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The Art of Not Thinking

tiffanymatthe.com

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Re: The Art of Not Thinking

#61

Post by hinkley »

darkerside wrote: post #13

If you are in a similar boat, it's likely that when you consider an upcoming dreaded task, there is at least a small part of you that admits the possibility that you will not do the task . And because there is, and because your brain realizes it, it expends mental energy trying to convince you not to do it. Once you are actually doing the task, or it's done, or you realize that you must start doing it immediately, yo…

Some psychologists seem to be okay with the idea of self-bribery to get through difficult tasks. I think culturally some of us are taught that this is a form of weakness, but it just results in things not being done.

I don't agree with a lot of Alcoholics Anonymous' philosophy, but the concept of 'white-knuckling' is quite a powerful metaphor for the trap we get into of trying to force ourselves through a difficult activity, and it speaks to a somewhat tortured value judgement around the relative value of doing a task at all versus doing it yourself. Like you'd rather have mold in your house than pay some guy to fix the shingles on your roof.

I've consumed as much if not more of my favorite ice cream in the last year, but it tends to be reserved for conscious choices: I'm going to make a difficult phone call or work on my billing, then go for ice cream, rather than whenever I just feel stressed. It is certainly not the only tool I have added to the toolbox, but it complements others and the end results have improved my outlook. And since motivation and mood are spirals (which I think you were trying to say?), that's a big deal.

Re: The Art of Not Thinking

#62

Post by SubuSS »

I usually attach something fun to the tedious tasks: if I am to walk our dog in the rain, I am going to listen to armchair expert: I never listen to it in the regular day - so that acts like a treat. For biking - it is my fascination with being outside and so on. Eventually it becomes into a habit too!

Re: The Art of Not Thinking

#63

Post by tmatthe »

darkerside wrote: post #13

If you are in a similar boat, it's likely that when you consider an upcoming dreaded task, there is at least a small part of you that admits the possibility that you will not do the task . And because there is, and because your brain realizes it, it expends mental energy trying to convince you not to do it. Once you are actually doing the task, or it's done, or you realize that you must start doing it immediately, yo…

Exactly. If you don't give your brain an option, you can't find a way to not do it.

I agree with your point on lying. I have tried it before but it takes a lot of mental effort to trick my brain and even then, it's a precarious situation where one loose thought can bring it all tumbling down.

Re: The Art of Not Thinking

#64

Post by kanobo »

bluntfang wrote: post #54
kanobo wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You won't make habits because you won't have the motivation and discipline to make those habits. It's a bit of a chicken and egg. /s

I'm sorry I upset you. I hope you get the help you need.

I'm not upset. Have you considered getting therapy for reading emotions? Let me know if you need someone to talk to, I'm happy to help.

Re: The Art of Not Thinking

#65

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

Thanks for sharing that Tiffany.

This has been the way I've worked for decades.

I've found that stuff gets done, once it becomes habit. It doesn't always become enjoyable, or even effortless, but it does get done.

There's a saying: "Just for today I will exercise my soul in three ways: I will do somebody a good turn and not get found out. I will do at least two things I don't want to do, as William James suggests, just for exercise."

I usually have the second part down by 7AM. The first is not always guaranteed, each day, but I pull it off, every now and then.

Getting Things Done has been my pattern since I was eighteen years old.

This being HN, I have also learned to "think less" while coding. I've established coding habits; often with the help of LINTers[0], and now produce a lot of good code, at a blistering pace. My designs are almost fluid; often reconfiguring in the middle of implementation, as I take a "JIT" approach to design[1]. That's not something that can be taught. It only comes with a great deal of experience.

In my experience, the less thought I have to give stuff, the better.

[0] https://littlegreenviper.com/miscellany/swiftwater/swiftlint...

[1] https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/evolutionary-design-speci...

Re: The Art of Not Thinking

#66

Post by tmatthe »

agumonkey wrote: post #58
darkerside wrote: post #13

If you are in a similar boat, it's likely that when you consider an upcoming dreaded task, there is at least a small part of you that admits the possibility that you will not do the task . And because there is, and because your brain realizes it, it expends mental energy trying to convince you not to do it. Once you are actually doing the task, or it's done, or you realize that you must start doing it immediately, yo…

Instead of lying I'd use the make it fun. Find any reason to make that task enjoyable, flip it around, organize it differently. At work (temporary gig): - manual labour == free workout. Whenever I have to crouch for a file.. I do it in a slow and perfect squat. I grab the file and stay down to strecth, then I go up swift .. I'm happy to have that file because I gained something. Other task like archive defragmenting…

Yes I do this too! It's amazing what mindset can do.

Re: The Art of Not Thinking

#67

Post by tmatthe »

LordGrey wrote: post #57

My trick is to delay the task to a specific day and/or time. I use a reminders app to create a schedule of sorts, and I've trained myself to do the task right when the reminder pops up. The presumption here is that I've already thought about how long the task will take and what I'll need to complete it, plus I'm aware of what else is going on and taken that into account, so I have no real excuse for not doing the tas…

That's a good technique for removing all possible excuses. It might take some effort in the beginning to actually follow the reminders, but as you said, after some training it becomes easier.

Re: The Art of Not Thinking

#68

Post by tmatthe »

d--b wrote: post #6

Something also that I noted is that it is somewhat easier to do the task you don't want to do when you're tired / sleep deprived - mostly because effectively, my brain is too tired to argue against doing the thing.

Interesting, I've never had that work for me. I would just go to sleep.

Re: The Art of Not Thinking

#69

Post by tmatthe »

Wandfarbe wrote: post #2

I think the art is in actually finding yin/yang. At the end you oscillate in-between. I don't think you can really get away from it.

That's true nothing ever follows a straight line from where you start to where you want to end up. You can't get away from the oscillating, but I do believe you can minimize it through practice and techniques.

Re: The Art of Not Thinking

#70

Post by tomxor »

A more specific tactic I have discovered to avoid thinking and start straight away is to make a very quick promise to myself:

That I can quit as soon as I get too bored or hit a block of some kind - this relieves me of all the concerns that I might need to worry (think) about upfront, I waved those requirements when I allowed myself that quick exit.

Most of the time you just end up persevering, and due to the nature of these unimportant tasks - not planning just doesn't make any meaningful difference.

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