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Why I Procrastinate (2019)

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Re: Why I Procrastinate (2019)

#71

Post by pmoriarty »

jlangemeier wrote: post #70
pmoriarty wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I've spent years working on meditation, and I only get glimpses of silence; and that's only on the best of days." Just out of curiosity, what meditation technique do you use, and what's been the longest meditation session that you've had without quieting your mind? For me, who doesn't suffer from ADHD, and whose technique of meditation consists of simply focusing on the sensation of air flowing past my nostrils as I…

I suppose I should clarify some as well; 'traditional' mainstream meditation doesn't work well for me; I've spent up to an hour doing either box breathing or air flow focus breathing as attempts to clear my focus and quiet my brain, and in general it just doesn't reach a desired effect. On the regular though, I would say I average about 15 to 30 minutes a day attempting this meditation form. This may at best allow fo…

See if you can double your meditation time to a full hour, then re-evaluate the effects. I have a feeling you're just not meditating long enough. The longer the meditation session, the deeper the effects.

I've gone for 3 to 4 hours stretches myself, with valuable results, and I know some people meditate all day, for days, weeks, or months at a time. Most people don't have the luxury to do such extended meditation sessions except maybe on vacation, but several hours a day on weekends should be doable. Try to stretch your limits.

Re: Why I Procrastinate (2019)

#72

Post by meej »

tempsy wrote: post #22

Doesn’t this contradict the other article that was upvoted on how procrastination is more emotional than anything else? To say it is ADHD is to suggest it is neurological e.g. some chemical imbalance in the brain, but if it’s really an emotional response then saying you have ADHD is more like pointing out the symptom rather than the cause here.

My therapist (who specializes in ADHD) says the root cause of procrastination is different in people with ADHD. I gather then that the emotional response explanation is likely true for neurotypical individuals but it may not be quite the right explanation for individuals with ADHD.

Re: Why I Procrastinate (2019)

#73

Post by yardshop »

yardshop wrote: post #44

I'm procrastinating so hard today that I don't even feel like reading procrastination articles on HN! Yesterday was decent, I started off a bit sluggish but okay, but by mid afternoon I really got going and got a bunch of good things done. I was actually on a productivity high! Today I came in with that same good energy, and then an alert came in: "user suchNsuch has been blocked due to high volume of suspicious emai…

Well, after posting that, I felt better. Then I ate my salad while looking at those articles. Then I was able to take on some helpdesk tickets, and am gearing up to do the projects I'm actually interested in and most reluctant to start.

I definitely agree with the other procrastination post today that its mostly to do with emotional state. Part of the issue at work is that I hesitate to get into big projects when I know I will just be interrupted by trivial shit again. Beyond that it's just mustering up the discipline to make myself start. It's not really that hard, but it still feels like it is.

Re: Why I Procrastinate (2019)

#74

Post by downerending »

kleborp wrote: post #6

The post linked within this post was really illuminating for me: https://gekk.info/articles/adhd.html The section on why notecards and todo lists have never worked for him (and for me) was particularly salient: "The problem with "systems" is that they are authorities. They have to be. If you decide "I'll prioritize things with a stack of notecards" then you are telling yourself the following: "The notecards replace m…

In my personal life, I have a habit in the morning of making a short list of things that need to get done soon on the back of a business card. I don't even really have a solid intention of getting all (or even any) of the tasks done that day. Nonetheless, it often turns out that at the end of the day most of them have been done, or at least significantly advanced.

This is even more effective if it's a weekend, and I'm drinking.

Weird.

Re: Why I Procrastinate (2019)

#75

Post by outworlder »

J-dawg wrote: post #39
kitd wrote: post #2

All these procrastination articles are obviously finding their target audience here on HN!

I sometimes feel like these articles are popular because procrastination is just a universal part of the human condition. I doubt anyone scrolls past these articles and thinks “that doesn’t affect me at all”. I procrastinate to the point where it’s causing me real problems in life, yet it feels kinda indulgent to say that as if I’m the victim of some disease, when I’m actually just failing to deal with something that…

> I sometimes feel like these articles are popular because procrastination is just a universal part of the human condition. I doubt anyone scrolls past these articles and thinks “that doesn’t affect me at all”.

It's normal, to a degree. When you are failing classes and having problems with your job, relationships and even your hobbies, then it is no longer normal.

Re: Why I Procrastinate (2019)

#76

Post by rdiddly »

Afton wrote: post #38
rdiddly wrote: post #32

Standard counterpoint objection here that I'm not sure I "buy" ADHD. How much of it is just "being human" (and in particular "being a young human") in a world that's inhuman? Is it a coincidence that the condition was first "observed" around the onset of industrialization a couple hundred years ago? There are numerous evolutionary advantages to being tuned-in to your environment. Certainly every tribe could've used a…

The is sort of the issue with most deviations from neurotypicality. It's a disease only when it stops you from doing what you and society wants you to do. That's why lots of people manage without treatment. But what are you recommending? That people with ADHD should just move somewhere they can live in a non-industrialized setting? I suspect also that you may have an outdated view of ADHD. It's more about a lack of e…

I'm not recommending anything. This isn't a charged environment like Twitter, where it seems 100% of statements are either recommendations that will FIX THE UNIVERSE, or attempts by opponents to misconstrue them as same, for purpose of finding fault (since no recommendation will ever be 100% valid in all cases).

RE reading the article, that's where I'm getting it.

"My mind flutters from the window to reading the little scribbles people left on the desk to my imagination and then back out again" = I am observant of my environment and probably the first one to be aware of new opportunities or threats arising from that environment. And I dream.

"I'm really prone to letting my thoughts get off on the worst tangents..." = I pay attention to tangential (i.e. "touching," related) things and take action on them, investigate them. She looks them up on Wikipedia, learns all about them, and suffers no loss of attentiveness when the topic is meaningful to her and chosen by her. Given that new knowledge tends to come most readily from tangents, and not from out of the blue, and not from some well-intentioned-but-flawed, "legible" (i.e. bureaucratic/"makes logical sense"/industrialized) lesson plan, this is not a bad approach to learning. The problem only comes when you need to get through school, where those lesson plans are de rigueur and the pertinent skill is actually overruling/ignoring what you are interested in and not taking action on it. Huge waste BTW, whether ADHD or not.

"Executive function" - well I would simply open the question of whether the "executive" (slight pun) who is in charge, inside us, is always the one who we think it is. Our parents'/teachers' voices, or our own? Something is always being executed, even when we're not executing on our plan to do homework. The "fitting in, getting by" part of you made a plan to do homework, but the (I would argue) real part of you already realizes it's all silly bullshit & doesn't matter. The former is the one we reward with good grades & good jobs, but the latter is the one who's right.

Re: Why I Procrastinate (2019)

#77

Post by blurri »

0xff00ffee wrote: post #69
RickS wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First, the other commenters are correct. Your tone is needlessly hostile. Would you talk to a cashier like this? Or a peer at work? I hope not. Anyway, related to your actual post – you said: > Buckle up and get it done, it's that simple. Would you tell a depressed person > Cheer up and go outside, it's that simple. If so, what evidence do you have that this is an effective treatment? If not, what makes the two situa…

>> Buckle up and get it done, it's that simple. > Would you tell a depressed person Yes I would absolutely tell that to a depressed person. And I have said it. I was depressed for a decade. And yet people spoke to me this way, because that's life. I was on antidepressants. I took care of my problem(s) and I still got my job done while struggling, medicating, and going to therapy. A big part of therapy was learning to…

> You know what? I'm glad someone spoke to me that way. It got me up and motivated to work on myself. I can't imagine how poorly I would have turned out if I was coddled and allowed to stay in bed and read about all of these new pop-psych diseases I could blame. But that's just me. Maybe I can reach someone the way I was reached.

I think that is the problem. Maybe it is just you. The language you use, coddling, and how you speak of mental diseases as if it's some made up thing suggest maybe you weren't going through what others are going through.

> Maybe I can reach someone the way I was reached.

I doubt it. I read your first comment and then the edit, and thought maybe you'd come to your senses, but no. You do lack empathy and understanding. You sound very like your not trying to reach some one, instead, you're trying to tell them how it is from your point of view. No empathy. People actually suffering don't need that from you.

Re: Why I Procrastinate (2019)

#78

Post by hashkb »

rootusrootus wrote: post #4

It's like this guy has been inside my head. Sometimes I feel exactly he same way, do the same things (well, not Twitter), with the same thoughts and results. There have been times when I refresh HN and say "you're not even enjoying this, why do you keep looking?"

It's not a guy.

Re: Why I Procrastinate (2019)

#79

Post by 0xff00ffee »

blurri wrote: post #77
0xff00ffee wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Buckle up and get it done, it's that simple. > Would you tell a depressed person Yes I would absolutely tell that to a depressed person. And I have said it. I was depressed for a decade. And yet people spoke to me this way, because that's life. I was on antidepressants. I took care of my problem(s) and I still got my job done while struggling, medicating, and going to therapy. A big part of therapy was learning to…

> You know what? I'm glad someone spoke to me that way. It got me up and motivated to work on myself. I can't imagine how poorly I would have turned out if I was coddled and allowed to stay in bed and read about all of these new pop-psych diseases I could blame. But that's just me. Maybe I can reach someone the way I was reached. I think that is the problem. Maybe it is just you. The language you use, coddling, and h…

I'm sure some people who have beaten depression might say, "I'm glad I received empathy, kind words, and gentle encouragement; it helped me get over it." Others will say, "I needed a kick in the ass to get my life on track." I'm in the latter camp. Sounds like you're in the former. You can have empathy in both cases. Don't accidentally confuse "empathy" with "enabling."

Re: Why I Procrastinate (2019)

#80

Post by DocG »

fxtentacle wrote: post #24
keyanp wrote: post #13

"I find it extraordinarily difficult to just... relax. Sit on a bench and watch the clouds. [...] But even if I'm in that perfect scenario where there's nothing to do... my brain will just fill the void with absurd daydreams and rabbithole trains of thought. " This is the case for many (all?) people. I've found that you need to intentionally train your ability to not let your mind do this. I recommend this book for s…

I have the exact same thing, but I always thought of it as a brilliant feature, not as a problem. As soon as I sit around and get bored, my brain will make up absurd daydreams and stories. Usually they are pretty funny, so afterwards I feel relaxed and happy. Isn't that the whole point of taking a break?

But then you want to go to sleep and your mind keeps making these things up and you can't go to sleep for hours at time until you are just so exhausted that it takes over after three hours laying in bed....

I'm coping by putting podcasts on almost audible levels when going to sleep, otherwise there would be no sleep. This helps to distract the mind just enough to pass out. But lately it's working worse and worse....

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