31–40 of 61 posts
Proper breaks can also give you the opportunity to get up and walk around instead of perpetually doom scrolling or staring at a blank screen. So it's a double win.
Other than that, I think all of the tips and blogs aren't useful -- except if they give you that little dopamine hit to actually pick up something and get started. Which in my experience is the only useful advice, pick something and do it. The momentum from doing something rather than nothing is often enough to carry you through to the next thing.
Procrastination can be bad if pathological, but it's a great heuristic in the absence of information (close to optimal). I think people over think it, causing excessive anxiety to themselves. Why is it a good evolved strategy? Because of uncertainty: If something is due at some deadline in the future, the further we're from that deadline, the larger the chance that whatever the task is won't be necessary. So waiting…
I respect your take, because generalizing advice is always impossible and at some surface level I agree.
I’d investigate more on the poor emotional management and regulation that leads to procrastination, I think there, there is always room for self improvement that applies to other areas of life.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does not work for ADHD people, we can’t keep routines :( I have to remind myself to brush my teeth every day.
We might be shite at routine, but technology isn't! Nothing wrong with having "brush teeth" as a daily task in Todoist or whatever flavour of todo app you click with! :) The "Due" app on iOS is particularly nice for these sort of routine tasks - it'll keep notifying you every x minutes until you tell it you've done it
Procrastination may be a symptom of a lot of things - anxiety, ADHD, etc. Nobody on HN is going to be able to diagnose you, though - you should probably talk to someone who can actually diagnose you and possibly prescribe treatment if your experiences with procrastination are having a negative impact on your life. Do you procrastinate about everything? Specific things? If you're just procrastinating about specific th…
Do a test for sleep apnea. I didn't realize I had apnea but my dad and brother had it, so I did a sleep test. Turns out I had severe apnea. I suffered from massive procrastination and focus problems in the couple years leading up to the test. Once I got a CPAP machine to sleep better, it made a profound change in my life. Mental acuity, productivity, mood, everything was far better. Sleep is no joke. For about a mont…
I read this all the time. But man, CPAP machines are so ridiculous. That's a high barrier to take for treatment. I wish there was a better way
Daily physical activity and more balanced alimentation, maybe the ensuing weight loss, and sleeping with open windows, in different positions, and on softer mattresses regardless of temperature helped. I haven't run tests for a long time but it helped.
You might "want" to get more work done, but what you really want is to go out for an overdue drink with a friend or your girlfriend, speak to someone you miss, get some time for yourself, get something else sorted first so it stops bothering you, or simply accept that the timeframe or goals you set for your self are not realistic and will need adjusting.
The other possibility that people spoke about here is physical issues. Tiredness will cause you to be unable to perform, and it'll often manifest as procrastination. Procrastination basically is you not doing something because you either don't want to, or you aren't able to. Find out why and fix the cause.
I keep thinking eventually I’ll watch the right video, or read the right blog, that will be the silver bullet to solving the problem, but I don’t think that exists.
Usually if I’m procrastinating it’s because the thing isn’t clearly defined, I lack knowledge around the best way to do it, I haven’t done it before, and I feel like I’m going to screw it up… and I don’t want to screw it up, so I don’t do it at all. This is deeply rooted and a few videos aren’t going to change that for me.
Do a test for sleep apnea. I didn't realize I had apnea but my dad and brother had it, so I did a sleep test. Turns out I had severe apnea. I suffered from massive procrastination and focus problems in the couple years leading up to the test. Once I got a CPAP machine to sleep better, it made a profound change in my life. Mental acuity, productivity, mood, everything was far better. Sleep is no joke. For about a mont…
I read this all the time. But man, CPAP machines are so ridiculous. That's a high barrier to take for treatment. I wish there was a better way
I have (treated) obstructive sleep apnea.
The doctor first tried me out on a CPAP machine during a sleep study, but I couldn't tolerate it.
Eventually he made me an oral appliance (mostly acrylic) [0] that works great. It just keeps my jaw a little forward while I sleep. It also fixes my teeth-grinding problem.
[0] I think this one: https://oralappliances.com/oral-appliance/sleep-well-applian...
That’s not the point, though. You need to qualify that your behavior is creating stress or problems, be motivated to solve it, and be open to uncomfortable changes. However, things like ADHD and depression will be very significant obstacles to that (I have both), making it seem impossible to take even the smallest, earliest step. Only ones qualified to help you with that is a professional.