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Procrastination is driven by our desire to avoid difficult emotions, says expert

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Re: Procrastination is driven by our desire to avoid difficult emotions, says expert

#201

Post by caleb-allen »

seebetter wrote: post #126
partyboat1586 wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ritalin suppresses some of those deeper emotions. It also gives you additional rewarding feelings for completing tasks here and now. Unless you have ADHD due to genetic factors then imo it's just a mask over the real emotional issue. A very effective and useful one but still a temporary measure.

I view Ritalin and Adderall as a performance enhancer. I have never seen a biological study proving ADHD except perhaps some EEG. Virtually everyone I have known prescribed amphetamines abused them. (Anecdotal warning) And my ex roommate was a large prescriber of Adderall. He would see patients for 3 minutes. He had 3 homes (one an $8m condo) and drove a matte black Lamborghini Aventador. He was way overweight and dr…

If you are interested in seeing a biological study "proving" ADHD, here are two. This meta-analysis from 2010 found a link between duplication of specific genes and ADHD [0]. This 2016 study [1] links the precise gene duplication mechanism with irregular neurogenesis, and subsequently hyperactive behavior.

[0]: Williams NM, Zaharieva I, Martin A, et al. Rare chromosomal deletions and duplications in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: a genome-wide analysis. Lancet. 2010;376(9750):1401-1408. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61109-9 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20888040/

[1]: Fujitani, M., Zhang, S., Fujiki, R. et al. A chromosome 16p13.11 microduplication causes hyperactivity through dysregulation of miR-484/protocadherin-19 signaling. Mol Psychiatry 22, 364–374 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2016.106

Re: Procrastination is driven by our desire to avoid difficult emotions, says expert

#202

Post by mywacaday »

edraferi wrote: post #135
mywacaday wrote: post #90

I have had a weird relationship with procrastination, I find I get more appropriate work done when I'm exhausted. When I have no energy it will take all my concentration to stick to the job at hand but I do stick to it, when I have plenty of energy my monkey brain gets distracted easier. I've also found the the GTD technique of breaking items into smaller tasks, setting a next action and make sure the action starts w…

That's a really interesting point. For years I got my best work done between 11pm and 2am. Maybe this is why.

I can relate to that as well, 11pm sometimes feels like the right energy level to concentrate on that one task that you know needs about 3 hours with no distractions.

Re: Procrastination is driven by our desire to avoid difficult emotions, says expert

#203

Post by mywacaday »

lostmyoldone wrote: post #185
mywacaday wrote: post #90

I have had a weird relationship with procrastination, I find I get more appropriate work done when I'm exhausted. When I have no energy it will take all my concentration to stick to the job at hand but I do stick to it, when I have plenty of energy my monkey brain gets distracted easier. I've also found the the GTD technique of breaking items into smaller tasks, setting a next action and make sure the action starts w…

I got diagnosed with ADD in my late thirties, and by then I could only do the dishes and clean my apartment if I didn't sleep the night before. Since then, I've met several people with ADD/ADHD that has the same experience, and barely anyone else that have the same experience.

How did you end up getting diagnosed, what does the treatment and result look like, any side affects?

Re: Procrastination is driven by our desire to avoid difficult emotions, says expert

#204

Post by mywacaday »

ehnto wrote: post #108
mywacaday wrote: post #90

I have had a weird relationship with procrastination, I find I get more appropriate work done when I'm exhausted. When I have no energy it will take all my concentration to stick to the job at hand but I do stick to it, when I have plenty of energy my monkey brain gets distracted easier. I've also found the the GTD technique of breaking items into smaller tasks, setting a next action and make sure the action starts w…

Likewise. I've long thought it analogous to the "Balmer's Peak". It's frustrating, because it's not like it's a solution to be tired all the time. If I'm sleeping better, I get less work done and more life done, feel happier and better, but get swamped by work later. If I'm exhausted, I get some work done and no life done, feel horrible and eventually dip back into depression, but I'm a little bit more on top of work…

I had never heard of Balmers Peak, however it's a well understood phenomenon when playing pool, magic spot for me is between pints 2 and 3.

Re: Procrastination is driven by our desire to avoid difficult emotions, says expert

#205

Post by tdba »

wpietri wrote: post #86
nisa wrote: post #73

Words of warning from a not so young (36) chronic procrastinator with a rather messed up life: Take it seriously. I'm not talking about reading HN in your 7th work hour when doing stupid Excel sheets. I'm talking about messing up years and years of your life. I believe it's a symptom of some deeper issues and it won't go away from alone. Lack of sleep, stress, work overload, information overload amplify the effects b…

Yeah, agreed. For me avoidance of tasks was just the visible problem; the root was avoidance of feelings . I don't really struggle with procrastination much any more, but it took all sorts of work that would have seemed apparently unrelated to me. E.g., a regular sleep schedule is really helpful, and that required an automated lighting system that helps me keep in sync with the sun. Regular cardio helps keep my basel…

Well said.

Re: Procrastination is driven by our desire to avoid difficult emotions, says expert

#206

Post by barelytrying »

I'm way too tense and can't deal with emotions at all. I procrastinate about everything because I get overwhelmed when things go wrong. I'm learning to just accept who I am and change my goals so there are less things to procrastinate about. This means giving up a lot of fantasies about what I could accomplish, things that other people can manage but somehow I can't.

Re: Procrastination is driven by our desire to avoid difficult emotions, says expert

#207

Post by TeMPOraL »

Loughla wrote: post #199
_curious_ wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because having a variety of pens in various colors is a privilege or ?

Pop culture OCD: I like to organize my pens and post-it notes on my desk. OCD in my life: I have a tourretic tic that forces me to grunt forcibly and wink whenever there is a square around me (side note, why is everything a fucking square?). The grunt is misinterpreted as a rude gesture, often. The wink has caused me to get punched regularly, so I don't go to social gatherings anymore. When I do go out, I have to pla…

I hope you don't suffer through all of these simultaneously. I'm at the stage of repeatedly checking the gas stove after each use and whenever I enter or leave the kitchen, plus closing the water faucet in the bathroom repeatedly until it clicks the right way several times in a row (there's a pattern to it). And triple-checking if I closed the apartment (sometimes with additional gas stove check) when I'm leaving anywhere. Overall, it eats only ~20 minutes from my day, but it's still incredibly frustrating (and I worry it's going to get worse over time). I can't begin to imagine how it must be to experience everything you've described over the course of one day (or week). If that's really how things are for you, you have my deepest sympathy.

(The worst thing is, several times I was this close to stopping with my gas routine, but then I always discovered someone left one of the knobs half-turned, which suddenly justified my OCD. My stove has auto-shutoff, so it isn't all that dangerous, but I grew up with a stove without this safety feature, and my brain just latched onto that and can't let go.)

Re: Procrastination is driven by our desire to avoid difficult emotions, says expert

#208

Post by barelytrying »

Tade0 wrote: post #13

This article gives great advice, but there's also the other end that I personally struggle with, namely: where's the reward? I noticed that it's especially hard for me to bring things to the state of "100% done", because the emotional reward for that is so much smaller than getting to the first 70%. I tried shifting my thinking about this by treating that 70% as an actual 50% (given the time spent), but it feels like…

Maybe 70% really is good enough and you don't need to be so hard on yourself?

Re: Procrastination is driven by our desire to avoid difficult emotions, says expert

#209

Post by yamrzou »

zerkten wrote: post #178
ashtonkem wrote: post #172

At the risk of being a bad trope, if you’re struggling with the emotional half of things I would recommend therapy. Even if you don’t “discover” something traumatic in your past that explains everything, having someone to explain your feelings to often does wonders for your emotional well being in general. A lot of therapists will also specialize in procrastination, and may have extra strategies that help.

I highly recommend therapy. Generally, men in the US find it difficult to seek out help. Often they think it's a failing and avoid it, especially in the context of relationships. Therapy is something you could almost do for yourself, if you could work out the puzzle. Therapy can do wonders at breaking the initial problem and giving you some things you can work on. Therapists can also provide useful inputs for career…

Practically speaking, what would a therapiat tell me that I can't find or learn on my own?

Re: Procrastination is driven by our desire to avoid difficult emotions, says expert

#210

Post by weitzj »

sjm-lbm wrote: post #149
mywacaday wrote: post #90

I have had a weird relationship with procrastination, I find I get more appropriate work done when I'm exhausted. When I have no energy it will take all my concentration to stick to the job at hand but I do stick to it, when I have plenty of energy my monkey brain gets distracted easier. I've also found the the GTD technique of breaking items into smaller tasks, setting a next action and make sure the action starts w…

Same. My interpretation is a little different, though: I think that a lot of my emotional struggle with procrastination is some fear of creating something less than perfect (or, for that matter, at least less than what I'm capable of). When exhaustion and/or stress over a very near deadline override that, I end up tossing something together.. and in the clear light of the next day, I usually find what whatever I did…

So your interpretation is kind of based on fear?

Like, you want to to your work perfectly, because otherwise ... will happen?

You procrastinate so that you have to finish the work on the last hour and then can tell yourself that you did not use your full potential, so that no one can judge you (as they did not see the full potential), because otherwise ... would happen?

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