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To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved

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Re: To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved

#101

Post by mattmanser »

spdustin wrote: post #95
mattmanser wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would this be ADHD? I suffer from the same problem and yet when I'm doing something I like I can concentrate intently for hours if not days. I've worked 60 hour weeks for months when I'm invested. But when it's stuff I don't enjoy or I'm a bit down, it's a totally different ball game. I also tend to not be concerned about dates far in the future because I secretly believe I can pull a rabbit out of the hat whenev…

I don't believe it was flippant, and as I said, didn't intend it to be. As someone with AD/HD, and who's studied it intently for many years trying to better understand how it may affect my autistic son (who is also showing signs of AD/HD) I can safely say that the kind of procrastination he describes is exactly the kind of procrastination that manifests in someone with AD/HD. Having that kind of insight lets me help…

Are you self diagnosed? Because in my book none of that's AD/HD. That's called life.

Re: To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved

#102

Post by jhayward »

mattmanser wrote: post #82
spdustin wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't mean to sound flippant, but it seems like AD/HD to me. No real concern for due dates far off in the future: "Look, it's either due now or not now ." Describes me perfectly. :)

Why would this be ADHD? I suffer from the same problem and yet when I'm doing something I like I can concentrate intently for hours if not days. I've worked 60 hour weeks for months when I'm invested. But when it's stuff I don't enjoy or I'm a bit down, it's a totally different ball game. I also tend to not be concerned about dates far in the future because I secretly believe I can pull a rabbit out of the hat whenev…

You are right - diagnosing ADHD is for professionals as it can be complex to separate out from several other diagnoses. But lets look at what you just wrote:

- Lack of awareness or concern for timelines until immediate consequences loom.

- Inability to control focus if not emotionally invested. (So-called hyperfocus is much part of ADHD as is non-focus).

These are both things that would light up an ADHD scoreboard. They're almost direct quotes from the literature, and if you spoke to a group of ADHD people they would recognize them immediately.

People with ADHD have many explanations for "why" they are this way. A lifetime of rationalization does not make it not so. So perhaps talk to an ADHD specialist - it can make a huge difference in your life, and your loved ones.

Ask someone diagnosed in later life, say, over 40, if they would have preferred to not be rationalizing and suffering the consequences over the last 20 to 30 years.

Re: To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved

#103

Post by dasboth »

kenesom1 wrote: post #30

People procrastinate because work is painful. Naturally people want to avoid pain. To stop procrastinating: - Stop doing things that are painful. Do other things instead. - Improve your pain tolerance by becoming stronger, better rested, etc. (Disclaimer: haven't read the article yet.)

I haven't found that to be necessarily true. Sometimes I procrastinate over things that I actually WANT to do. More generally I'd say I procrastinate over doing things that don't reward me in the short term. For example if I want to practice a difficult piano piece, the short term result is it sounds awful because I haven't mastered it yet, so I avoid starting even though the long term reward is that I have an impressive piece in my repertoire, which will be fun to play from then on (and I would no longer avoid playing it!). It's an irrational process and I'm still trying to figure it out.

Re: To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved

#104

Post by istjohn »

mattmanser wrote: post #82
spdustin wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't mean to sound flippant, but it seems like AD/HD to me. No real concern for due dates far off in the future: "Look, it's either due now or not now ." Describes me perfectly. :)

Why would this be ADHD? I suffer from the same problem and yet when I'm doing something I like I can concentrate intently for hours if not days. I've worked 60 hour weeks for months when I'm invested. But when it's stuff I don't enjoy or I'm a bit down, it's a totally different ball game. I also tend to not be concerned about dates far in the future because I secretly believe I can pull a rabbit out of the hat whenev…

Honestly, your description of yourself sounds like ADHD. Unfortunately, ADHD is a very poor name, because it really is not about an inability to pay attention. Hyperfocus is very common in people like myself who have ADHD. ADHD manifests itself as an inability to pay attention to things that are uninteresting or not engaging, an inability to change focus when appropriate, and difficulty with time perception and management.

Like yourself, until diagnosed, I would have never considered ADHD a possibility because I would regularly focus intently on a programming project or random wikipedia rabbit hole for hours and hours at a time, often skipping meals and staying up until the early hours of the morning. But it turns out these trances of hyperfocus are typical for many ADHD sufferers. There are different flavors of ADHD. I never experienced the hyperactivity that often leads to diagnosis in children.

Keep in mind that one of the requirements for diagnosis in the DSM is impairment in social, academic or occupational function. In my case, spurts of hyperfocus routinely kept me from maintaining healthy sleep, diet, and hygiene routines, and ADHD also prevented me from doing homework and chores that were uninteresting. Unfortunately, there are precious few people who are able to exclusively focus on whatever engages their fancy at the moment. For me, it was debilitating.

Check out the video brazzledazzle posted above. You'll learn ADHD is way more nuanced than the popular understanding.

Re: To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved

#106

Post by spdustin »

mattmanser wrote: post #101
spdustin wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't believe it was flippant, and as I said, didn't intend it to be. As someone with AD/HD, and who's studied it intently for many years trying to better understand how it may affect my autistic son (who is also showing signs of AD/HD) I can safely say that the kind of procrastination he describes is exactly the kind of procrastination that manifests in someone with AD/HD. Having that kind of insight lets me help…

Are you self diagnosed? Because in my book none of that's AD/HD. That's called life.

No, I was diagnosed by two psychiatrists (I wanted a second opinion). That is sounds like "life" to you is the point - people without AD/HD make those kinds of judgments of those of us who DO have it.

EDIT: I guess that means either you don't have AD/HD, or just something else that inflates your sense of your abilities. Maybe you're just addicted to the rush of the looming deadline? I don't know. I'm not a psychiatrist.

Re: To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved

#107

Post by flycaliguy »

PopeOfNope wrote: post #25
hashberry wrote: post #4

I am a remote worker and suffer from chronic procrastination. "Understanding emotions" is an oversimplified solution because many are addicted to procrastination. It's like asking an alcoholic to understand the emotions of why he drinks. I have procrastinated as a student and my entire career and have always gotten away with it. I've been rewarded with praise of my great work, higher paying positions, and bonuses. I…

addicted to procrastination. Close. We're addicted to all manner of other things that give us that instant dopamine hit. When you ask somebody what do they do when they procrastinate, they rarely say they do something productive[0]. Instead, it's an activity that's designed to trigger that instant high: browsing the web, playing video games, eating, smoking. My reward system is completely divorced from reality. I get…

This isn't directed at you specifically, more so people reading your post and relating:

Stop masterbating. It's creating a mess of your dopamine reward system and has left you unable to get anything done.

Re: To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved

#108

Post by Joeri »

PopeOfNope wrote: post #93
Joeri wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Instead of limiting your web browsing, I've found it to be more useful to eliminate certain sites. When things start going overboard for me I will stop visiting the web sites which are the biggest time wasters. The rest of the internet quickly loses its appeal, and though it is hard at first it is relatively easy to go cold turkey instead of trying to ration exposure.

Eliminating certain sites and eliminating the internet is basically the same thing for me. As a programmer, I'm always on the internet researching problems and solutions. I don't count that because it's not an instant fix, it's the work I put into getting the fix, which is solving my problem and seeing my program work. I'm tempted to start consuming the internet solely through my kindle (again, just the instant fix s…

For me there are the sites I visit to solve programming problems, google, stackoverflow, etc... And then there are the sites where I waste time pretending I'm just indirectly improving my skillset, HN, slashdot (back in the day), reddit, etc... There is almost no overlap. I find eliminating the time wasters while keeping the professionally useful sites is not that much of a problem.

Re: To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved

#109

Post by delbel »

jwdunne wrote: post #78

Concepts found in mindfulness and CBT can help with this. The idea is that thoughts influence emotion and physical responses, which then influences behaviour, consequentially influencing outcomes. With procrastination, you will think of a task that you are avoiding. This may create anxiety and a tightening in your stomach. This will then prevent you from taking action. The outcome of that is rationalisation thoughts…

Can you recommend any good resources or perhaps a book on beginning CBT? So far, CBT For Dummies (ironic title, I know), is what I am working from. That, and a handful of random youtube videos is what I've been trying to build my CBT knowledge from.

Re: To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved

#110

Post by jwdunne »

delbel wrote: post #109
jwdunne wrote: post #78

Concepts found in mindfulness and CBT can help with this. The idea is that thoughts influence emotion and physical responses, which then influences behaviour, consequentially influencing outcomes. With procrastination, you will think of a task that you are avoiding. This may create anxiety and a tightening in your stomach. This will then prevent you from taking action. The outcome of that is rationalisation thoughts…

Can you recommend any good resources or perhaps a book on beginning CBT? So far, CBT For Dummies (ironic title, I know), is what I am working from. That, and a handful of random youtube videos is what I've been trying to build my CBT knowledge from.

Feeling Good by David Burns is a very good book. I've heard of studies that have shown it just as effective as medication for depression. The second chapter "Do Nothingness" has a chapter on procrastination specifically too.

Achieve Your Potential with Positive Psychology also includes a good chapter on CBT. The book also includes other findings/techniques in psychology that can help improve mood, motivation, relationships, etc. It also starts out by smacking down the Law of Attraction, which isn't really effective - it's more like an emotional pyramid scheme.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: Teach Yourself by Christine Wilding contains some good information too.

Outside of CBT, Man's Search for Meaning, which defines logotherapy, is a damn useful book. Tim LeBon's book also includes information on this.

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