101–110 of 185 posts
When stuck I do what I call "prepping". Don't try to do the task, just prep for it -- clean the room, the desk, close distracting websites, gather the materials. It's lowering the activation energy so the reaction can happen more easily.
When stuck I do what I call "prepping". Don't try to do the task, just prep for it -- clean the room, the desk, close distracting websites, gather the materials. It's lowering the activation energy so the reaction can happen more easily.
I notice cleaning had a huge effect on greasing the wheels for me. It's the decluttering for me which I think prevents me from thinking about all the stuff on the counter in some far off place in my mind.
"Across a decade working at hypergrowth tech companies like Meta and Pinterest, I constantly struggled with procrastination [...] I was not making progress on the things that mattered." Maybe unless one can really convince themselves that their daily work matters (really matters and not just for their team/company metrics) one is bound to procrastinate as a symptom of some subconscious sense of pointlessness.
I accept it as part of my life, because I believe it is an intuitive process that protects me from doing bad work.
There are times when I really have to get something done, and then I need to put pressure on myself. But mostly I have learned to listen to and respect my procrastination.
"Across a decade working at hypergrowth tech companies like Meta and Pinterest, I constantly struggled with procrastination [...] I was not making progress on the things that mattered." Maybe unless one can really convince themselves that their daily work matters (really matters and not just for their team/company metrics) one is bound to procrastinate as a symptom of some subconscious sense of pointlessness.
My boss met with me this week to have me finish something important to get done by Friday. That really kicked me into gear this week and I was very motivated and productive. Come Friday, no message, no more push from him, no mention of how he needs my work or asking how it's going. That instantly tanked my motivation to continue
I disagree with the idea that getting past procrastination should (always) be the target. Mostly because I don't think procrastination is inherently bad. There's a lot of stigma attached to procrastination as it's seen as being "unproductive". But I think procrastination can lead to great insights. Your brain is telling you that it is not interested in the current task. The question is: Why? Overworked and needs a br…
The productivity fetishists want us to hate ourselves for resisting the orders issued by the executive mind. Fuck that.