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Show HN: Why Do I Procrastinate? – Web MD for Procrastination

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Re: Show HN: Why Do I Procrastinate? – Web MD for Procrastination

#71

Post by el_benhameen »

skriticos2 wrote: post #51

Well, maybe sometimes this happens to me.. "I just go check the headlines on my favorite news sites and then I start my productive day.. and I drink this cup of coffee." .. 2 hours later. "Just this one headline, then I'm ready." .. 2 hours later. "Damn, where did the day go all of a sudden?" Of course the solution is to first do the work and then read the news.. but that's the rational part of my brain speaking - no…

I've started going for a long walk before I start working, and I've since found it much easier to dive into work before "just checking out this one article". I think it's because I feel like I've already had a part of my day devoted to something that's just for me, so I don't feel like my day is belongs to someone else's goals from the get go. That, and I'm more awake, which makes it easier to think about complex tasks.

Re: Show HN: Why Do I Procrastinate? – Web MD for Procrastination

#72

Post by rconti »

devmunchies wrote: post #68
WhompingWindows wrote: post #28

Procrastination is the avoidance of activity due to a discomfort/fear/anxiety and subsequent inability to scale the discomfort wall that exists between you and the tasks' completion. Other comments mention a pointlessness or lack of purpose, which I consider secondary, since it's arguable if it's truly procrastination if the work is truly pointless. Procrastination as a term seems best applied to important/mandatory…

I got back from a week long vacation and when i got back there were issues on github for open source projects i maintain. I was able to crush them quickly without that "discomfort/fear/anxiety". it makes me believe that those feeling start to occur when we need a break, which is why we are procrastinating in the first place.

I have never come back from a vacation more excited about working than before :)

Re: Show HN: Why Do I Procrastinate? – Web MD for Procrastination

#73

Post by gepi79 »

notheguyouthink wrote: post #48
WhompingWindows wrote: post #28

Procrastination is the avoidance of activity due to a discomfort/fear/anxiety and subsequent inability to scale the discomfort wall that exists between you and the tasks' completion. Other comments mention a pointlessness or lack of purpose, which I consider secondary, since it's arguable if it's truly procrastination if the work is truly pointless. Procrastination as a term seems best applied to important/mandatory…

> Procrastination is the avoidance of activity due to a discomfort/fear/anxiety and subsequent inability to scale the discomfort wall that exists between you and the tasks' completion. Perhaps this is wrong, but I feel like another important (and possibly most common) source of procrastination is not avoidance, but rather simply getting more enjoyment (dopamine/etc) of other activities. Ie, I don't think I have to be…

Maybe there are 2 kinds or conscious expressions of procrastination:

- One related to lust for fun. Like you describe.

- One related to inhibition, fatigue, powerlessness, dread. You escape work even though you feel bad because you know you should be doing it to avoid an even worse situation. You do something else in the (false) hope to relax and to improve your mood and motivation for the task.

Re: Show HN: Why Do I Procrastinate? – Web MD for Procrastination

#74

Post by mdekkers »

WhompingWindows wrote: post #28

Procrastination is the avoidance of activity due to a discomfort/fear/anxiety and subsequent inability to scale the discomfort wall that exists between you and the tasks' completion. Other comments mention a pointlessness or lack of purpose, which I consider secondary, since it's arguable if it's truly procrastination if the work is truly pointless. Procrastination as a term seems best applied to important/mandatory…

Procrastination is the avoidance of activity due to a discomfort/fear/anxiety and subsequent inability to scale the discomfort wall that exists between you and the tasks' completion.

Incorrect. The dictionary definition of procrastination is To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness or To postpone or delay needlessly. Literally meaning, from Latin, putting off until tomorrow. I procrastinate way too much, but because I get bored, distracted and I'm lazy. None of which is a discomfort, fear or anxiety.

Re: Show HN: Why Do I Procrastinate? – Web MD for Procrastination

#75

Post by spraak »

WhompingWindows wrote: post #28

Procrastination is the avoidance of activity due to a discomfort/fear/anxiety and subsequent inability to scale the discomfort wall that exists between you and the tasks' completion. Other comments mention a pointlessness or lack of purpose, which I consider secondary, since it's arguable if it's truly procrastination if the work is truly pointless. Procrastination as a term seems best applied to important/mandatory…

This is pretty in line with how the book "The Now Habit" presents it.

Re: Show HN: Why Do I Procrastinate? – Web MD for Procrastination

#76

Post by vfinn »

Procrastination is due to not doing things on your own terms, which means that what you feel you have to do comes from the outside. Often this symptom comes from disparity between what you think you want to do and what should be done (the outside). For example, what you do in the university is something you want to do, but not always in a way you think things should be done. Here procrastination comes along. The solution is to do things on your own terms as often as possible. It's debatable how far you can go with this idea, because in the end it becomes a question of what's the meaningful relationship between you and the society. When you have to give in to outside pressure, then some tricks might help you. But what I said before that, IMHO, is what the issue is really about.

Re: Show HN: Why Do I Procrastinate? – Web MD for Procrastination

#78

Post by nickjj »

WhompingWindows wrote: post #31
nickjj wrote: post #22

One thing that helped me with procrastination is to expose it for what it really is. Let's say you wanted to quit smoking (I've done it cold turkey after smoking a pack a day for over 10 years btw). The only real way you'll have a fighting chance to quit without any alternative drugs is to really want to quit. Not "oh man I wish I could stop smoking", but "ok, I'm done with this, I'm ready to stop". If you break down…

Interesting comparison between smoking and procrastination. If we examine the neurology of both, we see a dopamine-centric reward system behind task completion, and probably a very small dopamine hit after procrastination. Similarly, nicotine has been shown to affect the very dopaminergic pathways involved in reward/pleasure systems. So, in a very real neurological way, the comparison is apt. I wonder if people who s…

My procrastination is weird. I do freelance web development (solo-solopreneur) and when I take on a contract there's no stopping me from fulfilling it. I will work on it relentlessly until it's done and there will be no urge to do anything else until it's complete. You could even say it's the opposite of procrastination.

But when it comes to doing certain things (even things that I like) I can easily talk myself into putting it off until the end of time, but once I finally get started, I usually end up engulfed in it -- at least for that day. Like last week, I wrote no joke... 8,500 words towards scripting out my next dev course in the period of about 12 hours and that was with walking about ~2 miles twice as breaks + meals, etc..

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