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How to get yourself to do things (2015)

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Re: How to get yourself to do things (2015)

#11

Post by pmoriarty »

zigzaggy wrote: post #9
bserge wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eyeroll . Read it. I read everything. Look, my brain is broken. It would literally be easier for me to off myself than do everything I need to do every single day. It's simply hell. A mediocre life is the best I can hope for without modern medicine. When I had access to it, I felt normal for the short but brilliant time it lasted.

I feel this pain deep inside my brain. My head is like a million points moving in several directions at once, all the time. In fact, I just set up another appointment where I am going in full throttle for whatever medication I can get. I am completely exhausted trying to keep these points all lined up in a straight line.

You might want to take a serious look at your nutrition. Nutritional deficiencies or imbalances can cause all sorts of very serious issues, including mental issues.

Taking long walks in nature (as in 2 or more hours long) can help, as can unplugging from the internet and other media, and meditation.

Many of us hyper-stimulated, and are in a pavlovian loop of jumping from one source of instant gratification to another, without taking much time to reflect one's own life and the world. Quieting one's life might help.

Re: How to get yourself to do things (2015)

#12

Post by Y_Y »

bserge wrote: post #8
tailspin2019 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. His book is also highly recommended: https://www.amazon.com/Solving-Procrastination-Puzzle-Concis...

Eyeroll . Read it. I read everything. Look, my brain is broken. It would literally be easier for me to off myself than do everything I need to do every single day. It's simply hell. A mediocre life is the best I can hope for without modern medicine. When I had access to it, I felt normal for the short but brilliant time it lasted.

In my experience, even having access to all the medicine you need doesn't really make things that much better. Sure you can force yourself to work or sleep or smile for a day, but you can't do it every day.

Re: How to get yourself to do things (2015)

#13

Post by OJFord »

pmoriarty wrote: post #2

At one point I spent a couple of days watching dozens of videos on procrastination, and this video [1] by Tim Pychyl was by far the best. I strongly recommend it. It's ostensibly focused on helping grad students with procrastination, but the tips and techniques he gives in the talk can be applied by anyone. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhFQA998WiA

The most helpful recommendation you could give it would be to tell us whether or not after watching it you did what you were supposed to be doing when you were watching dozens of videos on procrastination?

Re: How to get yourself to do things (2015)

#14

Post by tppiotrowski »

pmoriarty wrote: post #2

At one point I spent a couple of days watching dozens of videos on procrastination, and this video [1] by Tim Pychyl was by far the best. I strongly recommend it. It's ostensibly focused on helping grad students with procrastination, but the tips and techniques he gives in the talk can be applied by anyone. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhFQA998WiA

Thanks for sharing. This gave me a chuckle:

  Tomorrow - a mystical land where 98% of all human productivity, motivation, and achievement are stored

Re: How to get yourself to do things (2015)

#16

Post by FemmeAndroid »

OJFord wrote: post #13
pmoriarty wrote: post #2

At one point I spent a couple of days watching dozens of videos on procrastination, and this video [1] by Tim Pychyl was by far the best. I strongly recommend it. It's ostensibly focused on helping grad students with procrastination, but the tips and techniques he gives in the talk can be applied by anyone. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhFQA998WiA

The most helpful recommendation you could give it would be to tell us whether or not after watching it you did what you were supposed to be doing when you were watching dozens of videos on procrastination?

I watched this a couple years ago and found it had lasting impact.

Re: How to get yourself to do things (2015)

#17

Post by criddell »

bserge wrote: post #6

Yes, it can be extremely hard to deals with this type of ADD/ADHD without medication. People write whole books about it just to avoid calling it a disease and making medication more accepted.

I know what you are saying, but not everybody who is looking for some help with procrastination has ADD/ADHD. This article isn't for you.

Re: How to get yourself to do things (2015)

#18

Post by beforeolives »

pmoriarty wrote: post #11
zigzaggy wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel this pain deep inside my brain. My head is like a million points moving in several directions at once, all the time. In fact, I just set up another appointment where I am going in full throttle for whatever medication I can get. I am completely exhausted trying to keep these points all lined up in a straight line.

You might want to take a serious look at your nutrition. Nutritional deficiencies or imbalances can cause all sorts of very serious issues, including mental issues. Taking long walks in nature (as in 2 or more hours long) can help, as can unplugging from the internet and other media, and meditation. Many of us hyper-stimulated, and are in a pavlovian loop of jumping from one source of instant gratification to another…

The nutrition point is so difficult to evaluate - a lot of personal variation, many anecdotes, few good scientific studies, a lot of subjectivity and misattribution, people getting fired up online and turning it into ideology... it's very difficult to figure out what's true and what actually works for you.

Re: How to get yourself to do things (2015)

#19

Post by dundercoder »

pmoriarty wrote: post #2

At one point I spent a couple of days watching dozens of videos on procrastination, and this video [1] by Tim Pychyl was by far the best. I strongly recommend it. It's ostensibly focused on helping grad students with procrastination, but the tips and techniques he gives in the talk can be applied by anyone. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhFQA998WiA

My key take away from that video was moving from goal intentions to implementation intentions.

"in situation x, I will do behavior y, to achieve subgoal z"

good stuff.

Re: How to get yourself to do things (2015)

#20

Post by profsnuggles »

pmoriarty wrote: post #2

At one point I spent a couple of days watching dozens of videos on procrastination, and this video [1] by Tim Pychyl was by far the best. I strongly recommend it. It's ostensibly focused on helping grad students with procrastination, but the tips and techniques he gives in the talk can be applied by anyone. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhFQA998WiA

Also he had a podcast https://iprocrastinate.libsyn.com/
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