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You Are Not Lazy or Undisciplined. You Have Internal Resistance

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Re: You Are Not Lazy or Undisciplined. You Have Internal Resistance

#61

Post by echelon »

navjack27 wrote: post #56
echelon wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've got ADHD and this. I couldn't be happier this came across the HN feed today, because it seems to accurately answer so many questions I've had about my performance on personal projects recently. I spent months working on the next version of https://vo.codes , and I've only got about five hours of frontend work to do before launching it. I've sit on it for a month now. What I think is happening is that I'm worried…

I think you're worried that all of the stimulating part is over in launching it will be the boring part. I have ADHD too I hate the ending part of any project I've ever done and I've never finished anything. My favorite parts are setting up projects organizing projects and figuring out a workflow for projects. Making them and doing the actionable part is reasonable but actually finishing it and still having Steam and…

I can relate very closely. It's almost spot on.

I think part of it lies with the final tasks being perceived as easy and routine, which is difficult for my brain to view as anything other than "busy work".

Of course much of the nature of the work can be that way, but in aggregate can be challenging enough to spur interest. Until the end, that is.

One hack I have is to have larger plans in mind for what needs to be done after launch. The next arcs of work. Make them big, and then finishing can feel like you're not even close to done.

Re: You Are Not Lazy or Undisciplined. You Have Internal Resistance

#62

Post by swayvil »

Maybe it really is actually a bad thing.

And by "it" I mean the important thing that you are resisting.

It's actually a bad thing. And you have convinced yourself that it's a good thing. But you aren't completely convinced.

Deep down you know that it really is a very bad thing. One more step on a march of doom that you have been trying to escape since forever. A special door that, once passed through, your waste and hell will truly and finally be LOCKED IN (relatively speaking).

I mean, nobody dreams as a child of sitting on their office-butt playing mental legos forever. But it's very easy to convince yourself that it is great. And the whole world will help you in that endeavor. It will tell you encouraging stories and feed you big paychecks. It will tell you that you are a rock star.

You will be helped at every turn to forget the life that you lost and to pretend that playing robot is a truly good and desirable thing.

Maybe this great procrastination is your gut trying to tell you something.

Re: You Are Not Lazy or Undisciplined. You Have Internal Resistance

#63

Post by greggman3 »

codegeek wrote: post #52
bob33212 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is my biggest problem with all the people promoting entrepreneurship for everyone. If everyone took two years off to start a company there would be no one keeping the lights on.

Doesnt' matter. Most people won't. I have worked professionally for 17 years now and last 6 running my own business. I can tell you with a guarantee that there are lot of people who just want a job, get a paycheck and get the f out (not that anything is wrong with that). They don't care about entrepreneurship or whatever. So there always will be "employees" for every "employer".

until UBI?

Re: You Are Not Lazy or Undisciplined. You Have Internal Resistance

#64

Post by JadeNB »

dmos62 wrote: post #51

It's never that you can't, it's that you won't. The distinction means a lot. It takes some luck to realise that all the I-can'ts are actually you trying to escape an internal conflict by putting yourself down. The internal conflict is about you wanting it and not wanting it at the same time. E.g. you want to be a success, but trying is scary. I don't really know how not to be afraid. It's something I'm working on. Bu…

> It's never that you can't, it's that you won't.

While this sounds good, and I think is a reasonable guide for many life choices, it's simply not true. If I want to lift that enormous boulder over there, then it's not that I won't, it's that I can't. (Maybe this needs caveats: if I want to lift that enormous boulder over there only using my hands, etc.)

I could believe something like "it's never that you can't try, but that you won't try", and that covers a lot of my procrastination; but I'm not sure if it's strong enough to cover the point you'd like to make.

Re: You Are Not Lazy or Undisciplined. You Have Internal Resistance

#65

Post by navjack27 »

navjack27 wrote: post #56
echelon wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've got ADHD and this. I couldn't be happier this came across the HN feed today, because it seems to accurately answer so many questions I've had about my performance on personal projects recently. I spent months working on the next version of https://vo.codes , and I've only got about five hours of frontend work to do before launching it. I've sit on it for a month now. What I think is happening is that I'm worried…

I think you're worried that all of the stimulating part is over in launching it will be the boring part. I have ADHD too I hate the ending part of any project I've ever done and I've never finished anything. My favorite parts are setting up projects organizing projects and figuring out a workflow for projects. Making them and doing the actionable part is reasonable but actually finishing it and still having Steam and…

Okay I just read the article. Yeah this reads as some sort of a baby's first getting to know thyself kind of thing. I've already done that kind of personal soul searching for myself and that's why I don't beat myself up about these kind of things. Oh yeah I realized another thing that usually Sparks my motivation like if there's a technical article or a review of a piece of computer hardware that I want to do... Being frustrated at the current other works covering said thing not being good enough in my eyes... Frustration in general being angry in general motivates me in a healthy way. "You covered this this and this but you didn't say this about the windows install or this about how this was set up and you didn't cover this" and my first impulse is never too go to the comment section it's to go on Amazon or Newegg and buy the thing and then review the thing better. Not even just review stuff for my website but I mean a lot of other things are like that with me it's weird. I love finding stuff where other people explained it just wrong or did something just wrong in my eyes and then I go and do it better or correctly. That is if my motivation takes me all the way to the end and I finish it.

Re: You Are Not Lazy or Undisciplined. You Have Internal Resistance

#66

Post by navjack27 »

echelon wrote: post #61
navjack27 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're worried that all of the stimulating part is over in launching it will be the boring part. I have ADHD too I hate the ending part of any project I've ever done and I've never finished anything. My favorite parts are setting up projects organizing projects and figuring out a workflow for projects. Making them and doing the actionable part is reasonable but actually finishing it and still having Steam and…

I can relate very closely. It's almost spot on. I think part of it lies with the final tasks being perceived as easy and routine, which is difficult for my brain to view as anything other than "busy work". Of course much of the nature of the work can be that way, but in aggregate can be challenging enough to spur interest. Until the end, that is. One hack I have is to have larger plans in mind for what needs to be do…

Hahaha "busy work"! Yeah that's why in Middle School I basically failed every grade because I would argue with my parents for hours about the concept of homework being busy work. This obviously got worse after I overheard a teacher talking about some sort of a quota for homework that they were supposed to be meeting as teachers...

Re: You Are Not Lazy or Undisciplined. You Have Internal Resistance

#67

Post by balfirevic »

swayvil wrote: post #62

Maybe it really is actually a bad thing. And by "it" I mean the important thing that you are resisting. It's actually a bad thing. And you have convinced yourself that it's a good thing. But you aren't completely convinced. Deep down you know that it really is a very bad thing. One more step on a march of doom that you have been trying to escape since forever. A special door that, once passed through, your waste and…

> to forget the life that you lost

What life would that be?

Re: You Are Not Lazy or Undisciplined. You Have Internal Resistance

#68

Post by n8cpdx »

nzmsv wrote: post #54
jokoon wrote: post #43

It's weird how we don't want to admit we are overworked. Competition is such a horror show. I really disagree with the whole "procrastination" thing. It's normal to feel depressed, it's part of nature of being tired, our brains are fragile and require a lot of energy and sleep. I bet that I would generally would be much happier working at a moderate pace in a farm rather than using my brain to do some other complex t…

In before the other comments to this effect: - You are weak - Your grandparents had it worse - Think of the people working for minimum wage - Some of us actually love programming so much we will happily sacrifice our health; this choice is morally superior because we say so - I haven't had a vacation in 20 years and neither should you /sarcasm off

I really like society as it is. I, as rare as it is, identify as a neoliberal and I generally am invested in how things are. I like to see people working hard, I work hard myself, and aside from wanting a larger safety net, largely value the idea of a competitive market for labor.

Those ideas, I suspect much more prevalent on HN than other sites, lead to defensiveness when antiwork or work-critical ideas are shared. Arguments about grandparents and weakness are generally missing the point or intellectually dishonest, and I know because I’ve made those arguments/comments many times.

Looking past that defensiveness, I have a hard time arguing that everything above isn’t right; modern work is taxing and when you’re trying to work 8+ (I naturally tend towards 10+) hours a day, stay healthy, and also pursue hobbies and personal development, it is no surprise that people are breaking down.

I want to see more serious engagement with efforts to make work more sustainable for people, ideally without limiting burnout. Maybe the right answer is to just do less, but I want to have my cake and eat it too.

Re: You Are Not Lazy or Undisciplined. You Have Internal Resistance

#69

Post by the-dude »

bserge wrote: post #55

I've read sooooooo much of this kind of shiitake, I am sick of it. It is bullshit. Or rather, it's written by people who don't even take into account the biological nature of the brain. Let me check... of course he's a "coach"... If you can't do, teach, I guess. All of this shit will act as a bandaid, a crutch at best. It's like the bullshit "imagine you're wealthy and you will become wealthy". No, that doesn't work.…

So what happened with all these people in the dark ages?

Re: You Are Not Lazy or Undisciplined. You Have Internal Resistance

#70

Post by codegeek »

greggman3 wrote: post #63
codegeek wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesnt' matter. Most people won't. I have worked professionally for 17 years now and last 6 running my own business. I can tell you with a guarantee that there are lot of people who just want a job, get a paycheck and get the f out (not that anything is wrong with that). They don't care about entrepreneurship or whatever. So there always will be "employees" for every "employer".

until UBI?

I doubt UBI will make everyone stop working. As far as I understand, the point of UBI is to ensure that people are not homeless, have enough to put food on the table and it covers your absolute basic needs. Lets say we implement UBI at 1K/Month which is what people like Andrew Yang proposed. That is not enough to just sit at home all day. You still need to make money but hopefully with that 1K, you won't be homeless (or at least thats the idea).
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