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Structured Procrastination (1995)

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Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#31

Post by jbstack »

anon7000 wrote: post #26
jbstack wrote: post #16

> The procrastinator can be motivated to do difficult, timely and important tasks, as long as these tasks are a way of not doing something more important. This is the reason this method has never really clicked for me, despite coming across the concept in various procrastination blogs. It's the more important tasks that need doing the most, and this method aims to avoid doing those in favour of less important tasks.…

I mean, the crux of the problem is you might have a problem space where everything has a very, very strict, tight deadline. It’s not gonna work for that. But this is simply not true in the real world. As the author notes, he has papers to grade and a mess of work to do in the evenings. These are important and have deadlines. But the reality of the matter is that procrastinating them really doesn’t hurt anyone that mu…

The part I'm not convinced about is that the self-deception actually works. In order to achieve it, I have to go through the thought process of "I have papers to grade and a mess of work to do which are important and have deadlines, but actually if I don't do them it won't hurt anyone". Once I go through that thought process, I now know that the task isn't genuinely important. Writing it down at the top of some list doesn't change what I know. Somewhere else on that list is the real important task (the one that will cause harm if I don't do it) and my brain knows which one it is and will try to procrastinate it.

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#32

Post by latexr »

taneq wrote: post #24
jclulow wrote: post #2

I think basically everyone with ADHD discovers this eventually; e.g., > Sympathetic Procrastination Rotor: a technique for Time and Task Management. > To aid in the fight against procrastination, arrange all of your tasks in a cycle, such that the natural opportunity for procrastination is always another task on the roadmap. In this essay I will https://x.com/jmclulow/status/1390544792946237442

Narrator: He did not.

It’s a meme, just like your “narrator” quip.

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/in-this-essay-i-will

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-narrator

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#33

Post by srean »

Over the years I have become more or less convinced that I have adult ADHD. The overlap in symptoms are too difficult to leave unacknowledged.

But, at the same time I have been procrastinating on getting myself diagnosed. Oh, well.

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#34

Post by lucideer »

I feel like this seemed a plausible strategy when I first read it as a serial procrastinator struggling through university 17 years ago.

Now, after many years of applying stuff like this successfully for a couple months only to immediately regress at the first sign of life disruption, after an ADHD diagnosis & a bunch of therapy, this all seems like a fairly immature avoidant coping strategy in retrospect. I'm now fairly productive & don't procrastinate much (relatively speaking) and tbh I wish I'd read less of this crap in the past: I might've gotten help earlier.

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#35

Post by MEMORYC_RRUPTED »

siva7 wrote: post #6

> Procrastinators often follow exactly the wrong tack. They try to minimize their commitments, assuming that if they have only a few things to do, they will quit procrastinating and get them done. But this goes contrary to the basic nature of the procrastinator and destroys his most important source of motivation. This is also true from my observations but what this writing misses is another much more crucial aspect:…

As someone who is a chronic procrastinator, and has diagnosed ADHD, I relate to this. While yes, scrapping tasks and limiting concurrent in-progress todo's helps with peace of mind and feelings of guilt, I am _significantly_ more productive the more I get on my plate. As long as A I have a clear set of small tasks for each project, I can actually make more progress.

That said: there's definitely a price to pay for this. I'm very bad at managing energy levels, or making sure I do all of that in a sustainable way, so, it's super productive, until I'm not. At all. Usually quite suddenly. The risk for burnout is quite high.

I'm starting to accept that I'll never find the right balance, rather, I'm just getting better at recognising the symptoms that I'm headed towards burnout, and just accept that it's alternating periods of very high, intense productivity, and periods of basically nothing.

Putting one thing on my to-do list is the most surefire way of me not doing the thing.

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#36

Post by rikafurude21 »

siva7 wrote: post #6

> Procrastinators often follow exactly the wrong tack. They try to minimize their commitments, assuming that if they have only a few things to do, they will quit procrastinating and get them done. But this goes contrary to the basic nature of the procrastinator and destroys his most important source of motivation. This is also true from my observations but what this writing misses is another much more crucial aspect:…

Relying on medication to mask the symptoms of ADHD is effective until you have been taking that medication for years and end up depending on it to function at all. ADHD medication is usually just a stimulant, which your brain adapts to rather quickly, and the sense of "needing it to function" is just your body trying to reach a state of equilibrium.

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#38

Post by owenpalmer »

I felt this when I decided to do dev work while going to school. The structure of work was a break from the chaos of school, and the novelty of school was a break from the monotony of work.

I want to understand the mechanism and purpose behind procrastination. It seems like there's a reason evolution chose for ADHD to exist.

In my experience, sometimes the frustrating signal telling me not to do the superficially "productive" thing is a defense mechanism against doing meaningless shit. It's a voice screaming at you, informing you of your mortality.

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#40

Post by niek_pas »

owenpalmer wrote: post #38

I felt this when I decided to do dev work while going to school. The structure of work was a break from the chaos of school, and the novelty of school was a break from the monotony of work. I want to understand the mechanism and purpose behind procrastination. It seems like there's a reason evolution chose for ADHD to exist. In my experience, sometimes the frustrating signal telling me not to do the superficially "pr…

> It seems like there's a reason evolution chose for ADHD to exist.

Well, evolution is not an actor. It didn't 'choose' anything. It's just that people (organisms?) with ADHD have not failed to reproduce in the past, so it still exists.

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