I’ve long held the belief that procrastination is the rational response in a low return on investment (ROI) situation. This seems to fit nicely into that framework: if significant investment is required, you only value perfect output and are doubtful it can be achieved, then the expected ROI is pretty low.
Procrastination is connected to perfectionism
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Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism
#72I'm both a procastinator and a perfectionist. I'm happy about that fact, so that i can avoid "useless actions" until i fully understand what to do first. Another word, solving problem before implementation !
I'm similar and I get what you mean, but I'm not sure it's a positive. Some times I waste a lot of time trying to find the perfect solution, can't find it, give up and just do the best I know how to do. Almost always, while doing that, I discover better ways to do things and often this is nå iterative process where I pretty much start over multiple times until I'm happy with the result.
I don't think the procrastination is useful. I think it's better to just get started and do anything. That way you learn and make progress.
Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism
#73> For example, perfectionistic students might be so critical of themselves for making mistakes in school assignments, that they will postpone doing homework to avoid dealing with the associated negative emotions.
From the very beginning, I skimmed the rest. Surely, this can be reduced to
> Avoid dealing with the associated negative emotions.
Start there, and work through those emotions.
Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism
#74Is this why some people take a long time to submit a PR? During morning standups, they say the work is nearly done, but the PR never comes.
“Nearly done” is sometimes a hidden euphemism for “I feel bad about not having finished this yet, and I fear that others may accordingly look upon me unkindly, so I try to verbally minimize the unfinishedness, and I may yet get lucky and be able to finish it reasonably quickly, so it’s not an outright lie”.
Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's interesting! Although I haven't invested any thought in it, I would've assumed that announcing plans would have the opposite effect because people are now watching and know what you're trying to achieve, so you'd be more motivated to avoid losing face. Thanks for the article — I'll have to check it out!
Personally, it would make me feel a burden of shame to have announced a goal and then had a setback, which would become a greater discouragement then just facing a setback if I had not made a big deal about it in the first place.
That, and you've skipped ahead and gotten a bit of the social reward for the project without doing it yet. So the reward will be less too.
Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism
#76> One reason why people procrastinate is perfectionism. Is it though? Or is it something nice to tell ourselves? I don’t know if there is correlation here. I have seen poeple procrastinating with no sense of details and the reverse is true too.
“One reason” doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a prevailing reason, and there are certainly other reasons.
Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism
#77The easiest antidote for procrastination is boredom. This may not work for everyone but for me it works exceptionally. Most often the reason why you don't want to work on something is because you find it too hard, too boring, or too irrelevant. But if you force yourself to be bored for a while, you will eventually crave some mental stimulation. And that's when you can pick up the task you have been avoiding and work…
An alternative to boredom is something else more important even less desirable that needs to be done, that drives progress on what is being procastrinated. Unfortunately, it only shifts the problem elsewhere.
Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism
#78I'ma perfectionist!
Not regarding spelling, apparently. ;)
Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism
#79I’ve long held the belief that procrastination is the rational response in a low return on investment (ROI) situation. This seems to fit nicely into that framework: if significant investment is required, you only value perfect output and are doubtful it can be achieved, then the expected ROI is pretty low.
I think this is right, but it’s really a low predicted ROI. The problem is that we’re pretty bad at accurately predicting.
Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
I feel like I've long reached the point of having zero friends, which makes getting friends actually quite difficult.
Sorry to hear that. I’m not in a position to help you but there are many selfhelp support networks in your neighbourhood that can help(most likely, assuming you live in a city). Showing up is already a giant step forwards.
I’m really just not someone people enjoy the company of or want to get to know or have around. Kind of my conclusion after 40 years of living in cities. Have tried all kinds of groups and programmes. Have tried putting in the interest but everyone I know or meet fades out, either quickly or slowly. Don’t have any family either, or a significant other.