I trick my well-developed procrastination skills • Hacker News Board

Re: I trick my well-developed procrastination skills

#111

Post by badpun » Tue, May 19, 2020, 9:12 AM UTC

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #109

Nition wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a great parody/insight into that feeling of "if I just get the conditions right, I can get started." Like all the great writers who just need six months in a forest cabin to write their great novel, but they never start it in the one hour of time they already have every evening.

I read a thing from Stephen King (IIRC) that poo-poohed the writer's block / "right circumstances" thing, he approached it more as a job, you sit down and write. Overpower the "I don't know what to write" thing, don't wait for creativity to come, etc. Maybe one day I'll unlazy myself and look it up again. But the most common advice I've seen against procrastination is to just force yourself to do five minutes of your…

This approach probably works for non-creative tasks, but most of King's novels are just mediocre, which I guess reflects his factory-like attitude to writing.

Re: I trick my well-developed procrastination skills

#112

Post by atemerev » Tue, May 19, 2020, 9:13 AM UTC

All these “integrate X in your daily rituals” kinds of advice absolutely don’t work for people with ADHD. There are no daily rituals for us. Life is chaotic.

I am trying to categorize things that might work in this condition, but you know, “categorizing” anything is also quite a challenge.

Re: I trick my well-developed procrastination skills

#113

Post by nelaboras » Tue, May 19, 2020, 9:14 AM UTC

dghughes wrote: post #71

I am King Procrastinator. I've been off work since October 2019 and have done essentially nothing. I planned on doing a lot like getting my CCNA, practice programming, overall practice of an IT stuff. But I deflate into a blob on a chair and argue with people on social media. It used to be gaming but now it's social media that fills hours of my day. I don't even like it. My task to study networking to keep up my skil…

Have a look at the concept "self-compassion”. A good book is e.g. " The mindful art of self-compassion".

Re: I trick my well-developed procrastination skills

#114

Post by badpun » Tue, May 19, 2020, 9:22 AM UTC

pbrb wrote: post #65

Tade0 wrote: post #3

I read the whole thing, but knew from the get go that these tricks wouldn't work on me. Mostly because I know the source of my procrastination and it boils down to two things: 1. I've gotten away with a lot of stupid shit in the past. 2. Because of that I think too highly of my skills. I have no incentive to start preparing tasks or being organised because I've come to enjoy the thrill of doing everything in the last…

This hits really close to home. It's not that I enjoy the thrill... it's that I know I can do it, so that's what I do. A few years ago I had an incredible run of insane productivity in grad school and at a startup afterwards, but I think it's solely because I had so much to do that I was genuinely interested in that I was crushing through work without it being a last minute delivery (though, there were still a lot of…

Don't you think it might be that you REALLY don't want to do the work you're doing? It's certainly true in my case - the work just violates a lot of my principles and preferences and also, in its core, is not interesting and mostly pointless. My soul is screaming at me to leave. I could try to silence it with meds, but I'd rather just align my work with my values (I plan to do this in about a year, if I last that long), and get out of software engineering. Luckily, I have tons of savings and low costs of living, so I can literally do below minimum wage work and be fine financially.

Re: I trick my well-developed procrastination skills

#115

Post by brutt » Tue, May 19, 2020, 9:39 AM UTC

njsubedi wrote: post #52

dnh44 wrote: post #27

When I’ve done a great job of procrastinating, I normally have a lot anxious energy that I feel I need to get rid of so I go for a 30 minute walk or run. During this outing I repeat the Mentat Mantra from the Dune film to myself the entire time. "It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by will alo…

Ditto! As soon as I am on the desk for working, I unconsciously open Firefox and my fingers go "Cmd+L ne [Enter]"

Incorporate your task list into HN page!!! Then share this Firefox plugin with me, please.

Re: I trick my well-developed procrastination skills

#116

Post by ebj73 » Tue, May 19, 2020, 9:50 AM UTC

Another possible trick is to focus on time slots, rather than the task itself. When I procrastinate, it's because the task itself appears too big, too complex (or maybe even too boring) to even start on. The trick, then, is to say to yourself that you're going to spend 4 hours working on it, rather than saying that you're going to complete it. Completing the task may seem overwhelming, for various reasons, but setting aside 4 hours to work on it is not overwhelming.

Re: I trick my well-developed procrastination skills

#117

Post by alfyboy » Tue, May 19, 2020, 10:14 AM UTC

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #87

m463 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me a little of: "I believe in taking care of myself, in a balanced diet, in a rigorous exercise routine. In the morning, if my face is a little puffy, I'll put on an ice pack while doing my stomach crunches. I can do a thousand now." "After I remove the icepack, I use a deep pore-cleanser lotion. In the shower, I use a water-activated gel cleanser, then a honey-almond body scrub, and on the face an exfoliatin…

'Try getting a reservation at Dorsia now!' Fun fact, apparently the creator of American psycho said that if it were to be remade today it would be about SV instead of Wall Street. Having been around the tech block for some years now and rubbing shoulders with various people from the industry I'm really starting to buy this.

This feels relevant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHt01D6rOLI

Re: I trick my well-developed procrastination skills

#118

Post by mleonhard » Tue, May 19, 2020, 10:14 AM UTC

prawn wrote: post #48

dijit wrote: post #15

I'm a master procrastinator. Mostly because I have so many things I could do that I have this background feeling that I'm neglecting everything else if I focus on one thing. And I get distracted easily and I hate trying to come back in the middle of something. However, for some things, I have systems to cope. I make -very- simple unbreakable rules. I got fat, decided I needed to fix it, so now I set an alarm at 6am e…

Often, when about to ignore a mundane task that really should be done immediately, I say to myself "Which sort of person do you want to be?"

This is question invites a judgemental attitude which can be extremely counterproductive.

It's far better to use mindfulness and let yourself do what you really want to do.

Re: I trick my well-developed procrastination skills

#119

Post by _0ffh » Tue, May 19, 2020, 10:19 AM UTC

hackerbabz wrote: post #70

Nition wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a great parody/insight into that feeling of "if I just get the conditions right, I can get started." Like all the great writers who just need six months in a forest cabin to write their great novel, but they never start it in the one hour of time they already have every evening.

I watched a really helpful video on what the creator called "The Toolbox Fallacy". I can't start a project until I have every tool I need in my toolbox...but it seems every time I buy a tool I discover another one I need. I think of that every time I put something off - "Am I making up a reason not to do this? Can I really just do it all now?"

Lol yeah, my current FPGA project has been on ice for four weeks now while I figure out the Verilog preprocessor features that I really, really need before I continue... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: I trick my well-developed procrastination skills

#120

Post by auxfil » Tue, May 19, 2020, 10:20 AM UTC

nicbou wrote: post #93

xzel wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll use the "fear is the mind killer" [1] quote when I'm upset or anxious quite often. I really should add this one to my arsenal as well. I've never thought of Dune as a self-help book but I might now. Weirdly enough I'm also currently re-reading it, after watching the miniseries due to quarantine, and I'll try to find more things like this during my reading. [1] “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is t…

I prefer a much shorter quote: "Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can". I love the attitude it conveys. It's not an affirmation, but a call to action. It got me out of overwhelming situations when I was alone and far from home.

This is beautiful. I'm integrating it.