Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?

#231

Post by procastatron » Fri, Aug 02, 2013, 3:10 PM UTC

doctorstupid wrote: post #189

I'm really smart, do no work, and earn lots of money. Please help me. How can anyone not take you for a braggart?

I used my salary as a way of getting people more hooked into this thread. If I was sitting on my couch all day doing nothing, I think I would have gotten less replies.

By showing that I'm actually out there working on this and that I truly want to do better, I believed I could generate more of a discussion from people that have been in similar positions and want to help me.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?

#232

Post by gcb0 » Fri, Aug 02, 2013, 3:10 PM UTC

jmagoon wrote: post #197

skue wrote: post #194

The fact that this has been going on for years, and that you feel the procrastination is holding you back from your full potential does sound like it could be ADHD, as others have mentioned. Also, ADHD tends to run in families. So if your dad is the same way... Most people associate ADHD with kids who struggle in school. But highly intelligent people can have it too. It still holds them back from reaching their poten…

Is it odd that this sounds like normal human behavior to me?

No. He just described disinterest and or boredom.

But the med industry will sell you a drug for that.

If you are bored to the point of looking at cat pictures 7h day instead of working for 130k/y at 21, just leave that shithole and go work with a decent team for 80k. It will have a much better outcome for your future.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?

#233

Post by procastatron » Fri, Aug 02, 2013, 3:11 PM UTC

forgottenpaswrd wrote: post #119

Surround yourself of people better than you and find challenges in your job. What I read from your message is "I am a genius, I am gifted, I don't need to work because I am so smart, work is so easy". Bullshit. If you are so gifted: could you find the cure to a cancer saying, I don't know understanding DNA code? Could you help developing nuclear fusion? Could you really improve the social condition of the people arou…

At the end of the day, you're comment here has more truth to it than anything else in this thread.

And it's one of the reasons I indulge in self-loathing more than I should

Re: Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?

#234

Post by procastatron » Fri, Aug 02, 2013, 3:11 PM UTC

ilconsigliere wrote: post #222

Try working out (lift) first thing in the morning

I did this for a week, it worked quite well.

However, I'm definitely not a morning person

Re: Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?

#235

Post by procastatron » Fri, Aug 02, 2013, 3:12 PM UTC

devalhubert wrote: post #215

This helped me hugely - procrastination is a symptom of an over-achiever who is afraid to fail, because they rarely have. Start from halfway down on 'The Real Causes of Procrastination'. Welcome to the club: http://www.raptitude.com/2011/05/procrastination-is-not-lazi...

Read this a while ago. It's a great article

Re: Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?

#236

Post by LekkoscPiwa » Fri, Aug 02, 2013, 3:14 PM UTC

skue wrote: post #194

The fact that this has been going on for years, and that you feel the procrastination is holding you back from your full potential does sound like it could be ADHD, as others have mentioned. Also, ADHD tends to run in families. So if your dad is the same way... Most people associate ADHD with kids who struggle in school. But highly intelligent people can have it too. It still holds them back from reaching their poten…

willing to sit daily calm for 8 hours and code is a sign of autism? No? Works only one way, huh?

Re: Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?

#237

Post by gcheong » Fri, Aug 02, 2013, 3:19 PM UTC

doctorstupid wrote: post #189

I'm really smart, do no work, and earn lots of money. Please help me. How can anyone not take you for a braggart?

Because anyone with a conscience soon realizes the sheer ridiculousness of getting paid a high salary for doing little or no work and may feel a bit of guilt about it? It is a common situation in companies that are either well funded or very profitable that they can afford to throw around so much cash in what basically amounts to slack. You see it all the time.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?

#238

Post by procastatron » Fri, Aug 02, 2013, 3:19 PM UTC

skue wrote: post #206

jmagoon wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it odd that this sounds like normal human behavior to me?

It depends on the degree. I think the more compelling factors for the OP are that (a) this has been going on for years, (b) he has a very strong feeling that this is holding him back, and (c) his dad is the same way. It's possible that he's so incredibly smart that he finds many things boring, and that's not ADHD. ADHD tends to lead to a lot of disorganization (across different settings: home, work, school), plus att…

I'm not "incredibly" smart. Top 5% sure, but there are people on here who have accomplished way more than me by my age and are way way smarter than me when it comes to programming.

One of the smartest people I've met online is a kid who is 18 now and built an entire OS, compiler etc all in Javascript just because he could. He routinely builds new languages and compilers for himself just to get better.

I really envy that kind of passion. I know in 10 years he'll probably have invented the next Ruby on Rails etc. But at the same time, I don't necessarily want to be the best programmer. I think I'm more inclined to be the best "product person" which at the end of the day still means programming, just with more of a business aspect.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?

#239

Post by fusiongyro » Fri, Aug 02, 2013, 3:20 PM UTC

procastatron wrote: post #229

fusiongyro wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm surprised by that, but obviously you know you better than I do. Burnout takes a long time to recover from. If you get nothing else from my remarks, at least consider the possibility that the real problem isn't procrastination, it's that you're too hard on yourself.

I don't agree with that. I have programmers that come in and do a solid days work every single day. It might not be the best code, but I see them working on it all day long. It sucks because even though I'm accomplishing as much work as they are, I can only do it for a few hours a day. I'm envious of their focus and ability to actually get shit done. If it wasn't for them, I probably would be fired. Although....even…

You're envious because you imagine that you could exceed them by a factor of three if you could focus like they do, but there's no real reason to believe that. Your peers with focus weren't like you, they didn't have a procrastination "problem" to conquer.

The real world is not logic-driven. You admit you wouldn't be fired because of your personality. Well, guess what: that's what keeps a lot of people employed. All you're getting for your high expectations of yourself is unnecessary pain.

Nobody complains about their coworkers being procrastinators. They complain about their coworkers not getting shit done. You're getting shit done, so they have nothing to complain about. Even better, they actually like you!

Your only real problem is that you aren't happy. There's no reason to assume being productive will make you happy, apart from freedom from the guilt. This should be liberating, because there are lots more solutions to the guilt problem than procrastination, and they're a lot less like snake oil.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a chronic procrastinator – how do I break it?

#240

Post by eatitraw » Fri, Aug 02, 2013, 3:21 PM UTC

procastatron wrote: post #227

eatitraw wrote: post #205

The "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy" book by David Burns is really good. Here is the link: http://amzn.com/B009UW5X4C Chances are that you're depressed, OP. And even if you're not, the book is related anyway: there is a chapter specifically on practical methods to beat procrastination. I personally get mixed results: sometimes these methods work, sometimes they don't -- though mostly because I fail to apply them…

I feel like I could have written this a few months ago. I tried something similar but then fell right back in my normal routine. Not saying it won't work for you. I've just become very doubtful of all the "self help" methods as it's rare that I find long term evidence that it has changed people's lives permanently. I read on average, 1-2 self help books every week, I think they've helped me with certain areas of my l…

> I tried something similar but then fell right back in my normal routine.

Yeah, happens to me all the time. :(

> 1-2 self help books every week

Give "Feeling Good" a try then, I don't read as much books as you do, but I think "FG" is a cut above the other books I've read. With the exception of "When panic attacks(also by D. Burns). While it was only somewhat useful for procrastination, I found this book extremely useful for other problems. The main thing about this book is cognitive techniques, if you apply them(AND read the book) then you gain 10x more value than by just reading the book.

And if you do find the book useful, you may find CBT therapist(which was already suggested in this discussion). A friend of mine did so recently, and she is much better now(though she was clinically depressed).