Live data from Hacker News

Structured Procrastination (1995)

structuredprocrastination.com

121–130 of 167 posts

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#121

If you truly enjoy the procrastination as opposed to fighting it or distracting to another thing - sooner or later you'll want to do the thing you were supposed to do. Try that out. There is a reason why you don't want to do something and that fundamentally has to do with your mental relationship to the task - the repetition fatigue, the way you think and feel about it etc. needs a reset and enjoying the idle procras…

This is great if you have that freedom, but the person that wrote the article needs to do tasks for their job; other people depend on it. Same with me and my job, I am paid to perform a specific task at the moment. Same with people in a family situation, you can't procrastinate daily routines like picking your kids up from school... which leads to procrastinating about everything else because you have something coming up later so you can't hyperfocus on something else.

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#122
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…

Meds are like glasses for your brain. I'm nearsighted, I put on my glasses first thing in the morning. I don't feel bad for having to depend on my glasses in order to see clearly like a normal person.

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#124
How do we know it's from 1995?

> Site designed by the author's granddaughter, who did the work while avoiding the far more weighty assignment of her literature test.

Impressive for 1995, he must've thought her HTML and how to use a computer first

HTML 2.0 came out in 1995

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#125

How do we know it's from 1995? > Site designed by the author's granddaughter, who did the work while avoiding the far more weighty assignment of her literature test. Impressive for 1995, he must've thought her HTML and how to use a computer first HTML 2.0 came out in 1995

update: the HTML doctype string is

> http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

that's HTML 1.0

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#126
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…

- Meds are just one of the tools available, just one part of a holistic approach that includes other accommodations, practices, and support from the people around you

- Not everyone experiences these things in the same way

- Your goals are for you to set; if incorporating meds into your plans doesn’t help you reach your goals, fine. But if meds help you unlock goals you might not be able to access otherwise, maybe they’re worth considering.

- The vast majority of professionals really do want to help you reach your goals; most psychiatrists (for the meds) and psychologists (for your cognitive health) are going to be more valuable in terms of perspective than an Internet thread :D

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#127

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…

> I'm doing the same, or at least trying to do it. This post gives me hope as someone with ADD. I have a MTHFR mutation and cross-dominant eye, with a little autism spectrum, psychosis, OCD tendencies, depression, injury, sleep apnea, and insomnia. I recommend eggs, spinach, potentially fasting, walking, and maybe some kind of fidget device. I also recommend giving yourself a little slack. If you’re like me, we don’t…

> cross-dominant eye

Is it relevant to the topic of this conversation? Does it cause any effects, either positive or negative?

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#128
post #120

This is a testament to ADHD in the software industry. The hallmark of ADHD is an "interest based attention system". If you have ADHD, it may be completely shocking for you to hear that most people prioritize "extrinsically", meaning, whether or not something is "interesting" is *not* primary information in their prioritizations. I never knew I had ADHD until I had a baby and had to start prioritizing tasks based on t…

I assume you mean the sharing of the article, because the author was a philosophy prof. Do you have anything I can follow up on for, > most people prioritize "extrinsically" meaning, whether or not something is "interesting" is not primary information in their prioritizations. I would have thought the quest for dopamine was pretty universal and there's a good friend in my life who has a serious case of ADHD.

Yes, this article is very helpful. The website is very noisy, maybe to keep hyperactive ADHD people around, but it's horrible for me. Try a reader mode:

https://www.additudemag.com/secrets-of-the-adhd-brain/?srslt...

Re: Structured Procrastination (1995)

#129
- This year's submission as of the time of this comment has ~38 references to “ADHD” (not counting multiple references in a single comment).

- The 2022 submission (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30292440): 6

- 2020 (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24884347): zero

- 2018 contains a single reference to “ADD”: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16948527

- 2017 contains neither “ADHD” nor “ADD” but a single reference to “ADDeral”: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13618985

- 2015 has no references but I thought this comment was funny: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10163857

Post reply on HN