7 ms·

As someone who procrastinates, I've yet to come across a true "cure" for the habit. "Forgive yourself" is such a vague and abstract mantra that I don't even kn

As someone who procrastinates, I've yet to come across a true "cure" for the habit. "Forgive yourself" is such a vague and abstract mantra that I don't even know how to actualize the advice. I think the worst explanation for procrastination I've come across is that it's caused by not truly enjoying the activity that is being procrastinated upon. But if that were really the case, then the remainder of my life would be spent sitting in a chair reading useless articles online. Other questionable explanations I've stumbled across include: being unable to bond empathetically with your future self, that the procrastinator's brain has a [insert neurotransmitter of choice] deficit, that fear of failure keeps one from starting, that too much is tackled at once, and so on. When I try to recall what has given me the greatest sense of fulfillment in life, everything I can think of is something I worked really hard to achieve. That which contents me momentarily does not seem to coincide with that which provides overall life contentment. I don't necessarily seek happiness — I would rather have demanding work that positively impacts the world over some job that allows me to surf online all day. What's funny is that I procrastinate only with regard to intellectual activities — not physical ones. Getting myself to exercise is no trouble at all. But prodding myself to finish a VPTree implementation... that's much more difficult. My hypothesis is that I procrastinate on those things that I was naturally good at during childhood. Academically, I was decently above average (well, at least up until college), so I never had to study. I always completed homework at the last second before it was due, and I crammed most of my test studying into the night before the exam and then promptly forgot the material as soon as I walked out of the classroom (as I'm sure many of you have noticed, this "strategy" doesn't work nearly as well in college, and it fails dramatically in grad school). On the other hand, when it came to sports, it was pretty much a guarantee that (at least initially) I would naturally be the worst out of everyone participating. I was determined to improve though, so I developed training schedules and religiously followed them until I got the results I wanted. I think that habit has stuck with me, and I still have no trouble starting an exercise regimen.

kendallpark 11y ago
"cure" ^^^ my thoughts exactly.
g0v 11y ago
I'm just another chronic procrastinator and from what I've experienced there is no single "cure". Here's where I stand in trying to solve my own procrastination problems: - Removed myself from things that enable procrastination; I installed software (Coldturkey) that blocks websites and programs on my computer(games), and I won't be able to change the configuration of Coldturkey for another couple weeks. - I have a calendar next to my work area, I get a red X on days that I do a reasonable amount of work; I got this from Jerry Seinfeld's method of getting better at something, "Don't break the chain!" of red X's. - I often ask myself "what sort of person do you want to be? Do you want to be remembered as someone that did a half-assed job most of the time? Or do you want to be remembered as someone that killed it any chance he got?"; that sometimes gives me a little push to get stuff done. - I am always behind in my mind. - I've been working on making a habit of following through to the end anything that I am tasked with; I have unfinished stuff but there is less than there used to be. This is just what I've come up with for myself. It's just come down to not trusting myself, so I try to make it so I don't have to.
- betenoire 11y ago
  Recently I've had success with imagining myself as having finished whatever task it is I'm avoiding, and how good it will feel to be onto the next task. If that's too vague, I will break it down into a task that I can imagine finishing, and envision myself finishing that task. I think I'm realizing I bite off chunks that are too big, then freeze up when I feel overwhelmed
- chuckcode 11y ago
  > It's just come down to not trusting myself, so I try to make it so I don't have to. Very wise words in my experience. I think of it more as understanding yourself and setting yourself up for success. Make it hard to do the things you want to avoid and easy to do the things you want to embrace. If I have healthy food premade on hand I'm more likely to eat it rather than pick up a cookie from coffee shop down street. If I'm meeting my buddy to work out or surf I'm way less likely to skip it. Recognizing that you're unlikely to change established behaviors easily and having a plan to reward behaviors you want to cultivate and reduce the ones you want to get rid of. Having kids particularly drove this home. Setting them up for success with good sleep, good food and a good environment of activities makes a world of difference for them and turns out same is true for myself.
tpeo 11y ago
>I think the worst explanation for procrastination I've come across is that it's caused by not truly enjoying the activity that is being procrastinated upon. I actually believe in this, though it's a somewhat far-fetched conjecture. There is some talk in psychology about "will power" being a scarce resource, though professionals are unsure why. But maybe human brains aren't made for keeping a thought for long. The need to procrastinate then would be like a homeostatic response from the brain saying "these neurons have been firing for too long, shut them off". But whereas diligent people leave for a cup of coffee and some fresh air, the procrastinator keeps the idea at the back of his head and goes check HN. As for "forgiving youself", it could be something as little as acknowledging that I did indeed spend 40 minutes wikidiving by my own will, and not because of a little demon residing in my head. Low belief in free-will and self-efficacy spoil one's mood.
amelius 11y ago
Perhaps try another angle: what if somebody asked you to explain how a "VPTree" works, and what an implementation would look like. Would you do it more easily then? Anyway, I think mental tasks take much more energy than physical tasks, so what you are saying makes sense. Also, I've noticed that many tasks require an "activation energy", meaning that once you have started on a task, it doesn't take so much energy anymore, and it even becomes fun. The trick is to get over that initial hill first.
EC1 11y ago
I forgive myself by embracing the mundane tasks. Haven't procrastinated since. Work isn't work, they're just building blocks that when I get done, I feel good.
bjeanes 11y ago
I'm positive that it is different for everybody but I feel like I'm honing in on what causes procrastination in myself. After some recent periods of intentional self-discovery, I'm forming the conclusion that perfectionism is the death of my productivity. The common theme with things I procrastinate with is anything where the end is uncertain or I don't have full confidence in my direction. Maybe that's the "fear of failure" you allude to as there is certainly some overlap but I think that's just one notch on the axis for me. Even though, at an intellectual level, I know that taking any step is better than no step, I freeze up over-analysing whether it's the right step, and fatigue myself. The natural reaction is to procrastinate by taking my attention away from the stress causing decision, even though the stress is totally sourced internally. But, like I said, it's probably different for a lot of people.
- Tinyyy 11y ago
  This resonates with me a lot, but I don't really know what to do about it.
  - grantcox 11y ago
    You may need to externalize the responsibility, to have someone else "make" the decision. For myself I've found someone who is above me in our org, even though they aren't particularly technical. I can take them these problems, they'll hear me explain why I think X is a good direction, or why it's better than Y (even though I'm uncertain of the outcome). They will ask sensible questions (costs, risks etc) and approve the direction, eg "then I want you to pursue option X, and come back to me when you hit unexpected circumstances". This person can be anyone that you feel some ultimate responsibility towards - in a one-person startup perhaps it's your significant other, as you owe it to them to be efficient and effective (and not wasting time procrastinating).
- dasboth 11y ago
  This is me all over. Intellectually I know that doing anything, genuinely any of the possible first steps, is better than nothing but when there are too many first steps I freeze up. I even know from experience that the biggest, sometimes only, hurdle is just starting, but even that knowledge isn't always enough. There is somehow a difference between intellectually knowing that, and really internalising it.
gull 11y ago
What do you think the solution is?
samstave 11y ago
I'm a chronic procrastinator. What do you think of the following Idea that I'll get around to launching at some point... when I am done procrastinating: A service that is like any normal Executive Assistant services -- but focused on helping procrastinators: "What is the thing you're putting off? OH - its your tax issues? Well - we will meet with you confidentially and get all the details and make the calls for you and fill out the forms... and include you on each step that you need to either literally talk to someone yourself - or sign a piece of paper." "Oh, you havent been able to do that thing with the DMV? We got you covered."
- burger_moon 11y ago
  Procrastinators will just procrastinate signing up.
  - TheGrassyKnoll 11y ago
    Also, if you're a cheap basterd and a procrastinator, having to pay will justify procrastinating.
maaku 11y ago
Have you tried The Now Habit by Niel Fiore?
Jimmy 11y ago
I've been a heavy procrastinator all my life, way back to elementary school (23 now). I've given up thinking that there is one simple intelligible cause of it, or that I will ever fully be "cured". It will likely be a constant struggle that I always have to deal with. The thing that comes closest to a cure is that I know I can win that struggle; things just take a little more self-control for me than for most people, that's all. And I need to get the fuck off the internet. It's simultaneously the best and worst thing to ever happen in my life. I procrastinated before the internet, but there's no doubt that the internet is the main driver of my procrastination right now.
vacri 11y ago
> being unable to bond empathetically with your future self Late one Sunday evening drinking session, a bloke I know ordered another round of spirits. "Don't you have a big day at work tomorrow? You're going to be ruined" -> "That's 'Tomorrow Tom's' problem. Tomorrow Tom hates Today Tom. Tomorrow Tom thinks he's an arsehole"...
- rhizome 11y ago
  Night Guy vs. Morning Guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-Cz-LK16g4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-Cz-LK16g4
doktrin 11y ago
I can relate to this. When you find a reliable solution, please let me know.
quietplatypus 11y ago
What you said resonates with a lot of Nietzsche's thought, a core theme of which was it is better to experience the overcoming, the removal of an obstacle under your own power, than to have the obstacle removed for you. Nietzsche's take: the former makes you a master, the latter, a slave. I agree: that this is a universal human desire, and I'd rather be moving under my own power than having to take from others for everything I do. Solving procrastination has become a sort of my own personal overcoming. Self-motivation is one of the core problems of life that everyone has to solve, I feel. Forgiving myself is just one of the tactics in my arsenal. For me, I see the ideal of me doing anything I set my mind to, easily, without loss of energy or "motivation" (in fact transcending these concepts), and that is so tantalizing, and I am so naturally not good at that, it becomes a great target of Overcoming for me, and has an effect of having a constant but large reduction in procrastination.
alex_hirner 11y ago
You don't agree with the explanation. I think it's totally fine to come up with an individual explanation anyway. So lets refine the prescription from a vantage point where everyone seems to agree: procrastinating and lacking passion for a given task correlate. Given that, I found a very simple method to do away with being unproductive while still getting a decent dose of procrastinating. Simply, I started to enrich any activity that tops the to-do list with an element I enjoy about pondering/procrastinating. For me it works repeatedly. I'll give you three examples. 1) On doing the tax-filing. Instead of plunging right into, I thought of people I'd like to contact anyway and make a cross-section of who just recently did that or sports an expertise in that. In my case it was my brother (we usually don't connect too often). Besides enjoying talking about side-topics, I learnt tax rules new to me. Namely, some step-functions where different social security fees apply. Very worthwhile! 2) Physical workout. I'd have a better body and probably mind as well, if I could stick to a rigorous schedule. Now, I like to engulf myself in curiosities from time to time as well. Easy fix: moving the workout session to Venice Beach. Jogging there, some calisthenics plus absorbing new (mostly human) attractions in one sweep! 3) Getting "work" done. I needed to implement this iteration of an ML algorithm. There was no particular deadline. However, knowing that starting soon would yield a better outcome irrespective of any other factor, I decided to procrastinate by researching on sources I would like to read anyhow. That became hackernews quite recently. So instead of randomly reading posts (like this one, lol), I put in keywords of ML into the search box and sort by date. Et' voila. Conclusion: find out what is it that fancies you about your urge to procrastinate at this exact moment and then draw a link to what you should do. It works. Oh and here is example 4) I should now follow-up with a dozen of new acquaintances and prepare to meet them for dinner tonight. But I'm on HN right now. So I decided to take the insight from this discussion and use it as a topic for tonight's dinner. Be gentle, be curious and be interesting to people that matter!
jasonjackson 11y ago
"My hypothesis is that I procrastinate on those things that I was naturally good at during childhood" Yup exactly, because there's an intense emotional connection to those activities, so we avoid them sometimes since they produce feelings of vulnerability.

kendallpark 11y ago

"cure" ^^^ my thoughts exactly.

g0v 11y ago

I'm just another chronic procrastinator and from what I've experienced there is no single "cure". Here's where I stand in trying to solve my own procrastination problems: - Removed myself from things that enable procrastination; I installed software (Coldturkey) that blocks websites and programs on my computer(games), and I won't be able to change the configuration of Coldturkey for another couple weeks. - I have a calendar next to my work area, I get a red X on days that I do a reasonable amount of work; I got this from Jerry Seinfeld's method of getting better at something, "Don't break the chain!" of red X's. - I often ask myself "what sort of person do you want to be? Do you want to be remembered as someone that did a half-assed job most of the time? Or do you want to be remembered as someone that killed it any chance he got?"; that sometimes gives me a little push to get stuff done. - I am always behind in my mind. - I've been working on making a habit of following through to the end anything that I am tasked with; I have unfinished stuff but there is less than there used to be. This is just what I've come up with for myself. It's just come down to not trusting myself, so I try to make it so I don't have to.

betenoire 11y ago
Recently I've had success with imagining myself as having finished whatever task it is I'm avoiding, and how good it will feel to be onto the next task. If that's too vague, I will break it down into a task that I can imagine finishing, and envision myself finishing that task. I think I'm realizing I bite off chunks that are too big, then freeze up when I feel overwhelmed
chuckcode 11y ago
> It's just come down to not trusting myself, so I try to make it so I don't have to. Very wise words in my experience. I think of it more as understanding yourself and setting yourself up for success. Make it hard to do the things you want to avoid and easy to do the things you want to embrace. If I have healthy food premade on hand I'm more likely to eat it rather than pick up a cookie from coffee shop down street. If I'm meeting my buddy to work out or surf I'm way less likely to skip it. Recognizing that you're unlikely to change established behaviors easily and having a plan to reward behaviors you want to cultivate and reduce the ones you want to get rid of. Having kids particularly drove this home. Setting them up for success with good sleep, good food and a good environment of activities makes a world of difference for them and turns out same is true for myself.

tpeo 11y ago

>I think the worst explanation for procrastination I've come across is that it's caused by not truly enjoying the activity that is being procrastinated upon. I actually believe in this, though it's a somewhat far-fetched conjecture. There is some talk in psychology about "will power" being a scarce resource, though professionals are unsure why. But maybe human brains aren't made for keeping a thought for long. The need to procrastinate then would be like a homeostatic response from the brain saying "these neurons have been firing for too long, shut them off". But whereas diligent people leave for a cup of coffee and some fresh air, the procrastinator keeps the idea at the back of his head and goes check HN. As for "forgiving youself", it could be something as little as acknowledging that I did indeed spend 40 minutes wikidiving by my own will, and not because of a little demon residing in my head. Low belief in free-will and self-efficacy spoil one's mood.

amelius 11y ago

Perhaps try another angle: what if somebody asked you to explain how a "VPTree" works, and what an implementation would look like. Would you do it more easily then? Anyway, I think mental tasks take much more energy than physical tasks, so what you are saying makes sense. Also, I've noticed that many tasks require an "activation energy", meaning that once you have started on a task, it doesn't take so much energy anymore, and it even becomes fun. The trick is to get over that initial hill first.

EC1 11y ago

I forgive myself by embracing the mundane tasks. Haven't procrastinated since. Work isn't work, they're just building blocks that when I get done, I feel good.

bjeanes 11y ago

I'm positive that it is different for everybody but I feel like I'm honing in on what causes procrastination in myself. After some recent periods of intentional self-discovery, I'm forming the conclusion that perfectionism is the death of my productivity. The common theme with things I procrastinate with is anything where the end is uncertain or I don't have full confidence in my direction. Maybe that's the "fear of failure" you allude to as there is certainly some overlap but I think that's just one notch on the axis for me. Even though, at an intellectual level, I know that taking any step is better than no step, I freeze up over-analysing whether it's the right step, and fatigue myself. The natural reaction is to procrastinate by taking my attention away from the stress causing decision, even though the stress is totally sourced internally. But, like I said, it's probably different for a lot of people.

Tinyyy 11y ago
This resonates with me a lot, but I don't really know what to do about it.
- grantcox 11y ago
  You may need to externalize the responsibility, to have someone else "make" the decision. For myself I've found someone who is above me in our org, even though they aren't particularly technical. I can take them these problems, they'll hear me explain why I think X is a good direction, or why it's better than Y (even though I'm uncertain of the outcome). They will ask sensible questions (costs, risks etc) and approve the direction, eg "then I want you to pursue option X, and come back to me when you hit unexpected circumstances". This person can be anyone that you feel some ultimate responsibility towards - in a one-person startup perhaps it's your significant other, as you owe it to them to be efficient and effective (and not wasting time procrastinating).
dasboth 11y ago
This is me all over. Intellectually I know that doing anything, genuinely any of the possible first steps, is better than nothing but when there are too many first steps I freeze up. I even know from experience that the biggest, sometimes only, hurdle is just starting, but even that knowledge isn't always enough. There is somehow a difference between intellectually knowing that, and really internalising it.

gull 11y ago

What do you think the solution is?

samstave 11y ago

I'm a chronic procrastinator. What do you think of the following Idea that I'll get around to launching at some point... when I am done procrastinating: A service that is like any normal Executive Assistant services -- but focused on helping procrastinators: "What is the thing you're putting off? OH - its your tax issues? Well - we will meet with you confidentially and get all the details and make the calls for you and fill out the forms... and include you on each step that you need to either literally talk to someone yourself - or sign a piece of paper." "Oh, you havent been able to do that thing with the DMV? We got you covered."

burger_moon 11y ago
Procrastinators will just procrastinate signing up.
- TheGrassyKnoll 11y ago
  Also, if you're a cheap basterd and a procrastinator, having to pay will justify procrastinating.

maaku 11y ago

Have you tried The Now Habit by Niel Fiore?

Jimmy 11y ago

I've been a heavy procrastinator all my life, way back to elementary school (23 now). I've given up thinking that there is one simple intelligible cause of it, or that I will ever fully be "cured". It will likely be a constant struggle that I always have to deal with. The thing that comes closest to a cure is that I know I can win that struggle; things just take a little more self-control for me than for most people, that's all. And I need to get the fuck off the internet. It's simultaneously the best and worst thing to ever happen in my life. I procrastinated before the internet, but there's no doubt that the internet is the main driver of my procrastination right now.

vacri 11y ago

> being unable to bond empathetically with your future self Late one Sunday evening drinking session, a bloke I know ordered another round of spirits. "Don't you have a big day at work tomorrow? You're going to be ruined" -> "That's 'Tomorrow Tom's' problem. Tomorrow Tom hates Today Tom. Tomorrow Tom thinks he's an arsehole"...

rhizome 11y ago
Night Guy vs. Morning Guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-Cz-LK16g4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-Cz-LK16g4

doktrin 11y ago

I can relate to this. When you find a reliable solution, please let me know.

quietplatypus 11y ago

What you said resonates with a lot of Nietzsche's thought, a core theme of which was it is better to experience the overcoming, the removal of an obstacle under your own power, than to have the obstacle removed for you. Nietzsche's take: the former makes you a master, the latter, a slave. I agree: that this is a universal human desire, and I'd rather be moving under my own power than having to take from others for everything I do. Solving procrastination has become a sort of my own personal overcoming. Self-motivation is one of the core problems of life that everyone has to solve, I feel. Forgiving myself is just one of the tactics in my arsenal. For me, I see the ideal of me doing anything I set my mind to, easily, without loss of energy or "motivation" (in fact transcending these concepts), and that is so tantalizing, and I am so naturally not good at that, it becomes a great target of Overcoming for me, and has an effect of having a constant but large reduction in procrastination.

alex_hirner 11y ago

You don't agree with the explanation. I think it's totally fine to come up with an individual explanation anyway. So lets refine the prescription from a vantage point where everyone seems to agree: procrastinating and lacking passion for a given task correlate. Given that, I found a very simple method to do away with being unproductive while still getting a decent dose of procrastinating. Simply, I started to enrich any activity that tops the to-do list with an element I enjoy about pondering/procrastinating. For me it works repeatedly. I'll give you three examples. 1) On doing the tax-filing. Instead of plunging right into, I thought of people I'd like to contact anyway and make a cross-section of who just recently did that or sports an expertise in that. In my case it was my brother (we usually don't connect too often). Besides enjoying talking about side-topics, I learnt tax rules new to me. Namely, some step-functions where different social security fees apply. Very worthwhile! 2) Physical workout. I'd have a better body and probably mind as well, if I could stick to a rigorous schedule. Now, I like to engulf myself in curiosities from time to time as well. Easy fix: moving the workout session to Venice Beach. Jogging there, some calisthenics plus absorbing new (mostly human) attractions in one sweep! 3) Getting "work" done. I needed to implement this iteration of an ML algorithm. There was no particular deadline. However, knowing that starting soon would yield a better outcome irrespective of any other factor, I decided to procrastinate by researching on sources I would like to read anyhow. That became hackernews quite recently. So instead of randomly reading posts (like this one, lol), I put in keywords of ML into the search box and sort by date. Et' voila. Conclusion: find out what is it that fancies you about your urge to procrastinate at this exact moment and then draw a link to what you should do. It works. Oh and here is example 4) I should now follow-up with a dozen of new acquaintances and prepare to meet them for dinner tonight. But I'm on HN right now. So I decided to take the insight from this discussion and use it as a topic for tonight's dinner. Be gentle, be curious and be interesting to people that matter!

jasonjackson 11y ago

"My hypothesis is that I procrastinate on those things that I was naturally good at during childhood" Yup exactly, because there's an intense emotional connection to those activities, so we avoid them sometimes since they produce feelings of vulnerability.