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Procrastination and the fear of not being good enough

swapnilchauhan.com

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Re: Procrastination and the fear of not being good enough

#181

Post by energy123 »

ajmurmann wrote: post #95
hshshshshsh wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it would be really hard to understand without experiencing it. But I will write down anyway. So before dilution I had this strong idea of who I was. I had this back story. There were certain things I do. And certain things I don't do. I used to judge everyone. I had a very high opinion about myself and used to constantly do or find things to validate that. Now I don't have a story in which I live on. Each and…

I've been heavily dealing with the existential questions you are referencing but it only gets worse. What helped you in resolving those issues or come to terms with them?

A Buddhist would probably say:

> Needing an answer is an attachment. Attachments causes suffering.

Re: Procrastination and the fear of not being good enough

#182

Post by Aeolun »

maroonblazer wrote: post #153
Aeolun wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He didn’t say that had the answer, just the most complete one. Sorta makes sense when it’s the youngest religion I suppose? They wouldn’t make the same mistakes they made 600 or 4000 years previous.

Islam contains a lot of contradictions and ambiguities within its scriptures (as does Christianity and Judaism). E.g. gender roles and justice can elicit competing interpretations among scholars of Islam. Not to mention the wide diversity within Islam - Sunni, Shia, Sufi, and other branches with differing doctrines. Having been raised Catholic, then rejecting Christianity upon being confirmed in the Church and survey…

I mean, it's still a 1400 year old religion. It's never going to be as fit for the times as it would be if it were designed right now.

I don't believe Buddhism has an equivalent to the holy book, or quite as many prescriptions in the first place, so it's much easier to adapt.

Re: Procrastination and the fear of not being good enough

#183

Post by sameoldtune »

hshshshshsh wrote: post #92
calstad wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know it’s a bit of a personal question, but can you elaborate on your ego diluting experience?

I think it would be really hard to understand without experiencing it. But I will write down anyway. So before dilution I had this strong idea of who I was. I had this back story. There were certain things I do. And certain things I don't do. I used to judge everyone. I had a very high opinion about myself and used to constantly do or find things to validate that. Now I don't have a story in which I live on. Each and…

That’s a lot of “I” statements for the egoless commenter.

Re: Procrastination and the fear of not being good enough

#184

Post by robocat »

ChrisClark wrote: post #145
vasco wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that you have this grandiose idea about yourself that you transcended ego and are beyond basic judging of others or of yourself and so on doesn't give you pause to say that maybe that's a bit naive and ego-centered? How can someone declare themselves done with this? It's like someone telling me they achieved a state of never having a bad thought again, I know they are lying.

The problem is that state cannot be expressed in words or cognition, because it isn't part of your mind. I cannot fully explain to you what it is like, I can only experience it myself. Until you have the same experience, you will continue to doubt it in the exact way you currently are. And that's perfectly fine, and natural and still good. It's like trying to describe a color in its actual raw experience, or describi…

I super appreciate the effort to explain even though I'm probably as philosophically cynical as some other commentators!!!

It's certainly a hard topic to express.

Re: Procrastination and the fear of not being good enough

#185

Post by laptopdev »

A lot of people apparently have similar self-beliefs. Recognize these are beliefs. Identify and map out your current belief system so that you can analyze it for what it is. That's what you have to do when you are uncertain, is map things out. When you develop more self awareness you can choose different belief systems, like in the matrix.

Re: Procrastination and the fear of not being good enough

#186

Post by montagg »

bbor wrote: post #160
simonw wrote: post #159

I will repeat my standard advice for writing more: lower your standards, and allow yourself (in fact force yourself) to publish things despite knowing that they could be better if you just changed a few more things... Also, write about things you've learned and projects you've built: both of those are topics where you aren't expected to provide shining new insight never seen before online: https://simonwillison.net/2…

Love the overall message, and you’ve obv got the HackerCreds to back it up, but I’ll throw an obligatory “what does it mean to force oneself to do something?” IMHO the idea that you can ‘force’ yourself to do things puts a moral/normative element in the discussion that does more harm than good. It makes one feel like they somehow chose failure, when it inevitably arrives. We all agree that are limits to self control,…

Ship just before you feel it’s perfectly ready is how I do it. Your instincts are tuned to protect you, and you have to be willing to thank them for their input but ship anyway to prioritize learning by doing.

But this is not shipping things half-baked. It’s recognizing the point where your standards are wasting energy more than adding value.

Re: Procrastination and the fear of not being good enough

#187

Post by mc3301 »

snozolli wrote: post #178
hshshshshsh wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry. I can't write it down because I think what I did was reckless and stupid and I don't want to give any ideas in a high visible thread like this. For a lot of people this is triggered by something unexpected happening in life which breaks the narrative one has been building their entire life. You can search for Spiritual Awakening and find a lot of examples. Buddha at the Gas Pump is a great podcast to listen to…

Sorry. I can't write it down because I think what I did was reckless and stupid and I don't want to give any ideas in a high visible thread like this. It's infuriating that you write all that about how enlightened you supposedly are, then conceal the manner by which you got there. This just feels like trolling or a creative writing exercise.

I'll bite, and I'll be honest. I had similar results with: 600 micrograms of LSD completely alone in very a very secluded forest completely alone with a bug net, sleeping bag and basic food. About 24 hours.

Motorcycling home in the morning, I wondered if I was the last human on earth... until I saw someone 30 minutes into the ride.

Re: Procrastination and the fear of not being good enough

#188

Post by GVRV »

Just like the author, I wanted to read and write more. As I'm taking a year long sabbatical, I just started writing (badly) at https://www.gaurav.io/blog/. The idea is to write a post every weekday (excuse the last 2 weeks – it was Diwali) even if I think it's a terrible post. The value is in getting the post published, not publishing something great, at least for now.

I'm doing something similar with reading – 50 pages minimum everyday. I've read more books in the last 4 months than in the last 4 years by just keeping the streak alive.

Re: Procrastination and the fear of not being good enough

#189

Post by throwmesomewher »

snozolli wrote: post #178
hshshshshsh wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry. I can't write it down because I think what I did was reckless and stupid and I don't want to give any ideas in a high visible thread like this. For a lot of people this is triggered by something unexpected happening in life which breaks the narrative one has been building their entire life. You can search for Spiritual Awakening and find a lot of examples. Buddha at the Gas Pump is a great podcast to listen to…

Sorry. I can't write it down because I think what I did was reckless and stupid and I don't want to give any ideas in a high visible thread like this. It's infuriating that you write all that about how enlightened you supposedly are, then conceal the manner by which you got there. This just feels like trolling or a creative writing exercise.

It's pretty sad you can't respect this person's privacy.

Instead of demanding answers it's possible to curiously examine where your experiences might be lacking, because then you might figure out where to look.

Many can experience significant stress or trauma naturally leading to heightened physiological and psychological awareness, it's not a stretch to imagine that could give them a better understanding how the self/ego reacts to the world because that is the source of their pain.

This archetype exists many different forms be they drug induced, "enlightenment", kundalini awakening or seen in Buddhist monks, kung fu masters, famous scientists, philosophers, and historical figures.

If you are genuinely curious there is a British Buddhist monk named Ajahn Brahm[1]. He will be able to communicate the ideas in a western style. It just a starting point though as it has to be experienced first hand either with significant life events or through someone who has already experienced it.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/@BuddhistSocietyWA

Re: Procrastination and the fear of not being good enough

#190

Post by asdfman123 »

Jerrrry wrote: post #173
asdfman123 wrote: post #152

My tricks for beating procrastination are: 1) Give yourself permission to do bad work. If you're stuck, just start writing whatever junk is in your head. Make it hilariously bad! Write like a total idiot. But often that alone is enough to unstick you. Having very rough work is infinitely better than staring at a blank page. 2) Procrastinate "a little bit" Rebrand some procrastination as manageable short breaks, stop…

How do you know you're not in a local minima? the whole one digs can be deepened similar to Zeno's Paradox by procrastinating a little bit with bad small distractions allowing time to exponentiate small problems into untractable ones. It is a little reductionary, almost akin to telling depressed people to have a slightly better today than the day before; not necessarily wrong but just rephrasing the problem. It is co…

You should also have another loop in your head, along with the one asking "what's the smallest thing I can do right now," asking "what's the most important and daunting thing that needs to be done right now."

That actually reveals another procrastination tip I forgot to mention: do the hardest stuff first. "Eat the frog" is what I tell myself.

Also, that's not quite how Zeno's paradox works.

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