Wow. Mind: Blown. What a great insight.
Words can't describe how well this resonates with me.
Dear procrastinator
61–70 of 146 posts
Re: Dear procrastinator
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have had several instances in my life where I dived into what were difficult things for me with gusto - for example when I was in school and was trying to write a program in C to calculate all the anagrams , I did not even have a computer but was up almost all night writing it on a piece of paper and rushed in the morning to a place with access to a computer to test my program on paper.That was just an example - I…
Einstein is an extreme example of such a case - when I read his biography the thing that caught me as very interesting is that he was able to immerse himself in physics irrespective of all the problems in terms of not finding a job, his mothers bitter opposition to marrying his first wife etc.You can hardly trick yourself into such concentration.He must be the lucky few who find such deep interesting topics that life…
You could also argue that Einstein was procrastinating from dealing with the hardships in his life by immersing himself in physics. He was using physics as an escape from the troubles of his life (job, parents, etc).
Not that it really matters, but it is useful to look at the situation in both lights. There have certainly been situations where I stopped procrastinating on one task because a newer, more unpleasant task presented itself. "Boy, I bet I should clean my room instead of deal with these taxes!"
Re: Dear procrastinator
#63I'm sorry to disagree, but I do. My own battle with procrastination is completely due to laziness. No one likes to do difficult things, and sometimes even things we kind of enjoy. The reality is that we, as humans, never procrastinate when we really, really want something. Not once in my life did I have to "trick" myself into playing a video game a few extra minutes or watch a big basketball game. In short, we accomp…
I completely agree.
It's far easier for me to sit here and dream about a perfect future than it is to execute with less than perfect results.
I wouldn't say that I am scared of failure, I'm not, but I believe that if I didn't do something correctly that I will have wished that I never tried it at all.
Re: Dear procrastinator
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, although I think procrastination (just like any psychological problem) is very complex, and I fear that we waste too much time trying to analyze these, therefore making the saying "just do it" or "suck it up" an appropiate response, which as you rightly discovered, got lost on modern parents. Sure, there may be some combination of emotional and logical constructs that will perfectly explain why I'm procrastinati…
"[...] therefore making the saying "just do it" or "suck it up" an appropiate response, which as you rightly discovered, got lost on modern parents" I had a discussion with my mother about this. To make a long story short she raised me this way because her father was a very very strict person. She had to work all the time in the household and therefore did did not have a nice childhood at all. When I was born she dec…
It's never too late to start being proactive.
It's tempting to find scapegoats when things get tough, but that's actually of little help.
Better to take control and start doing.
(it sounds like oversimplifying it, but actually industry breeds industry, while laziness breeds depression).
So start small, and do one proactive thing right now :)
Re: Dear procrastinator
#65http://www.amazon.com/Self-Discipline-10-Days-Thinking-Doing... <-- this book pretty much sorted out my procrastination problem
Book is out of print and 33$ used.
Re: Dear procrastinator
#66I'm sorry to disagree, but I do. My own battle with procrastination is completely due to laziness. No one likes to do difficult things, and sometimes even things we kind of enjoy. The reality is that we, as humans, never procrastinate when we really, really want something. Not once in my life did I have to "trick" myself into playing a video game a few extra minutes or watch a big basketball game. In short, we accomp…
Silverbax, thanks for your comment. What makes you really want to play a video game and dislike doing the dishes? Is it something objective about the thing to be done, or does it have to do with your mental framing of the task at hand? I feel it is the latter. A friend of mine reviews video games professionally, and he procrastinates on playing games. I think it's because he is told to play games. An authority figure…
This sounds like a conclusion in search of evidence. It's also possible (and more likely) that your friend finds it harder to play a game with the greater rigor needed for reviews. Note taking and exploring all the boring stuff most people skip can take the joy out of gaming.
Re: Dear procrastinator
#67I'm sorry to disagree, but I do. My own battle with procrastination is completely due to laziness. No one likes to do difficult things, and sometimes even things we kind of enjoy. The reality is that we, as humans, never procrastinate when we really, really want something. Not once in my life did I have to "trick" myself into playing a video game a few extra minutes or watch a big basketball game. In short, we accomp…
Not once in my life did I have to "trick" myself into playing a video game a few extra minutes or watch a big basketball game.
I can't speak to what's going on inside your head, but I think people trick themselves into playing those few extra minutes all the time. I know I do:
- "I've got plenty of time. A few extra minutes won't hurt."
- "I didn't really need to get that done today anyway."
- "If I stay focused I can catch up."
- "If I blow off some steam now I'll be able to focus better later."
- "I can do this and watch the big game at the same time."
Re: Dear procrastinator
#68So true. This was exactly my way of dealing with the deadlines in college.
Re: Dear procrastinator
#69I'm sorry to disagree, but I do. My own battle with procrastination is completely due to laziness. No one likes to do difficult things, and sometimes even things we kind of enjoy. The reality is that we, as humans, never procrastinate when we really, really want something. Not once in my life did I have to "trick" myself into playing a video game a few extra minutes or watch a big basketball game. In short, we accomp…
Activation energy is a factor. If I'm already playing a video game, it's easy. But I've actually had the experience of not playing video games I'd wanted to try out (Humble Indie Bundle) because it was too much trouble to stop aimlessly reading reddit.
Re: Dear procrastinator
#70I have two forms of procrastination:
1. Virtual procrastination. This happens when I want to achieve more than I can physically do. The end of the work week is here, yet I don't have the sense to just let go and pick it up again next week. I feel burdened by my inability to complete the surplus tasks.
2. Vanilla procrastination. I hired an assistant. She helps me stay on track. I am a fan of this.