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A receipt printer cured my procrastination

laurieherault.com

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Re: A receipt printer cured my procrastination

#581

Post by jimbokun »

Noelia- wrote: post #484

A while ago, I tried writing tasks on sticky notes at home and crumpling them up to toss in the trash once they were done. It felt pretty satisfying at first, but writing each note took too much time, and I eventually gave up. Now that I’ve seen the idea of using a thermal printer to print out little task tickets, it instantly feels like a much easier system. I’m planning to get one next week and see if it actually h…

> but writing each note took too much time

Your tasks must be too granular, if writing it down is a noticeable part of the effort you expend in a day.

Maybe use somewhat larger tasks so you don't notice the overhead of writing it down so much?

Re: A receipt printer cured my procrastination

#582

Post by cluckindan »

munificent wrote: post #282
cluckindan wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s insanely stereotypical. There is no ”drugs” that is ”the purest form of pleasure”. Instead, there are many thousands of different substances which can elicit, heighten, prolong or enable pleasure; some illegal, some legal, some included in your favourite meals and snacks. Even vanilla is a ”drug” which enhances pleasurable feelings. (Vanillin and ethylvanillin are monoamine oxidase inhibitors and consuming the…

> There is no ”drugs” that is ”the purest form of pleasure”. Having had fentanyl for a couple of surgical procedures, I am inclined to disagree. No one should feel that happy after having their colon inflated like a balloon or chunks of metal screwed into their bones.

You are missing the point. Sure there are individual substances that can provide such experiences. However, talking about drugs as some sort of infinite pleasure inducers is intellectual dishonesty: the category is not homogeneous.

Re: A receipt printer cured my procrastination

#583

Post by cluckindan »

diggan wrote: post #224
cluckindan wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s insanely stereotypical. There is no ”drugs” that is ”the purest form of pleasure”. Instead, there are many thousands of different substances which can elicit, heighten, prolong or enable pleasure; some illegal, some legal, some included in your favourite meals and snacks. Even vanilla is a ”drug” which enhances pleasurable feelings. (Vanillin and ethylvanillin are monoamine oxidase inhibitors and consuming the…

> There is no ”drugs” that is ”the purest form of pleasure” Yeah, I mean I think we barely know what that would even be. But some drugs come pretty damn close I'd wager, and I'm not talking about vanilla or ethylvanillin. I think if you've dabbled in opiates, you've come pretty close to what the purest form of pleasure would feel like.

Most ”normal” people react to opiates/opioids with intense nausea and discomfort.

People unable to feel the full spectrum of pleasure sober have quite a different experience, since these substances completely eradicate any pain, grief, anxiety and stress that commonly prevents pleasurable feelings for occurring.

Re: A receipt printer cured my procrastination

#584

Post by alexey-salmin »

kstrauser wrote: post #472
laurieherault wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, that is exactly why this method works. Because breaking tasks down into micro-tasks really does work. And the ticket printer helps remove as much friction as possible. That is what makes it a method that requires very little time and energy, and therefore something that can be sustained over the long term.

That matches my experience. “Write the report” will sit in my inbox forever. “Add 10 items to the outline for the report” will usually break the inertia and end up with me finishing the whole thing.

You should try harder, I can easily keep “Add 10 items to the outline for the report” or even "Add 1 item" tasks in my inbox forever.

Re: A receipt printer cured my procrastination

#586

Post by afro88 »

karpierz wrote: post #526
afro88 wrote: post #511

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Genuine question: isn't this everyone? Don't we all find large tasks hard to start and so we procrastinate? Isn't it common general advice for all people to break things down into smaller steps so you can get going

Here's an analogy that might make it clearer: Alice is in a wheelchair. Bob has a broken leg. Charlie is unfit, but otherwise a healthy adult. Alice, Bob, and Charlie would all say "I find getting up the hills of San Francisco difficult". But "doesn't everyone find that hard" conflates the causes and severity of the difficulty for the three of them in a way that isn't useful for making their complaints feel heard, or…

ADHD-I has a range of symptoms where the person needs 5 or more that are significantly disruptive to their life for at least 6 months.

So when someone reads the first paragraph and immediately thinks the author has to be ADHD because they talk about 1 of these symptoms that in isolation the majority of the world has, I ask "but aren't we all like this?"

Re: A receipt printer cured my procrastination

#587

Post by teach »

throwaway173738 wrote: post #568
LeonM wrote: post #499

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one thing that is often a dead giveaway is how many stimulants seem to have the opposite effect on people with ADHD. I have ADHD, amfetamines help me relax, caffeine causes me to fall a sleep, some anti-allergy medication can cause me to stay awake for 2 days straight. I read that in some countries doctors can prescribe mild sleeping pills for babies to help them stay calm during long flights. They always advice…

It’s diphenhydramine, or Sudafed. Also sometimes sold as Unisom but to be distinguished from the Unisom that is Doxylamine. My 18-mo old had the paradoxical reaction.

You mention three different medications here:

- diphenhydramine aka Benedryl is an antihistamine with a common side effect of sleepiness

- doxylamine aka Unisom is also an antihistamine but these days people only really use it as a sleep aid or for nausea

- psuedoephedrine aka Sudafed is a decongestant. Not sold over-the-counter because it can be used to make meth. It's a stimulant and appetite supressant

Finally, there's "Sudafed PE" aka phenylephrine, which is also sold as a decongestant but it (literally) doesn't work

Re: A receipt printer cured my procrastination

#588

Post by coryk135 »

kortex wrote: post #172
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 love it. Using a thermal printer to print physical tasks you can crumple on completion and throw in a bin is absolute madlad goblin energy and I'm all for it. I think you've actually perfectly distilled the essence of "game-loop" and operant conditioning, and mapped it to the real world. I have been using a whiteboard for tasks, which is better than nothing, but the problem with that approach is the feedback is min…

Instead of crumpling, put a fun sticker on the task to mark it complete!

You could also put the task on a spike like they do in restaurants with signed receipts.

Re: A receipt printer cured my procrastination

#589

Post by inquirerGeneral »

lorenzk wrote: post #517
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.

What a great color scheme! Changing colors over the course of the article makes it all a bit more fun and quirky and stand out against common templates.

[dead]

Re: A receipt printer cured my procrastination

#590

Post by AppleBananaPie »

adhdsucks wrote: post #565
0xAFFFF wrote: post #523

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most symptoms of ADHD are things almost everybody experiences from time to time, some even regularly. What makes ADHD is combination of many symptoms cranked to 11. ADHD is the difference between having difficulties starting some tasks and being absolutely unable to start a mundane task until you curl yourself into a corner and cry. That being said, things that help people coping with ADHD can totally help people not…

(throwaway account for anonymity) > ADHD is the difference between having difficulties starting some tasks and being absolutely unable to start a mundane task until you curl yourself into a corner and cry. Can't agree with this enough. I'm currently suffering from absolutely crippling procrastination. I'm a successful respected principal engineer with 25+ years industry experience but in the last couple of years my p…

When I was this way there were two things going on 1. It was one of the most stressful times in my life 2. I didn't know I had sleep apnea so was always exhausted

2 was a much quicker fix than 1 and boy did it makes things much more manageable and at least get me going in a positive direction.

Also for the meds part they are literally life changing for me so hopefully they help you.

Good luck out there hope you find something that works :)

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