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Procrastination is Not Laziness

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Re: Procrastination is Not Laziness

#151

Post by dreeves »

du wrote: post #138
Miserlou57 wrote: post #97

I'm reaching out here because I really need some advice. This is a great thread, but I think it only semi-applies to me. I am 24 years old, and I seriously struggle with motivation to do... just about anything. I have a midterm tomorrow in Dynamics (a mech engr course), and I have pretty much neglected the class entirely, and I am most certainly going to fail it, and I'll have to withdraw. This isn't surprising, beca…

I'm an even worse procrastinator and what is helping me the most is Beeminder: You define a goal and pay exponentially increasing sums of money if you fail. For it to work you need to dislike losing money, be honest about your goal progress and rerail if you derail (although they now have an automatic rerailing feature). Getting some pleasure from the goal progress and statistics is important too. I'd start with some…

Thanks so much for saying this! This is exactly how feel ourselves. :)

Danny of http://beeminder.com

Re: Procrastination is Not Laziness

#152

Post by snaky »

Isamu wrote: post #23

Let me second the OP and recommend Neil Fiore's book "The Now Habit". There are lots of good strategies in that book, such as: The Unschedule * a weekly calendar of committed recreational activities and breaks, meals, etc * productive periods of work are recorded after they are accomplished * encourages starting earlier on projects once you see how much time is already committed * 30 minute chunks of productive work…

Thank you so much!

I wonder, is there any website, community or maybe even webservice with book annotations, clear and brief? I think it wouldn't be a big exaggeration to say I'd prefer a quality brief for at least 80% of books I read.

Re: Procrastination is Not Laziness

#153

Post by kristiandupont »

snaky wrote: post #152
Isamu wrote: post #23

Let me second the OP and recommend Neil Fiore's book "The Now Habit". There are lots of good strategies in that book, such as: The Unschedule * a weekly calendar of committed recreational activities and breaks, meals, etc * productive periods of work are recorded after they are accomplished * encourages starting earlier on projects once you see how much time is already committed * 30 minute chunks of productive work…

Thank you so much! I wonder, is there any website, community or maybe even webservice with book annotations, clear and brief? I think it wouldn't be a big exaggeration to say I'd prefer a quality brief for at least 80% of books I read.

http://www.getabstract.com/en/

Re: Procrastination is Not Laziness

#154

Post by Mahn »

internetdude313 wrote: post #80
Isamu wrote: post #23

Let me second the OP and recommend Neil Fiore's book "The Now Habit". There are lots of good strategies in that book, such as: The Unschedule * a weekly calendar of committed recreational activities and breaks, meals, etc * productive periods of work are recorded after they are accomplished * encourages starting earlier on projects once you see how much time is already committed * 30 minute chunks of productive work…

I find it hard to agree with this post. If you are willing to work 40 hrs a week you will receive 40hr/week pay from your employer. If you dont commit (via http://news.ycombinator.com posts) SOMEONE ELSE WILL. Do not fool yourself out of a startup salary, and learn Lisp! (if you have the time!) (There are shortcuts to learning Lisp, but all of these shortcuts are not worth the saved time you spent learning Lisp) (Eve…

First time ever I see someone on HN with negative karma.

Re: Procrastination is Not Laziness

#155

Post by Felix21 »

calhoun137 wrote: post #68

I have a very different take than this author, and apparently many of the people in this thread. I absolutely love to procrastinate and it's very important to me. Actually I am procrastinating by writing this comment right now. Allow me to explain: When I program, or do math, it's very important to me to have a clear head; and I take procrastinating very seriously because I know if I don't do certain things then I wi…

I'm not sure you have experienced the kind of procrastination the op speaks about.

You have a to-do list of 5 items for today and then a week later(with up to 11 hours of busy-work everyday), you're on item number 3.

This kind of procrastination is a sickness and has causes a lot of emotional distress.

You're reading hacker news(or even working on a less important project) full of guilt and indescribable negative feelings that you need to be working on the "important things", then you move to the important thing you need to be doing but you cant get it done cause there is this hyper-active force on the inside of you that just wont allow you to focus.

Its a very sad-depressing place I hope never to return to.

Re: Procrastination is Not Laziness

#156

Post by graeme »

tapp wrote: post #62
graeme wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like to give this a try. Any tips for removing that feeling?

Writing this quickly because I'm about to run out the door, so please excuse the incomplete answer. In brief, aside from simply recognizing it intellectually (which alone helped me a lot,) I'd start by literally following the advice I wrote above and remove the phrase from your vocabulary. i.e. Don't say things like "I really have to get caught up this weekend." It's a hopelessly imprecise statement that, if you're l…

That's a good way of putting it, thanks.

"I'm going to clear my inbox vs. I'm going to get caught up on my email"

Re: Procrastination is Not Laziness

#157

Post by snaky »

kristiandupont wrote: post #153
snaky wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you so much! I wonder, is there any website, community or maybe even webservice with book annotations, clear and brief? I think it wouldn't be a big exaggeration to say I'd prefer a quality brief for at least 80% of books I read.

http://www.getabstract.com/en/

Thank you!

But €299 for 12 months was a little bit.. unsuspected.

Re: Procrastination is Not Laziness

#158

Post by 3pt14159 »

Miserlou57 wrote: post #97

I'm reaching out here because I really need some advice. This is a great thread, but I think it only semi-applies to me. I am 24 years old, and I seriously struggle with motivation to do... just about anything. I have a midterm tomorrow in Dynamics (a mech engr course), and I have pretty much neglected the class entirely, and I am most certainly going to fail it, and I'll have to withdraw. This isn't surprising, beca…

Dynamics isn't really that hard. All you really need to know is that force results in deformation and acceleration. If you hit the books now, you can probably get a passing grade, especially if you understand calculus.

I realize my response is kinda dense, but in reality I find it easier to start when I think I have a fighting chance.

Re: Procrastination is Not Laziness

#160

Post by zatara »

danenania wrote: post #115
Miserlou57 wrote: post #97

I'm reaching out here because I really need some advice. This is a great thread, but I think it only semi-applies to me. I am 24 years old, and I seriously struggle with motivation to do... just about anything. I have a midterm tomorrow in Dynamics (a mech engr course), and I have pretty much neglected the class entirely, and I am most certainly going to fail it, and I'll have to withdraw. This isn't surprising, beca…

For me, the essence of it was to stop trying to please other people, stop trying to fit into some sort of mold, stop thinking of myself as being on or off some mythical 'track'. The only track is your own life, and what makes you happy and lets you survive. Everything else is pointless, just a bunch of noise. When you give up that way of thinking, life becomes so much simpler and less stressful. There's nothing you'r…

I wish I could upvote you more than once for this.
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