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A receipt printer cured my procrastination

laurieherault.com

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Re: A receipt printer cured my procrastination

#341

Post by Groxx »

uncircle wrote: post #115
laurieherault wrote: post #2

Author here. It’s my first article. I’m a bit nervous but excited to get your feedback. If you deal with procrastination too, I hope this method helps you like it helped me.

I was about to be a little snarky but your comment reminded me to be kind. Thanks. I don't have a receipt printer, what helps me is an A4-sized whiteboard with marker when I feel like I'm falling behind my tasks. Also, to use todos sparingly, so they retain their effectiveness. It's actually quite underrated to forget and let go of tasks; what's important tends to stick around in your head and keep you up at night. T…

Whiteboards have been my main strategy too. And a little while ago I ran across this: https://community.frame.work/t/whiteboard-input-module/58985 and bought the same stickers and pens and it works much better than I expected - the pens write super-durably for dry-erase and light bumping doesn't erase them at all. I have weeks-old reminders on there that are almost new looking.

For day to day stuff I just use a more normal whiteboard that I do my best to erase at the end of the day, and migrate longer term stuff to some other location. I like it better than a regimented "always empty" system since reasonable leakage from one day to the next is pretty common for me.

Re: A receipt printer cured my procrastination

#342

Post by gitpusher »

taeric wrote: post #151
jvanderbot wrote: post #65

> Why can I focus for hours on a game but procrastinate when writing an email? OK I got a bit triggered by this sentence. Not at TFA, but sharing my own experience: Games are fun . And I don't mean Type 1 vs Type 2 fun and the email is somehow type 2 fun. I mean that the stimulation / "hit" from a game is just higher than 90-99%% of work tasks (writing a new CLI or optimizer excluded!!). We pile on much stimulation t…

And what about those of us that find they have stretches where they don't focus well on anything? Games included. There are several games I'd like to spend a bit of time on. It ain't happening.

When you are feeling this way it's good to take stock of your 3 fundamentals... Food, Sleep, Exercise. If any are suffering, then it's almost guaranteed to be the source of your problem. It sounds elementary but I have to remind myself of this constantly. Particularly the sleep part

Re: A receipt printer cured my procrastination

#343

Post by laurieherault »

reverendsteveii wrote: post #182

my receipt printer is a whiteboard in the gym. I went from "I do some scattered, random assortment of lifts when I feel like it" to "I have 3 routines I cycle through every day" and what it took was writing down each routine and tracking the weight I did last time. Checking off my daily workout is my pulling a ticket down off the chore kanban. Every once in a while, as I get stronger, I get to "take a number off the…

Yes, that is exactly it. The tools may be different, but the essence of the method is exactly the same.

Re: A receipt printer cured my procrastination

#344

Post by tines »

laurieherault wrote: post #329
tines wrote: post #231

This is a topic that's really interesting to me, and I've thought a lot about it. The approach that this guy is taking to break out of the addicting loop of gaming/scrolling/whatever is to try to take the principles that make those things appealing and port them to the things that we know we should be doing. Video games have these short feedback loops and quick rewards, so his idea is to make real life more like a vi…

I agree with everything you wrote. But for many people, giving up what entertains them is just not possible. That is why I think my method can really help those people. Thank you for this very interesting comment. As for the paper, you need to choose one that is bisphenol-free, otherwise it is obviously problematic.

Appreciate the thought-provoking article and your comments, thank you!

Re: A receipt printer cured my procrastination

#345

Post by laurieherault »

vidarh wrote: post #242

> The rule is simple: the more you procrastinate on a task, the more you should break it down into micro-tasks, even ones that take just 2 to 5 minutes in extreme cases. This. When I catch myself procrastinating, it often helps immensely to push myself to at least subdivide a task on my todo list further. Then try to push myself to do one of them, and if I still resist, try to subdivide tasks further. I then move the…

Yes, the feeling of having made progress is so important. That little thing can sometimes be enough to lift our spirits on a day when we are not feeling our best.

Re: A receipt printer cured my procrastination

#346

Post by zoom_enh4nce »

laurieherault wrote: post #297
zoom_enh4nce wrote: post #157

I've implemented something similar (but digital-only) which has been working for me lately. I have a script running continuously that monitors my Obsidian files for new due tasks, and whenever it detects one due today, it sends it to my notifications server. Now I have a notification for each thing I need to do today, which I keep up on my device(s) until I've completed the task, and then I clear it. I am a compulsiv…

I am glad I was able to inspire you. A paper task is even harder to forget than a notification :P

Unless I stuff the note in my pocket and promptly forget it, but my phone/computer is always nearby :) Maybe the notifications are best for things I have to do out in the real world and the paper is better for sitting and doing things in one place.

Re: A receipt printer cured my procrastination

#347

Post by jklinger410 »

al_borland wrote: post #95
jvanderbot wrote: post #65

> Why can I focus for hours on a game but procrastinate when writing an email? OK I got a bit triggered by this sentence. Not at TFA, but sharing my own experience: Games are fun . And I don't mean Type 1 vs Type 2 fun and the email is somehow type 2 fun. I mean that the stimulation / "hit" from a game is just higher than 90-99%% of work tasks (writing a new CLI or optimizer excluded!!). We pile on much stimulation t…

> I'm sure phones are just as stimulating for some. This is one of my big objections do 2FA. My work has been pushing it hard, and from a security perspective, I get it. However, it’s all via an Authenticator app on the phone. We can no longer set down our phones and simply work. To start working, and periodically throughout the day, we are now forced to pickup our phones to authenticate. This invites the chance to s…

It's not your job's responsibility to cater to your lack of self control

Re: A receipt printer cured my procrastination

#348

Post by b0a04gl »

got hit hard by that jar thing. just plain receipts piling up. no fancy tracking, no filters, it's not even a todo list, it's a physical backlog you can't mute. stack grows, pressure builds. brain stops negotiating. most tools hide your mess with tabs and swipes. this one prints your laziness and puts it in a jar. that's brutal. that's honest.

Re: A receipt printer cured my procrastination

#349

Post by laurieherault »

allenu wrote: post #255

I've also discovered that breaking down tasks into micro-tasks helps me get going on things. I've found that I get easily overwhelmed if I have a massive list of things to get done, and adding another task to it makes it even worse. However, just nesting tasks into parent tasks and finding the right "child" to place a new task in makes it feel more manageable, and I know that those nested tasks are typically small th…

I completely relate to what you are saying. I do not use Markdown, but I use Notion because I find it just a little more convenient. But with my software, I am actually trying to reach the same speed as Markdown for advanced users. I have coded dozens of keyboard shortcuts to handle all the actions.

Re: A receipt printer cured my procrastination

#350

Post by bawolff »

Sanzig wrote: post #219
hbn wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yubikey?

Yubikey does TOTP on-board, but you need to connect it to a phone or computer (no display or on-board power). It solves a different problem, where you want to have your TOTP credentials on a tamper resistant hardware security module. It doesn't solve the "don't want to carry around a phone for TOTP" problem.

This doesnt make sense. If you need a 2FA code then you are obviously using some device like a laptop already. Yubikey totally solves the "need a second personal device" problem.
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