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Structured Procrastination (1995)

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Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#41

Post by simianparrot »

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…

I interpret it differently; it’s usually a signal that my current approach to an activity is not effective. And it’s not static. For example if I feel this signal when practicing piano songs I otherwise want to improve on, I will try an entirely different or new sheet. If I still feel it, I’ll just do some technical practices and then stop. If I feel it when it’s a chore I know I should do, I give myself the option between that chore and another. Whenever I challenge the feeling like this I end up being more in control than simply giving up altogether.

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#42

Post by gyomu »

niek_pas wrote: post #40
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.

> organisms with ADHD have not failed to reproduce in the past

Yes, that's the real insight. You can be terribly unsuccessful by society's standards and yet immensely successful by evolutionary standards.

If you're broke/in prison/homeless/addicted/(whatever else you want to include) with 6 kids, you're evolutionary more successful than someone who has it all put together with 0 kids.

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#43

Post by owenpalmer »

niek_pas wrote: post #40
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.

This is the bell curve meme.

Evolution chose -> NOOOO, evolution doesn't "choose" anything -> Evolution chose

Personification of natural selection is a common way biologists speak about evolution.

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#44

Post by breakingcups »

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:…

I've read enough nuanced takes on ADHD medication that I'm very reluctant to even seek a diagnosis because I'm very sure I don't want to depend on them, for a variety of reasons.

It's made me feel like it's not even worth getting a diagnosis because the only clear path forward is medication or eternal struggle with various much-less effective coping strategies. Anyone who can weigh in with their perspective on this is welcome and thanks in advance.

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#46

Post by throwaway295729 »

lucideer wrote: post #34

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 fa…

I’m on the same boat. What do you think the root causes of procrastination were in your case?

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#47

Post by klabetron »

codesnik wrote: post #15

I'm doing the same, or at least trying to do it. Worst periods for me were when I had one clear, important goal, not particularly hard but hairy, and nothing else to do, sometimes because I myself cleared it up. I could spend months doing nothing useful , and end up very, very tired and burnt up. I also several times had a conversation with managers, whom I told that I'd rather work on something very urgent, or other…

> Next time I'll see such a response, I probably will quit on the spot; this is unbelievably cruel.

Let me guess: you’d quit but your résumé’s out of date because you, like me, procrastinate updating it?

(Sounds like a manager trying to manage you out; make things miserable enough for you that you’ll quit without having to go through the redundancy process…)

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#48

Post by intended »

breakingcups wrote: post #44
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:…

I've read enough nuanced takes on ADHD medication that I'm very reluctant to even seek a diagnosis because I'm very sure I don't want to depend on them, for a variety of reasons. It's made me feel like it's not even worth getting a diagnosis because the only clear path forward is medication or eternal struggle with various much-less effective coping strategies. Anyone who can weigh in with their perspective on this i…

Medication improves your life.

Crucially, it improves the quality of life for your loved ones as well.

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#49

Post by typewithrhythm »

codesnik wrote: post #15

I'm doing the same, or at least trying to do it. Worst periods for me were when I had one clear, important goal, not particularly hard but hairy, and nothing else to do, sometimes because I myself cleared it up. I could spend months doing nothing useful , and end up very, very tired and burnt up. I also several times had a conversation with managers, whom I told that I'd rather work on something very urgent, or other…

This way of working really requires a small company, (and is one of the reasons I think small places have a chance of outsized impact). But at bigger places, either a manager is being judged on a team outcome -> where an individual not on topic is budget not going towards what they get paid to achieve. Or you need seniority enough to work directly with a project director (but most structures expect people at that level to have leadership responsibilities as well).

Unfortunately, while people that work like this can be exceptional, big projects run on organised measurable work. I have found few places big enough for a specific "Manager" role to be flexible enough to get a good match to tasks.

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#50

Post by Towaway69 »

rikafurude21 wrote: post #36
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.

That is my fear and why I spend much time reflecting on how I am and how I can cope with being who I am. Growing up, there was no such thing as ADHD, it was always a case of a nervous boy who was unruly in class. And it has basically stayed that way!

This post is totally me: I do exactly as the author says, I procrastinate (just as writing this comment - I really need to do something else) and I learnt to use that to order my todo list, i.e., I literally organise my life knowing that if I want to get my tax return done, then its a good time to repaint the ceiling. Loo and behold, my tax return is done ... followed but much arm waving around why the ceiling never got done.

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