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Stop postponing things by embracing the mess

deprocrastination.co

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Re: Stop postponing things by embracing the mess

#101

Post by cloverich »

adadadadadad wrote: post #29
dartos wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s likely that a lot more people have ADHD than we think, but I don’t think everyone who procrastinates does so bc of ADHD

If you read the diagnostic criteria that is used, it’s so broad it could easily apply to most of the world’s population…as long as they declare they have trouble focusing.

This is true about most diagnostic criteria, which is why medical students think they have all the illnesses before they get experience with people who actually have them. Its just very difficult to use words with sufficient precision to capture the bits that are, somehow, more obvious once experienced.

Re: Stop postponing things by embracing the mess

#102

Post by MichaelRo »

All these advice on productivity ultimately seem to wanna turn you into some sort of assembly line robot, achieve maximum productivity, produce!

Well funk that, in the end what matters is persistence. You don't need to work 12 hours per day, heck don't even need to work 8 ;) ;) ;) I mean like everyone knows the productivity window is at best a couple hours. But those couple hours add up and in the end somehow stuff gets done, tasks get completed, company carries on.

And on my own side projects I'm applying the same philosophy. Ideally a little bit from time to time (not even every day coze it starts to look too much like work). And if it happens that I start working and some interruption comes along, so be it, there will be another day. I don't have to ship tomorrow as long as I finish eventually. Over the years this has added up to quite a bit of accomplishments.

So one word: persistence.

Re: Stop postponing things by embracing the mess

#103

Post by d0100 »

bookofjoe wrote: post #27
prometheus76 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the classic situation of someone without ADHD telling us "just focus!" or "you just need to write things down!" or "you're just lazy". I have ADHD, and I also do not have a sense of smell (lost it in a TBI when I was a teenager). I tell people, "you take for granted what it's like to have a sense of smell. It affects every moment of your day, catching your interest and directing your attention all the time. Imag…

Memories of my ex-wife admonishing me, while in the throes of a deep, disabling episode of clinical depression, to "Snap out of it!"

Ironically, "snapping out of it" is the best way I can deal with it

No other reasoning with myself works better than just "snapping out"

Re: Stop postponing things by embracing the mess

#104

Post by criddell »

matteason wrote: post #100
criddell wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm intrigued, but brain.fm requires a credit card for a free trial. Bummer. Edit: I just checked my email and (in the spam folder) was an email from them with a link that works for 3 days. I'm trying it now.

You might enjoy the binaural beats and ambient radio on https://ambiph.one as a free alternative (disclosure: it's my site). Not as science-y as brain.fm but it helps me a lot with focus

Wow - nice work! Your site looks and works great. Thanks for sharing it.

Re: Stop postponing things by embracing the mess

#105

Post by matteason »

criddell wrote: post #104
matteason wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might enjoy the binaural beats and ambient radio on https://ambiph.one as a free alternative (disclosure: it's my site). Not as science-y as brain.fm but it helps me a lot with focus

Wow - nice work! Your site looks and works great. Thanks for sharing it.

Thanks, glad you like it! I'm all ears if you have any suggestions (here or there's a feedback form linked at the bottom)

Re: Stop postponing things by embracing the mess

#106

Post by StefanBatory »

equalsione wrote: post #71
snazz wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people (myself included) procrastinate on something because it's emotionally uncomfortable, without necessarily having ADHD. For example, when I was much younger, I'd procrastinate on math homework specifically, not because I struggled with focus, but because it was difficult to admit to myself that I didn't know how to do it and would need to practice. Subjects that came more naturally to me (English, scien…

Growing up, my parents didn't have encouragement or patience in their emotional toolkit. You were expected to do everything perfectly - homework, writing a letter, any kind of planning, even sweeping the floor or washing dishes - and if you struggled in any way you were berated at length. Many decades later even mundane things can be a battle - ringing a doctor to ask for an appointment, or a provider to query a bill…

That is something I share too, I had similar experience.

Faced with hard task, I ended up not even trying - penalty for failure was the same as one for not doing something.

Re: Stop postponing things by embracing the mess

#107

Post by StefanBatory »

moritzwarhier wrote: post #37
codetrotter wrote: post #14

https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=deprocrastination.co Interesting that pretty much all submissions on the first page of results from this domain is both by the same user and broadly seems to be about the same overarching theme of procrastination. Is OP the author of the site? (OP also posts links to other sites, so not saying OP is doing anything wrong though.)

Since 7 of the last 30 submissions by OP are that site and the pattern continues, I find it absolutely understandable and good-faith to become suspicious. Other users have been accusing the same https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28894120 I don't want to participate in a witch hunt here, but HN needs to stay vigilant against spam and self-promotion that exceeds the reasonable intersection with honestly showing pers…

They might be just binging a site or just liking it to the point where they want to share every article.

I would do so in the past too.

Re: Stop postponing things by embracing the mess

#108

Post by larrik »

xyzelement wrote: post #26

My first couple of weeks at Bridgewater I was diagnosed with a fear of failure - deep reluctance to set off on a journey unless I could see the entire path through to the other side. I thought that was a good way to be actually (keeps you safe from doomed endeavors) but obviously keeps you from progressing on things where the only way to figure out the path is to walk it. In retrospect it’s a form of anxiety. If you…

I can definitely relate to this, and I found the only way past it (for me) was to not plan at all. Just show up and hope for the best, basically. Requires a different kind of prep (good habits vs direct planning) and an adjustment of attitude (it's fine if things aren't perfect).

Re: Stop postponing things by embracing the mess

#109

Post by Kiro »

moritzwarhier wrote: post #37
codetrotter wrote: post #14

https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=deprocrastination.co Interesting that pretty much all submissions on the first page of results from this domain is both by the same user and broadly seems to be about the same overarching theme of procrastination. Is OP the author of the site? (OP also posts links to other sites, so not saying OP is doing anything wrong though.)

Since 7 of the last 30 submissions by OP are that site and the pattern continues, I find it absolutely understandable and good-faith to become suspicious. Other users have been accusing the same https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28894120 I don't want to participate in a witch hunt here, but HN needs to stay vigilant against spam and self-promotion that exceeds the reasonable intersection with honestly showing pers…

> but self-promotion on HN should follow strict rules and if this is indeed promotion, it is breaking the rules.

What rules are you referring to? This is what the HN guidelines say:

"Please don't use HN primarily for promotion. It's ok to post your own stuff part of the time, but the primary use of the site should be for curiosity."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Doesn't seem very strict to me.

Re: Stop postponing things by embracing the mess

#110

Post by hirvi74 »

prometheus76 wrote: post #17
masto wrote: post #12

The oversimplification and promises that if you just buy their thing you'll have a distraction free life in 14 days really irks me. I struggled with this stuff for over 40 years. Only last year, after a disastrous crash, did I start learning about ADHD, which finally gave me the language and tools and access to support that I needed to start making a meaningful difference. Without the understanding that diagnosis gav…

It's the classic situation of someone without ADHD telling us "just focus!" or "you just need to write things down!" or "you're just lazy". I have ADHD, and I also do not have a sense of smell (lost it in a TBI when I was a teenager). I tell people, "you take for granted what it's like to have a sense of smell. It affects every moment of your day, catching your interest and directing your attention all the time. Imag…

I'm doubly screwed.

Like you said

> "It's the classic situation of someone without ADHD telling us "just focus!" or "you just need to write things down!" or "you're just lazy".

Of course, this advice was never helpful and did not work. However, I was properly diagnosed, went to medication route, coupled it with therapy, and I'm still not better. Now, the medication and all that is definitely better than nothing, and I still rely on the relief I get. But the benefit of modern medicine for me is like taking a low dosage of painkillers for 3rd degree burns.

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