The book The Now Habit has helped me
Procrastinatory Doom Loops
11–20 of 290 posts
Re: Procrastinatory Doom Loops
#12Oh hey, that's a picture of my life. Anyone have coping mechanisms they can suggest? This is really getting out of hand. So far the best I've been able to do is intake massive portions of caffeine and use the resultant high/numbing of emotion to allow myself to push through. Not the healthiest or most sustainable option.
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Re: Procrastinatory Doom Loops
#13The trick I've used to get things done that are extremely hard for me to do because of a mental block of some kind is to somehow involve another person, even if they're just mostly watching. Sounds dumb, but for some reason it works.
Re: Procrastinatory Doom Loops
#14Highly recommend reading about "Structured Procrastination":
Re: Procrastinatory Doom Loops
#15That's me. And still in the same loop after several ADHD medications; this makes me think that it's not something that can be solved by a pill. I hope I can solve this someday. My coping mechanism is to never commit to anything (outside work obligations).
The pills help but motivation is not some emergent property of normality. You first need to care about, and genuinely want to do, the task required to accomplish your goals.
I’m a fan of this quote from Steve Jobs – (paraphrasing) “every day you wake up and look in the mirror, do you like what you’re doing that day? If not, it’s time to do something else.”
The other quote I like is Jeff Bezos and his “picturing myself on a rocking chair when I’m 80, do I regret not doing this?”
If you can solve these problems then the pills become just a tool to help you execute on the solutions.
Source: Diagnosed with ADHD (because I asked for it - duh, this is the only way), never had a real job but fairly happy with my direction so far. YMMV of course. Be happy with yourself first and foremost and everything else will follow.
Re: Procrastinatory Doom Loops
#16The trick I've used to get things done that are extremely hard for me to do because of a mental block of some kind is to somehow involve another person, even if they're just mostly watching. Sounds dumb, but for some reason it works.
Because we are relational creatures. To even accomplish a task in a totally isolated state requires it be intrinsically motivated to an outrageous level. Things like a matter of basic survival qualify. I think anything outside of that sphere that we are so motivated to work on beyond a state of half-minded play are rare, obsessive fascinations.
EDIT: also after looking at your profile I want to say, I hope your authorship goes well. I hope the reply I've written could even be of help in that endeavor.
Re: Procrastinatory Doom Loops
#17That's me. And still in the same loop after several ADHD medications; this makes me think that it's not something that can be solved by a pill. I hope I can solve this someday. My coping mechanism is to never commit to anything (outside work obligations).
> this makes me think that it's not something that can be solved by a pill.
2 years after my diagnosis (and medication since then), I'm still stuck. I've never had anyone professional to show me how to deal with this other than "here're the pills". I'm currently looking for a therapist.
Re: Procrastinatory Doom Loops
#18Reminds me of the tale in this podcast [1] where the guy's desire to avoid a difficult conversation spiraled into totally ghosting his employer for two weeks.
It's a really tough tendency to fight. One thing I think is helpful is to acknowledge failure as early as possible. If meeting the deadline would require me to work faster than normal or make some heroic last-minute effort, I've already failed, even if that deadline is still a long way out. Admitting that to myself and others now, so that expectations about the future can be adjusted, is a much smaller blow than admitting it weeks or months down the line. And it means I only have to feel a little flaky and underperformant, rather than super flaky and underperformant and also dishonest.
[1] https://80000hours.org/podcast/episodes/depression-anxiety-i...
Re: Procrastinatory Doom Loops
#19I suffer from anxiety and procrastinate a lot. I wonder if that’s a common link.
Re: Procrastinatory Doom Loops
#20Oh hey, that's a picture of my life. Anyone have coping mechanisms they can suggest? This is really getting out of hand. So far the best I've been able to do is intake massive portions of caffeine and use the resultant high/numbing of emotion to allow myself to push through. Not the healthiest or most sustainable option.
There are two broad paths you can explore:
(1) learn why your habits are bad and how to fix them through hit and miss self help and therapy until, after a lot of trial and error you find something that works for you.
(2) just stop caring at all about the emotions. They aren’t real. It is made up guilt. Not giving a fuck is a super power. Embrace your inner distraction and become a being of pure Internet.
I’m sort of kidding, but, sort of not. Maybe check out the new book that’s popular called Atomic Habits, it’s a cool book. I’ve been dealing with ADHD and it’s effects for over two decades, I’ve been there and done that. Ultimately, it requires a lot of difficult fixing of your life loops. There are really specific reasons and habits you probably have that lead to NGTD (Not Getting Things Done). You have to decide if you are going to address them or not. At some high level concept it is choices we are making that fail to steer the ship right. But be kind to yourself, the underlying mechanisms making you do this are deep and not obvious things… you don’t have complete control over them. You must guide your thinking you to a place that makes your not thinking you get it’s shit together.