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Procrastination is connected to perfectionism

solvingprocrastination.com

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Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism

#91

Post by neon_electro »

renegade-otter wrote: post #69
kitsune_ wrote: post #39

Yeah, or maybe it's "just" ADHD. "Just" in parentheses because it's a horrible condition to have. Russel Barkley with a succinct video on "ADHD as Motivation Deficit Disorder": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR3RJU6838c

Procrastination is not a new thing. And ADHD is a pretty rare condition - just look at the diagnosis rate from country to country. The US has the highest one because doctors here are basically legal Speed drug dealers - for children. The author of the Search Engine pod just had a two-parter about his "ADHD": https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whyd-i-take-speed-for-... (The history of regulating Speed in the US is…

Just remember adults here are also dealing with being diagnosed for the first time, and all of the stigma around how this affects kids affects adults, too.

Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism

#92

Post by xyzelement »

Perfectionism is too positive a word for this (“my greatest weakness? I am a perfectionist.) Fear of failure feels more apt. I hesitate starting/taking the next action because I am not confident I can land the goal all the way. IE - I fear trying to do X and not nailing it more than I fear not even trying it in the first place.

Like many fears it is usually inappropriate and unhelpful. In reality you are almost always further ahead in life if you try even if you don’t get to the outcome you envisioned.

Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism

#93

Post by Aurornis »

kitsune_ wrote: post #39

Yeah, or maybe it's "just" ADHD. "Just" in parentheses because it's a horrible condition to have. Russel Barkley with a succinct video on "ADHD as Motivation Deficit Disorder": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR3RJU6838c

Counterpoint: ADHD diagnoses are a hot topic among kids and junior devs right now. Many of them self-diagnose based on Reddit, Twitter, or TikTok information that tells them that ADHD explains away all of their perceived shortcomings: It's the reason they're not motivated, it's the reason they didn't attend an Ivy League school, it's the reason they don't earn as much as their peers, it's the reason their last significant other broke up with them, and so on (these are all real examples from conversations I've had with mentees since ADHD started trending on social media during COVID)

One of the most concerning patterns I've seen is that these people go out and find a doctor who will prescribe them stimulants (during COVID it was as easy as following ads on TikTok, filling out a form, and having a get worse.

By this I mean the stimulant medication supercharges their actual underlying problem: The anxious procrastinators become even more anxious. The perfectionist procrastinators become even more obsessed with perfecting things. The video game procrastinators now game for harder and longer with stimulants in their system. The hobby/side project procrastinators are now putting in more hours on their side project and have even less time for the work or studies they're supposed to be doing.

I'm not saying that ADHD isn't real, because it's definitely real and debilitating. I'm saying that we have a real problem with the current trend of "ADHD explains everything". Social media has supercharged this trend by bombarding people with videos that position ADHD as a perfect excuse and explanation for their frustrations. They are frighteningly good at finding a video or TikTok or Reddit post that tells them exactly what they want to hear, and they're also good at skipping past any content that doesn't confirm their beliefs.

I have extended family who are in grade school education, and the trend goes all the way into 5th and 6th grade from what they tell me: Kids using "I have ADHD" as an excuse for everything and then trying to show their teacher a TikTok that explains why they shouldn't be held accountable for late homework, low grades, or behavioral problems. They're not alone, it's a common topic in /r/teachers on Reddit too ( https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/comments/12cfdj3/i_have_ad... )

Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism

#94

Post by giraffe_lady »

renegade-otter wrote: post #69
kitsune_ wrote: post #39

Yeah, or maybe it's "just" ADHD. "Just" in parentheses because it's a horrible condition to have. Russel Barkley with a succinct video on "ADHD as Motivation Deficit Disorder": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR3RJU6838c

Procrastination is not a new thing. And ADHD is a pretty rare condition - just look at the diagnosis rate from country to country. The US has the highest one because doctors here are basically legal Speed drug dealers - for children. The author of the Search Engine pod just had a two-parter about his "ADHD": https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whyd-i-take-speed-for-... (The history of regulating Speed in the US is…

The speed for children scare mongering is pathetic and ignorant and betrays your lack of experience with children with this and related condition.

Lots of kids have behavioral and impulse control problems. If you give them amphetamines you see exactly the same problems, but with the boundless energy amphetamines give you. When you give amphetamines to ADHD children they visibly and noticeably become calmer, quieter, and more focused. If you did not come into it with the predetermined idea that this drug is "speed" you would certainly not arrive there from watching the behavior of medicated children with ADHD.

You were addicted to twitter good for you for solving your problems. Don't extrapolate that experience out to kids though. ADHD is fucked up, life ruining stuff. Look at the rates for drug abuse, car crashes and incarceration for adults with untreated ADHD. This sort of scare mongering makes it less likely for children to access effective treatment when it can be most impactful on their lives. It is harmful and you should be ashamed.

Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism

#95

Post by DrBazza »

differentView wrote: post #18
LoveMortuus wrote: post #8

“The fall is worth the climb” -Mike Tyson. I think this is kind of like, if you don't fail, you can't succeed. To be happy, fail. -Me, 2024.

That's just the push I needed to challenge Mike Tyson to a fight.

"Everybody has a plan until they're punched in the mouth."

Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism

#96

Post by the_cat_kittles »

Aurornis wrote: post #88

I developed a bad case of perfectionism-procrastination after working for a toxic boss. It didn't matter how polished our product was, he'd find a way to tear it apart. When he'd have a bad day, he'd start picking apart a random team's product. "Unbelievable!" he'd say in Slack, dropping a screen recording of the app that showed something we were supposed to be embarrassed about. It could be that the app took 3 secon…

youve very succinctly explained an incredibly frustrating reality. it really helps to understand it clearly like that

Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism

#97

Post by machomaster »

almostnormal wrote: post #77
ghoomketu wrote: post #67

The 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.

This does not solve the issue of procrastination at all. A common myth is that procrastinators are simply lazy people who don't do anything useful. This is not the case. Many procrastinators are super-efficient at working on what they need to do; it's just that they are procrastinating on another useful task/project that objectively should have a priority.

Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism

#98

Post by IggleSniggle »

almostnormal wrote: post #77
ghoomketu wrote: post #67

The 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.

I call this procasti-working and it is absolutely my most productive space. I don't really see it as a problem though; I might be completing lower-priority tasks, but they would have later become high- or critical-priority tasks; it's ultimately a net win.

Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism

#99

Post by machomaster »

austin-cheney wrote: post #62

The article hints at psychology and then fails to dive into it. Perfectionism, only when intentionally and cognitively executed in an orderly fashion, is linked to extremely high consciousness and extremely high consciousness when not properly managed is highly correlated with anxiety. The slang for this is anal-retentive . This becomes complicated because anxiety is most typically concerned with high measures of neu…

The solution is to understand that no amount of guilt/regret is going to change the past and that no amount of internal anxiety is going to help the future.

Re: Procrastination is connected to perfectionism

#100

Post by kthejoker2 »

I probably have a whole personal blog of my own on the topic, dear as it is to my soul.

My two main pieces of advice: The bar is very very low, and share your burden quickly.

99 times out of 100 you are way overestimating the value of what you're delivering and people's expectations for it, and underestimating the value of time i.e. shipping quickly.

I've turned in so many things I'm not happy with and gotten a "this is great" that now I frequently just send over pseudocode, whiteboard sketches, and bullet point design docs to just get going on the feedback loop. Nobody has ever said "this is so bad we can't use any of it."

I also realized I do much better finishing other people's work than starting my own .. and so does almost everyone else. Bringing other people in overcomes "the boredom paradox" of a looming deadline - working with other people has its own challenges, but it is definitely not boring!

One specific thing I did that helped a few years ago at my precious company was I told my team, wrote in my email signature, ran a small study group, etc. On grit, procrastination, and "growth mindset" and just made a very intentional effort to tell people how I struggled with this problem.

So many people shared the problem! It really gave us a nice community and helped us (and management) recognize some of these issues, lesrn some new techniques, and get better at coaching, setting expectations, and ultimately managing the work.

So maybe last piece of advice is be open if you have these issues.

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