enough to maintain the habit.
This is enough because you have self-directed control remaining - you're pushing from lack of reward towards short term unrelated reward, but this deception long term causes struggle with self-efficacy, especially when the small short term reward loses its potency.
Re: Procrastination is about managing emotions, not time
#255Earlier quoted context omitted.
In my case, there is a tangible reward for many things, but if it's long term (i.e. and reward will only be realized years or even just months out) I probably wont ever do it. Ots a huge problem for me atm.
I strongly recommend taking a look at first three sections in the article I linked above: 'Abstract goals', 'Rewards that are far in the future', 'A disconnect from our future self'. They will give you a lot of insights into why this is an issue for you, which can later help you find a solution. Also, here are two techniques I discuss that you might find helpful: - Try to find ways to reward yourself for making progr…
The problem is in statement:
"reward yourself"
How does that work? Any kind of this short term reward can turn into "short term reward sensitivity", "impulsiveness" and other problems also associated with procrastination in the same article.
Plus you're literally trying to deceive yourself which never works long term.
Visualization can help, but it also loses potency quickly.
Re: Procrastination is about managing emotions, not time
#256Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you start by assuming a utility function exists, you can have it do anything you want. But we haven't quite solved every problem in the world by creating a utility function, have we? Why is that? Could it be that some domains resist mathematization because the objects are incommensurate? Why don't we just create utility functions to solve politics? We cant, because politics is unsolvable in terms of well-defined m…
If you agree that starting from the assumption that a utility function exists leads to being always able to define one, then you can’t simultaneously take the position that there can’t be two incommensurate things. You could argue that utility functions are “too powerful” on the grounds that being able to explain anything is equivalent to being able to explain nothing. > Why don't we just create utility functions to…
> If you agree that starting from the assumption that a utility function exists leads to being always able to define one, then you can’t simultaneously take the position that there can’t be two incommensurate things.
> What do you mean by “solve”? I reckon the utility function of politics is approximately “democracy” in many cases.
I don't understand what you're getting at here and I feel like it's missing the broader point I'm making anyways.
I think this conversation ends here
Re: Procrastination is about managing emotions, not time
#257[deleted]
Re: Procrastination is about managing emotions, not time
#258I went 35 years of managing to be a capable, but never exceptional, achiever -- in high school, college, and in my career. I've also been a terrible procrastinator all during that time. It was never evident to me in school because I'd get the same grades as the kids working substantially harder than me. However, once I got into the workforce, and it took me many years to realize it, that performing to the "mean" was…
Your comments echo my experience in every detail. I, too, did not meet a shadow of my potential until I received an ADD diagnosis as an adult.
After taking Adderall for the first time, I immediately began keeping a systematic journal of notes (and creating other structures for myself). I remember walking to a store to get the notebook the very day I took the first pill — it was like a revelation.
Over the years since that day, I have transitioned to different ADD medications, but have found that I am not able to adhere to my structures when I am off medication. This is a non-trivial insight, as much well-meaning ADD advice is at the level of “create and follow structures” —- it is precisely this that medication allows me to do.
Re: Procrastination is about managing emotions, not time
#259Earlier quoted context omitted.
After spending 4 years around people high on prescription amphetamines in an engineering school, here’s my impression as someone who was mostly sober: (during the day anyway) They look (to me) like they just make that effect where some people get hung up on certain classes of ideas way stronger, if it happens to be video games you won’t get anything done but if it happens to be math then you’ll probably get very good…
This comment is a non-sequitor to the parent. You appear to be referring to neurotypical people abusing amphetemines ("people high on .."). GP is referring to using a prescription to manage an actual disorder. They're not the same thing, at all. Please do not commit the offense of saying that there's no such thing as ADHD, "everyone has trouble doing ..", etc.
The offense is when we drug kids for not wanting to sit at a desk, or not wanting to concentrate on something they're not interested in, or not performing under a certain teaching/learning model.
We put kids (and then adults) in the wrong environment and "fix" them with drugs so they conform to it.
Maybe we should change the environment or model instead. Different people thrive in different environments. A good thing, not something to be suppressed. It's a failure of our current time that we try to force "neuroatypical" into typical, instead of embracing this neurodiversity.
Re: Procrastination is about managing emotions, not time
#260I'm just starting to get a handle on this now that I hit 30. We look to successful people to see how they manage their time, thinking that by copying their routines and habits as inputs, we will be also be able to yield some of their success as outputs; however, we will never be able to copy the procedure that returns that output (consciousness, mindset, motivations, neurology, purpose, talents, traumas, upbringing,…
> we will never be able to copy the procedure that returns that output (consciousness, mindset, motivations, neurology, purpose, talents, traumas, upbringing, values).
This particular claim feels too pessimistic to me. Sure you obviously can't copy someone's upbringing or traumas (nor should you), but in general these traits are trainable. Someone else might have a leg up on being born with greater charisma or focus, but those are generally trainable things with effort.
> Ultimately, I think the answer comes from ridding yourself of distractions, and asking yourself the question - "What do I want out of life?"
I agree with this claim generally. You won't rid yourself of all distractions, but you can engage with them efficiently and prioritize what matters.
> Without knowing your individual purpose in life
Purpose isn't a goal like "be able to deadlift 400lbs". It's more of a goal like "improve my weightlifting". It's a moving goal post and at times you'll have it more in view and other times less in view.
> it can be hard to settle with realization that you aren't personally driven to do anything
Sometimes people do have drive to do a thing, but more often they're chasing what they genuinely enjoy and that is what gives them the strength to push through difficulties. Don't feel like you need some deep world changing mission statement - it's probably enough to act with genuine, directed enjoyment and curiosity.