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How to get yourself to do things (2015)

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Re: How to get yourself to do things (2015)

#51

Post by sokoloff »

pmoriarty wrote: post #2

At one point I spent a couple of days watching dozens of videos on procrastination, and this video [1] by Tim Pychyl was by far the best. I strongly recommend it. It's ostensibly focused on helping grad students with procrastination, but the tips and techniques he gives in the talk can be applied by anyone. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhFQA998WiA

> At one point I spent a couple of days watching dozens of videos on procrastination

I don’t know exactly why I find that so amusing, but I feel like I’ve done something fairly similar. Added that one to my queue.

Re: How to get yourself to do things (2015)

#52

Post by amatecha »

pmoriarty wrote: post #2

At one point I spent a couple of days watching dozens of videos on procrastination, and this video [1] by Tim Pychyl was by far the best. I strongly recommend it. It's ostensibly focused on helping grad students with procrastination, but the tips and techniques he gives in the talk can be applied by anyone. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhFQA998WiA

Thanks for sharing! I will favorite this comment to watch later, completely forget about it, see it some other time, and not watch the video (like everything else I favorite on all services)... haha :`D

Re: How to get yourself to do things (2015)

#53

Post by amatecha »

pmoriarty wrote: post #11
zigzaggy wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel this pain deep inside my brain. My head is like a million points moving in several directions at once, all the time. In fact, I just set up another appointment where I am going in full throttle for whatever medication I can get. I am completely exhausted trying to keep these points all lined up in a straight line.

You might want to take a serious look at your nutrition. Nutritional deficiencies or imbalances can cause all sorts of very serious issues, including mental issues. Taking long walks in nature (as in 2 or more hours long) can help, as can unplugging from the internet and other media, and meditation. Many of us hyper-stimulated, and are in a pavlovian loop of jumping from one source of instant gratification to another…

1000% agree about the hyper-stimulation. I see the signs of it in everyone around me. Very very few people take the time to "unplug" and ACTUALLY experience some quiet times, reflect on life and shut out the infinitely-noisy outside world.

Re: How to get yourself to do things (2015)

#55

Post by enf »

If only these sorts of workarounds really worked when your brain doesn't have enough of the right chemicals. "Can't make myself do the thing" turns out to be called ADHD, and T3+T4 thyroid treatment and Adderall have helped me.

Re: How to get yourself to do things (2015)

#56

Post by Andrex »

nerfhammer wrote: post #36
Andrex wrote: post #34

Since we're all sharing, the concept of tracking progress by the day as popularized (but not created) by Jerry Seinfeld[1] has helped me quite a bit. What also helped is realizing there isn't a silver bullet or magic pill that will get me to do the work: the work has to be done, and I have to do it at some point. I started a few spreadsheets for things I'd like to log: amount of piano practice per day (aim for 30m),…

FWIW Seinfeld seems to deny that he ever had anything to do with this idea https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1ujvrg/jerry_seinfeld...

He denies that he created the idea, but he has spoken about it ("making an X on a calendar"). In his mind it probably seemed like a simple observation (he's pretty good at those), and I could imagine he was surprised people took it to a near-religion ("the Seinfeld productivity program").

I'm not sure it's accurate to say he denies "that he ever had anything to do" with it, but his comment there is vague enough to be read either way I suppose.

Re: How to get yourself to do things (2015)

#57

Post by achillesheels »

I love to-do lists simply as a way of getting me started on a task. The efforts to machine instruct, line by line, each discrete step, makes tasks more manageable, for one, and I am able to think out unknown unknowns along the way. By eliminating abstractions in the task, the task is nearer completion through brute force execution.

Re: How to get yourself to do things (2015)

#58

Post by fzil »

pmoriarty wrote: post #2

At one point I spent a couple of days watching dozens of videos on procrastination, and this video [1] by Tim Pychyl was by far the best. I strongly recommend it. It's ostensibly focused on helping grad students with procrastination, but the tips and techniques he gives in the talk can be applied by anyone. [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhFQA998WiA

this is somewhat sad/hilarious. I watched that video like a solid 5 years ago, now I am back with the same unsolved problems lmao

Re: How to get yourself to do things (2015)

#59

Post by klipt »

legitster wrote: post #35

Looking back, it's very easy for me to blame the US education system, which seems to make it very easy for slightly intelligent people to avoid a lot of work. I feel like I learned really bad work habits early on and am cursed with a flawed brain now. I almost envy countries that focus on almost militaristic rote practice. For some of my foreign educated colleagues, there is little in the way between wanting to accom…

> For some of my foreign educated colleagues, there is little in the way between wanting to accomplish something and accomplishing it.

Keep in mind there's a selection bias at work. People who don't get things done are much less likely to get through the US's selective immigration system.

Re: How to get yourself to do things (2015)

#60

Post by AussieWog93 »

legitster wrote: post #35

Looking back, it's very easy for me to blame the US education system, which seems to make it very easy for slightly intelligent people to avoid a lot of work. I feel like I learned really bad work habits early on and am cursed with a flawed brain now. I almost envy countries that focus on almost militaristic rote practice. For some of my foreign educated colleagues, there is little in the way between wanting to accom…

>Looking back, it's very easy for me to blame the US education system, which seems to make it very easy for slightly intelligent people to avoid a lot of work.

To be fair, if you're self-employed, this is an accurate model of reality.

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