You should checkout this book - http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/95708.The_Now_Habit
I bought a copy, but haven't yet got around to reading it. True story.
Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?
101–110 of 308 posts
Re: Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?
#102What works best for me: Work closely with super-motivated people who inspire you. Procrastination goes down to zero. Interestingly, the effect lasts even after your project with these people is finished.
Also, read http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2012/04/5-great-things-about-pr...
Re: Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?
#103Life is not like a continuous road. Life has chapters. Even if you procrastinate now, you can be in a completely different situation for the next chapter. The trick is to try to make the good chapters last and keep making changes until bad chapters turn good. Also, try "going with the life flow" while keeping a healthy respect for situations you know have the potential to go wrong.
Re: Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?
#104Log off all this crap on the internet now and get back to work. Stop reading this thread and start asking someone to review the crap code you're writing. And fill your vast amount of freetime at work actually doing something to improve your company. They pay your bills so you can click keys and press buttons. So stop pressing the wrong keys and start typing something productive not posts like these. Also, stop reading all this stuff and start making something.
Re: Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?
#105Although, I wonder if I really fucked my brain/habits up so much that I'll never reach my full capacity. There's no such thing as your "full capacity". What you're doing right now, that is your full capacity. Either accept that you're at your limit or actually do something to prove you're not.
It also helps me to look at this image: http://i.imgur.com/39U4k.png . Each box is one month of your life. There really aren't that many of them.
Interesting image. I just made a quick tool for generating it here: http://lifeboxes.neocities.org/
Re: Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?
#106Willpower is a muscle, which uses the same resource as brain tasks (programming, arguing)[1] - let's call it "cognitive energy". 1) don't waste cognitive energy on silly tasks (games, arguing in comment threads, etc.) 2) practice exercising willpower - it's a muscle, you can train it to be better. Start by forcing yourself to complete a routine every morning (the trick with habit forming is to not give up after you m…
I came here to add that research that Kathy Sierra referred to in her article on willpower and cognitive processing capacity... but you beat me to it :-)
Another interesting article on willpower is by the APA on http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/willpower.aspx, refering to actual experiments instead of common opinions. Interesting quotes from that:
> At its essence, willpower is the ability to resist short-term temptations in order to meet long-term goals.
> Self-discipline, the researchers found, was more important than IQ in predicting academic success.
> The benefits of willpower seem to extend well beyond the college years.
There's a nice (short) book on techniques to stop/handle procrastination: Eat That Frog, http://www.amazon.com/Eat-That-Frog-Great-Procrastinating/dp.... One of the ideas is that if you start with the hardest task, everything else will be easier after that.
Re: Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?
#107I am in the same situation as you and I understand you better than anyone. Someone who is not in that situation doesn't understand and they will try to give you advice like make a list of tasks, use pomodoro or other technique...none of them work...email me if you found a solution...i was really thinking of going to Bali and train my discipline and brain with those monks there and have a better life.
Re: Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?
#108When I find myself procrastinating I ask myself "how much could I achieve if I just do it now?" usually that works for a couple of of hours, I break for 5 minutes and then ask myself the same question before starting work again.
Re: Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?
#109Although, I wonder if I really fucked my brain/habits up so much that I'll never reach my full capacity. There's no such thing as your "full capacity". What you're doing right now, that is your full capacity. Either accept that you're at your limit or actually do something to prove you're not.
It also helps me to look at this image: http://i.imgur.com/39U4k.png . Each box is one month of your life. There really aren't that many of them.
For the lazy and curious, there are 80 boxes. 24 by 40.
Re: Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?
#1101. DOWNSIZE. drastically reduce your commitments / todo list. Procrastination is your subconscious brain's way of saying that it is freaking out with what's on its plate. 2. INTENTION. with the stuff that's left over, take a time out and truly commit to it. Do meditation, quiet your brain, and make an honest decision about what you're committing to. 3. IMPLEMENTATION. now plan HOW you will get these committments done…
I think too much shit is probably part of my problem. I say yes to everything all the time and as a result I'm involved with literally every part of this startup. I've definitely made myself a Godin lynchpin but people are starting to lose faith in this silly wunderkinds ability to execute. Meditation is a good idea. I tried getting into it, ended up reading up on some weird sex meditation shit and went down the rabb…
I used getsomeheadspace.com as a guided meditation guide. I recommend as it definitely helped my ability to focus. It's basically training for your mental muscles. This helps when your brain wants to dart off and do something fun by giving you a bit more of a chance to gently guide it back to what it's supposed to be focussing on.