Ask HN: People who once struggled with severe procrastination, how’d you solve

#1

Post by arikr » Sat, May 07, 2022, 1:43 PM UTC

People who once struggled with severe procrastination for years, who overcame it, what was your journey of how you solved it?

I’m talking about people who had this for likely a decade or more, and now it’s not a challenge for you and it’s been years of it being solved. How?

Re: Ask HN: People who once struggled with severe procrastination, how’d you solve

#2

Post by I_DRINK_KOOLAID » Sat, May 07, 2022, 1:46 PM UTC

Logically speaking the only sure way to solve it is to forget the concept of time opportunity cost

Re: Ask HN: People who once struggled with severe procrastination, how’d you solve

#3

Post by [deleted] » Sat, May 07, 2022, 1:47 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: People who once struggled with severe procrastination, how’d you solve

#4

Post by nullbytesmatter » Sat, May 07, 2022, 1:54 PM UTC

Read "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius. Cut off social media, gaming and other distractions. Figure out what you want and what your goals are. Figure out the things you need to do to reach your goals, and then do it (every day).

Re: Ask HN: People who once struggled with severe procrastination, how’d you solve

#5

Post by dazc » Sat, May 07, 2022, 2:03 PM UTC

A regular daily routine helps. Regular short breaks are also essential for your physical and mental health so don't try to fight this urge too hard. A break doesn't have to involve 30 minutes of doomscrolling, you can just go and look out of the window for a minute instead.

And yes I did suffer for years, sometimes the simplest solutions are those you come to last.

Re: Ask HN: People who once struggled with severe procrastination, how’d you solve

#6

Post by saurik » Sat, May 07, 2022, 4:50 PM UTC

I came to accept it as a strength rather than a weakness, as it is often much more efficient to do tasks in order of inspiration and interest than order of external priority. "As long as I am making progress, it doesn't matter so much what I am working on."

Re: Ask HN: People who once struggled with severe procrastination, how’d you solve

#7

Post by notRobot » Sat, May 07, 2022, 5:04 PM UTC

For a couple close friends of mine, the answer has been ADHD diagnoses and medication. It's led to a drastic improvement.

Obviously does not apply to everyone. Do not self diagnose or self medicate. See a professional!

Re: Ask HN: People who once struggled with severe procrastination, how’d you solve

#8

Post by WheelsAtLarge » Sat, May 07, 2022, 5:23 PM UTC

Puting yourself in a situations where you have to do it helped. I increased my workout by habitually going to the gym. I wouldn't even think about it. So once I was there I would have to workout. So the goal is to physically get yourself, without thinking about it, to a point where you have to start. The key there is not thinking about. Make it a habit.

Also make sure it's outside your home. If you're able to do other things, you will. And dump the phone somewhere where it's outside your quick use.

Re: Ask HN: People who once struggled with severe procrastination, how’d you solve

#9

Post by Galxeagle » Sat, May 07, 2022, 5:52 PM UTC

Recognized that procrastination was often a form of emotional soothing - got stressed thinking about starting a task, and promising that I'd start it 'tomorrow' removed that immediate threat. Which worked until the stress of not completing a task was greater than the stress of starting it.

Introspection on why I was stressed starting a task and changes for each type: -Sometimes ambiguous and I didn't know where to start: break it down, and treat 'getting oriented' as a discrete task -Sometimes I was giving myself pressure that it had to be 'perfect': approaching it via iterations -Sometimes I was just too tired to start: understanding my energy cycles and scheduling to do the hard parts right after coffee. And scheduling it.

Other commenters suggesting great other techniques, but for me the core was understanding and leaning in to the sources of anxiety to know what techniques to try. I'm still not perfect, but getting better.

Re: Ask HN: People who once struggled with severe procrastination, how’d you solve

#10

Post by mateo411 » Sat, May 07, 2022, 6:33 PM UTC

I spent a lot of time devising and refining the perfect system avoiding procrastination. It is the most efficient and elegant approach on the subject. But I recently found a minor flaw in it, so I'll tell you about it tomorrow.