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Procrastinating Again? How to Kick the Habit.

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Re: Procrastinating Again? How to Kick the Habit.

#41

Post by tlrobinson »

bloch wrote: post #30
robertk wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here is a snippet from my Windows hosts file... # DONT DO IT!!! DONT DO IT!!! DONT DO IT!!! [times 30] # DONT DO IT!!! DONT DO IT!!! DONT DO IT!!! [times 30] # DONT DO IT!!! DONT DO IT!!! DONT DO IT!!! [times 30] 127.0.0.1 news.ycombinator.com # DONT DO IT!!! DONT DO IT!!! DONT DO IT!!! [times 30] # DONT DO IT!!! DONT DO IT!!! DONT DO IT!!! [times 30] # DONT DO IT!!! DONT DO IT!!! DONT DO IT!!! [times 30] The line in…

The paradox of anti-procrastination: You cannot outsmart yourself.

Maybe some sort of monetary incentive would help. Here's an idea:

RescueTime could hold some of your money hostage each month (say $20, or whatever is significant enough you'd like it back) and if you don't meet your goals that money gets donated to charity at the end of the month.

Though it's probably best to eliminate the root cause of the procrastination.

Re: Procrastinating Again? How to Kick the Habit.

#42

Post by tlrobinson »

jd wrote: post #14

Antidote for procrastination: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P785j15Tzk ( See also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9NgXIkyiwk&feature=relat... - works every time. Ps: 1972 )

I just have to make sure no one has responded to my comments on Hacker News then I'll almost be ready...

Re: Procrastinating Again? How to Kick the Habit.

#43

Post by jcapote »

shaunxcode wrote: post #38
dangrover wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're a madman!

I am a man trapped in a world of php. Like a prisoner making a go board from cock roaches and rocks. My other project is using the same transmogrification system to implement ruby esque syntax into php. One of my newer piece is let blocks which can return closures i.e. $inc, $dec, $get = let($count = 0){[$count++],[$count--],[$count];} This also uses the ability for multiple return values as well as square bracket la…

Seek help.

Re: Procrastinating Again? How to Kick the Habit.

#44

Post by bloch »

tlrobinson wrote: post #41
bloch wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The paradox of anti-procrastination: You cannot outsmart yourself.

Maybe some sort of monetary incentive would help. Here's an idea: RescueTime could hold some of your money hostage each month (say $20, or whatever is significant enough you'd like it back) and if you don't meet your goals that money gets donated to charity at the end of the month. Though it's probably best to eliminate the root cause of the procrastination.

Re. monetary incentive: https://www.stickk.com/

Re: Procrastinating Again? How to Kick the Habit.

#45

Post by cturner »

Error in the article?

    To determine a task’s utility and therefore how likely a
    person is to do it right away, Steel puts together four
    basic factors, expectancy (E), value (V), the delay until
    reward or punishment (D), and personal sensitivity to
    delay (P), in the following equation:

    U =  (E x V) / (R x D)
-> Those codes don't correspond to the equation. Any hints from someone who knows the source?

Re: Procrastinating Again? How to Kick the Habit.

#46

Post by xiaoma »

icky wrote: post #17
tsally wrote: post #6

I know! Read a long article about how not to procrastinate.

I'll do it later... Edit: I was reading this article while procrastinating taking my sister-in-law to the DMV. Meanwhile, she discovered that she had forgotten to bring her passport (for ID), and couldn't actually go today. Hooray for procrastination! :D

Sadly, I actually have had the article open in a tab for three days and I still haven't finished reading it.

Re: Procrastinating Again? How to Kick the Habit.

#47

Post by shaunxcode »

jcapote wrote: post #43
shaunxcode wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am a man trapped in a world of php. Like a prisoner making a go board from cock roaches and rocks. My other project is using the same transmogrification system to implement ruby esque syntax into php. One of my newer piece is let blocks which can return closures i.e. $inc, $dec, $get = let($count = 0){[$count++],[$count--],[$count];} This also uses the ability for multiple return values as well as square bracket la…

Seek help.

Listen, I know I stand on the edge of recursion with no stopping condition - but it's too late. Life has no ctrl+d nor a ctrl+c and certainly no hard reset. My father was an air-cooled volkswagen mechanic despite the low pay and esoteric mechanical configuration he never gave up. He adapted and learned ways of making the work meaningful, the engines faster, the restorations nicer, soon he was restoring cars to look nicer than newer vehicles and building engines faster than tricked out hondas etc. I feel it is my lot in life to hold onto php despite the fact I know I should move on to ruby, python ... lisp. Yet my calvinistic work ethic dictates I suffer and my desire for higher level constructs dictates I take what meager tools are at my disposal and I make it happen. If that means writing a transmogrifier (I wouldn't call it an interpreter or a compiler necessarily, more like macro/special form expansion) IN php to write my php so be it.

Re: Procrastinating Again? How to Kick the Habit.

#49

Post by TechStuff »

cturner wrote: post #45

Error in the article? To determine a task’s utility and therefore how likely a person is to do it right away, Steel puts together four basic factors, expectancy (E), value (V), the delay until reward or punishment (D), and personal sensitivity to delay (P), in the following equation: U = (E x V) / (R x D) -> Those codes don't correspond to the equation. Any hints from someone who knows the source?

I assumed it was typo.

U = (E x V) / (P x D)

Re: Procrastinating Again? How to Kick the Habit.

#50

Post by TechStuff »

This article is a mulligan stew of observations and opinions about several different problems that have earned the label "procrastination."

I fit the profile of what Ferrari calls an "avoidance procrastinator." Pychyl and Steel have got my number.

Schraw, on the other hand, seems to be guilty of post hoc, ergo propter hoc (thank you Aaron Sorkin). I do not procrastinate to have a better mental life; I do it because the alternative seems worse. To quote Pychyl, I feel lousy about a task so I walk away to feel better. I don't feel good, understand. Just not as bad.

Here's what I know - I hope it helps any other avoidance procrastinators who are reading:

Most of my task avoidance is based on uneasiness about the task; uneasiness caused (or multiplied) by not fully understanding the parameters and/or goals of the task.

That's it. For me, that's the key.

It is difficult - nearly impossible - to do my taxes each year. However, it is easy to do the various steps involved in doing my taxes, when I have a prepared list of the steps involved, and the order in which they should be carried out.

Clean out the garage is another good example of a task that I will never be able to do. But I have no problem doing the various small tasks that are hidden inside the phrase "clean out the garage" as long as someone can tell me what they are.

And this is the problem. I seem to lack the Project Planning gene that allows other people to break large, vague projects into smaller tasks. When I get help with this, and can approach a big project as a bunch of smaller tasks arranged in logical order, I have no problem. (Well, I still have the problems of laziness, perfectionism, distraction, etc., but no more than regular people.)

The trouble comes when the assignment lacks clarity.

This, I believe, is why procrastinator students in Schraw's study chose a detailed syllabus versus "a rough sketch of the assignments" -- not because "such specificity allowed for 'planned' procrastination" but because this approach removes the task ambiguity that triggers "my" type of procrastination.

Finally, saying, "Just do it" to a procrastinator is like saying, "Cheer up" to someone who's clinically depressed.

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