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Getting Past Procrastination

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Re: Getting Past Procrastination

#71

Post by em-bee »

anal_reactor wrote: post #20

The older I get, the more I realize there's no point. I'll never be rich. I'll never have a family. I'll never go to space. I'll never take part in Olympics. Best I can do is beating a video game on medium. So I try to focus on that, instead of spending 80% of my life trying to make myself 20% more productive.

i'll never be rich either, and contrary to the KFC founder who got rich very late it is not lack of opportunity but lack of motivation to be rich. as soon as i earn some money i'll spend it on hiring others to help me build what i want, or if it is enough, even stop earning money to focus on my interests.

family is trickier. finding the right partner is very hard. it takes a lot of introspection and being able to recognize flaws in yourself and in your partner. it took me decades to understand what i need in a partner. and now i feel like i'd rather stay alone than have a partner that doesn't fill my needs. that sounds very selfish, but it goes of course both ways, i also look at the needs of my partner and evaluate whether i can fulfill those needs. (in short it's about compatible goals. many chinese women for example just want their husband to be successful and enable a comfortable life. fortunately the woman i found didn't because as i said above, that's just not a life goal for me)

when you mention space, the olympics and video games i get the impression that those are not even your real goals, and you are more likely lamenting that you feel like you don't have anything to strive for.

as i wrote above, it took me decades, not just to understand what i need in a partner, but simply what i need in life. the interesting thing is that now that i think i understand that, actually fulfilling that need became less important. understanding myself helped me detach.

as for beating procrastination, for me it's not about increasing productivity but being productive at all. it's not just 20%, it's 200% or more. it's about keeping that job and doing enough to get leads for the next one.

Re: Getting Past Procrastination

#72

Post by em-bee »

nasretdinov wrote: post #47
anal_reactor wrote: post #20

The older I get, the more I realize there's no point. I'll never be rich. I'll never have a family. I'll never go to space. I'll never take part in Olympics. Best I can do is beating a video game on medium. So I try to focus on that, instead of spending 80% of my life trying to make myself 20% more productive.

On a serious note, you never actually _know_ that e.g. you'll never be rich. E.g. KFC founder was ~62 years old when they founded the company. The median age of (successful) founders is also roughly 40, if not more.

see my comment above. i know that i'll never be rich, nor do i want to, because trying to get rich it would interfere with how i want to live my life...

Re: Getting Past Procrastination

#74

Post by ednite »

Some great comments in this thread and I agree, a lot of it comes down to understanding yourself.

In my case, not always, but often, procrastination shows up when fear is involved. Fear of failure, of not doing something perfectly, of the task being too big. What’s helped me is turning the task into a challenge, because I know that personally, I thrive on challenges. It re-frames the fear into something exciting, and once I get started, I follow all of the other advice such like breaking it down into small steps. Thanks for sharing.

Re: Getting Past Procrastination

#75

Post by parpfish »

melodyogonna wrote: post #36

I've found that sometimes the first action doesn't even have to involve directly working on the problem, just trying to write down a series of actions you need to take in a todo list can unblock you mentally.

Sometimes I can trick myself into getting started that way.

The trick is to come up with a tiny goal and give yourself permission to quit once you reach it so it’s not like your overwhelmed by the full task.

The smallness of the task is important, but it’s even more important that you genuinely give yourself permission to stop when it’s done. If you don’t do that, it’s not “one small task”, it’s “step one in a big task” and you’ll keep procrastinating

For coding it’s a sequence of: “Ill just get all the software and documentation open and organized”

“I’ll create a few empty files on a new branch”

“I’ll just stub out a few things I KNOW I’ll need”

…

For other non-code writing, I’ve occasionally been able to hack it in a similar way by writing progressively more detailed outlines.

For physical projects, sometimes it’s just about gathering supplies and organizing tools.

Re: Getting Past Procrastination

#76

Post by em-bee »

jasode wrote: post #70
parpfish wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s an example of the kind of advice that doesn’t work? (I’m always curious to learn other potential diagnostic markers for adhd)

>What’s an example of the kind of advice that doesn’t work? For some people struggling with chronic lifelong procrastination, the oft-repeated advice from the author such as "Action leads to motivation, not the other way around." ... and similar variants such as, "Screw motivation, what you need is discipline!" ... and other related big picture ideas such as Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams' "Systems instead of Goals"…

so what does work then?

isn't the problem here that the answer is very individual. for me for example some of the above things do work, and some don't. some of the time. it's like it depends and there is no clear answer even just for myself. knowing whether i had ADHD would not make any difference. i'd still not know what works.

for example i have seen tasks lists recommended as one way to deal with ADHD. because the lists help focus. isn't breaking things down into small steps the same thing? others here with ADHD also claim that specific suggestions work for them. so this isn't clear cut, and it doesn't make sense to just dismiss the suggestions.

you are right, there is more than just getting started. boredom and distractions are a problem too. but they are also a problem for "normal" people.

seems to me that the only thing we can do is to list a number of possible approaches, and let everyone pick what works best for them.

so back to the original question: what does work for people with ADHD?

Re: Getting Past Procrastination

#77

Post by parpfish »

jasode wrote: post #70
parpfish wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s an example of the kind of advice that doesn’t work? (I’m always curious to learn other potential diagnostic markers for adhd)

>What’s an example of the kind of advice that doesn’t work? For some people struggling with chronic lifelong procrastination, the oft-repeated advice from the author such as "Action leads to motivation, not the other way around." ... and similar variants such as, "Screw motivation, what you need is discipline!" ... and other related big picture ideas such as Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams' "Systems instead of Goals"…

If somebody had “lifelong procrastination” and was routinely overwhelmed by simple tasks, my first thought would be to see if they are actually dealing with depression because it sounds like something bigger.

Re: Getting Past Procrastination

#78

Post by owebmaster »

jasode wrote: post #70
parpfish wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s an example of the kind of advice that doesn’t work? (I’m always curious to learn other potential diagnostic markers for adhd)

>What’s an example of the kind of advice that doesn’t work? For some people struggling with chronic lifelong procrastination, the oft-repeated advice from the author such as "Action leads to motivation, not the other way around." ... and similar variants such as, "Screw motivation, what you need is discipline!" ... and other related big picture ideas such as Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams' "Systems instead of Goals"…

This looks like an answer from a procrastinator that actually developed a system to ensure they continue procrastinating long-term. Sure, suggestions of systems that could help with that won't help without a sometimes descomunal effort. That doesn't mean the advice is bad, just that it's hard and most people won't be able to overcome lifelong procrastination.

Re: Getting Past Procrastination

#80

Post by roudaki »

tmoertel wrote: post #30
rented_mule wrote: post #6

> Action leads to motivation, not the other way around. I've found this to be very true. A trick I found that made this easier for me is to leave a trivial task to start tomorrow with, often with notes to remind myself what to do. Ideally the trivial task is on the way to something bigger, not finishing something. That gets me into my editor, gets me running the code / tests / etc., and gives me a trivially easy way…

That's Hemingway’s trick: “You write until you come to a place where you still have your juice and know what will happen next and you stop and try to live through until the next day when you hit it again.” https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/4825/the-art-of-fi...

there are so many different names for this. and time blocking. but it really works. small reminder. it works even when, like me, someone has serious case of ADHD. but its slightly different and there are extremes on both end. where it does not work or it works to well. but it always work. what I am trying to say if you feel its not efficient you still have to feel it out until you find how it works for you in whatever form it works.
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