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Show HN: I made an interactive anti-procrastination video course

deprocrastination.co

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Re: Show HN: I made an interactive anti-procrastination video course

#142

Post by redmaverick »

layer8 wrote: post #136
redmaverickclon wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had to create another account just to reply. I had nocprocrast turned on for hacker news (the irony!) Practical: 1. I lost 30 lbs from 200 lbs to 170 lbs How I did it. Step#1. Made an irreversible decision. I pay $100 every week if I miss losing 2 lbs that week. The deal was for 12 weeks. I started Monday and the deal is every Monday. I have to stand on the scale and take a pic and send it. 2. I solved 200+ Leetcod…

> Make an irreversible decision where you are not the one to call off the deal. How can you possibly enforce irreversibility? Tomorrow’s me is perfectly capable of reversing any decision whatsoever I make today.

Once you create or sign a deal its a done deal. You can't renege on that. You sign an agreement with the other person and they will hold the money hostage till either the deal is completed or not.

This guy used escrow.

https://nypost.com/2017/07/17/poker-player-goes-all-in-with-...

>> Tomorrow’s me is perfectly capable of reversing any decision whatsoever I make today.

True. That's why the stakes should not be too high nor too low.. its pretty experimental..

Re: Show HN: I made an interactive anti-procrastination video course

#143

Post by redmaverick »

nonbirithm wrote: post #139
redmaverick wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This strategy doesn't eliminate procrastination. You still pay the price but it evens out the peaks and valleys of productivity/unproductivity. For ex: You need to spend 3 hours and write a 5 page report that is due on Monday at 9:00 AM. You spend the whole week not working but feeling guilty about not making progress. Then suddenly in the last minute i.e a few hours before the deadline i.e around 5:00 AM to 8:00 AM…

For me the monetary based strategy loses its luster because the introduction of money causes you to see the consequences in terms of finances. As in, you start to think that you can just pay the 25 dollars as a subscription fee to skip doing the work for that week, and so long as you don't raise the amount of money you lose, this continues indefinitely. And of course, without a third party, there is nothing obligatin…

Okay.. this is the ted talk. I basically implemented his talk and molded it per my situation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2paoNvG5Nmo

In this guy's case he was able to run a successful startup and his brother was able to get into and graduate from Harvard despite being terrible procrastinators. (because of the strategy.) He was not using a monetary based strategy. Basically he placed a hit on himself via his brother and viceversa to become successful.

Another thing he did was to write a letter to his ex and told his brother to mail it if he did not finish a certain task.

Again.. these are terrible examples. I would not advocate violence or stunts like this. In my own case, I used money but for others it could be anything. Any consequence they would like to avoid.

Re: Show HN: I made an interactive anti-procrastination video course

#148

Post by schoen »

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #133
turbinerneiter wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also weird, because I believed that a good live is filled with doing things you enjoy. But then they used psychology to make us addicted to scrolling feeds.

The thing about those addictive behaviours is (for me), like most addictions, you have a tenuous association with enjoyment and the behaviour but mostly it leaves you very dissatisfied. Scrolling through feeds or watching videos actually causes me to become pretty sad, but sometimes I find myself feeling quite a compulsion to do it. It's usually when I'm stressed out or anxious, and the behaviour aligns perfectly wit…

> like most addictions, you have a tenuous association with enjoyment and the behaviour but mostly it leaves you very dissatisfied

There's a whole bunch of research and writing lately about "wanting versus liking", describing these two emotions related to experiences and behaviors as distinct.

When people encounter that distinction, most of us can think of things that we like much more than we want, or that we want much more than we like.

Re: Show HN: I made an interactive anti-procrastination video course

#149

Post by AndrewOMartin »

onion2k wrote: post #71
dento wrote: post #3

Thanks! I'll watch it tomorrow.

"Why put off until tomorrow what you can put off until the day after that." ancient proverb

While hard work often pays off in the future, laziness always pays off right away.

Re: Show HN: I made an interactive anti-procrastination video course

#150

Post by ttul »

vitabenes wrote: post #109
ttul wrote: post #106

I’m surprised that nobody has mentioned possibly seeking help from a doctor. Prevalence of ADHD in the adult population is estimated to be much higher than the rate at which it is diagnosed. If you have the inattentive subtype of ADHD, medication is 90% effective at alleviating symptoms such as procrastination. Many people here have commented about doing a “dopamine detox,” but what if your brain isn’t producing enou…

There's definitely a link between ADHD and procrastination. However, our project is more focused on the behavioral side of the issue, not the pharmacological side.

ADHD is a neurological disorder, much like short-sightedness is a vision system disorder. If you are a serial procrastinator and always have been, it might be worth looking into ADHD in addition to trying out tools like this course and many other things. Trying to fix actual ADHD with some self-help is like trying to fix your eyesight through meditation. It won’t work.

I am just suggesting that people with extreme procrastination consider seeking out an ADHD assessment at least to rule that out.

There is no good treatment for ADHD other than drugs. That’s just the science of it.

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