Good and Bad Procrastination (2005)
paulgraham.com
Good and Bad Procrastination (2005)
1–10 of 59 posts
Re: Good and Bad Procrastination (2005)
#2Nice essay.
The "small stuff" that you mention has a function - to enable a society. If you don't shave and shower, you will look terrible, and for biological reasons people will think that you're nuts, that's you're an outliar, and expect strange things from you. It is not necessarily too bad, per se.
However, I argue that balance (some small stuff, but not too much, so you have time for important stuff) is better than being a great, smelly procrastinator.
Re: Good and Bad Procrastination (2005)
#3I am constantly struggling with procrastination even though I love my job and what I do. It seems like sometimes I'd rather do anything other than what I'm actually suppose to do and what pays the bills, almost like a mental disorder.
I've tried setting goals, blocking websites, uninstalling games, creating logs and even creating rewards for doing X amount of work, none of those seem to really help so far.
The procrastination article is from 9 years ago and has been posted numerous times before on HN, yet it's at the top of HN. I suspect that procrastination is a horrible problem for programmers due to the vast amount of distraction available via the internet.
Also, http://paulgraham.com/distraction.html
I'm installing Watch Dogs for the 4th time right now rather than doing my real work (which is very fun, time critical, and offers REAL rewards), wtf is wrong with me.
Re: Good and Bad Procrastination (2005)
#4You should add a (2005) to the end of the title.
Re: Good and Bad Procrastination (2005)
#5This essay is mostly spot on, but there is some "more important work" that is harder to define: emotional/social work, raising a family etc. These things are mentioned in your eulogy, but not your obituary.
I'm pretty sure this essay was written before pg had kids. I wonder how/if his perspective has changed.
Re: Good and Bad Procrastination (2005)
#6Possibly off-topic, but I wonder when PG will be writing more essays. I remember that one of the things he was looking forward to when sama took over YC was the extra time to work on projects and write more.
Re: Good and Bad Procrastination (2005)
#7Good? Bad? There is only the value that you place on your own time. It may be that shaving/maintaining friendships/health do not offer rewards that you value. That's your decision. In the end, if your occupation doesn't reward you in a way you value, you will find an alternative way to spend your time.
edit: If you are concerned about how you spend your time, I would suggest that you should spend some time reflecting on why you are making those choices.
Re: Good and Bad Procrastination (2005)
#8I am constantly struggling with procrastination even though I love my job and what I do. It seems like sometimes I'd rather do anything other than what I'm actually suppose to do and what pays the bills, almost like a mental disorder. I've tried setting goals, blocking websites, uninstalling games, creating logs and even creating rewards for doing X amount of work, none of those seem to really help so far. The procra…
I'm in a same boat as you. Between work, family, and house projects, I barely have any time to do anything I want to. So when I do get such time, I blow it on gaming as a form of relaxation.
One thing that really helped me was during work hours, if I have downtime, I'll spend it on either searching for new projects to do or learn new things. Once I'm home, my emails stop syncing and I concentrate more on home and family related activities.
Re: Good and Bad Procrastination (2005)
#9As the essay mentions Hamming's talk, here's a recording: http://youtu.be/a1zDuOPkMSw
Re: Good and Bad Procrastination (2005)
#10I am constantly struggling with procrastination even though I love my job and what I do. It seems like sometimes I'd rather do anything other than what I'm actually suppose to do and what pays the bills, almost like a mental disorder. I've tried setting goals, blocking websites, uninstalling games, creating logs and even creating rewards for doing X amount of work, none of those seem to really help so far. The procra…
>It seems like sometimes I'd rather do anything other than what I'm actually suppose to do and what pays the bills, almost like a mental disorder.
History is full of geniuses who weren't interested in paying the bills, to the chagrin of their creditors, but ultimately to the benefit of civilization as a whole.