6 ms·

It's a common problem. Watch this TED Talk about why we procrastinate by Tim Urban and read his articles. They're both funny and insightful. https://www.ted.co

It's a common problem. Watch this TED Talk about why we procrastinate by Tim Urban and read his articles. They're both funny and insightful. https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_urban_inside_the_mind_of_a_master_procrastinator?language=en https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_urban_inside_the_mind_of_a_mas...

JoeAltmaier 11y ago
Maybe later.
cylinder 11y ago
It's pretty bad for me, I dream about bailing to a blue collar life because then I can focus and work with my hands, and not click around online procrastinating. All that talk did was talk about the symptoms of what it's like to be a procrastinator. Including the link in another comment. Who wants to talk about how to fix it other than "stop procrastinating!"
- ak39 11y ago
  Do you keep a simple list of things to finish? Whenever you think of something that needs to be done, jot it down. Carry that black book everywhere. See if that works.
  - cylinder 11y ago
    I am horrible at lists and calendars. Even if I start keeping a Todo list or an organized calendar or Evernote ideas log, I just stop paying attention to the list eventually. I see how coworkers are constantly looking at their calendar, and that's just confusing to me.
    - ak39 11y ago
      I too am horrible with lists. But when you get started - just a simple list of things (no calendar due dates etc) - just the list ... you start thinking differently. Step 1: Make a list. Step 2: Do nothing! Jokes aside, soon enough you'll execute on the list and then you can show your cat what a badass you are at getting things done. Good luck friend.
    - feiss 11y ago
      Me too. I just stopped trying to follow any productivity technique time ago, because all of them ask you a minimum of discipline and consistency, and I'm too chaotic for that. So I just try to be responsible and get the job done. (Well, I sometimes keep a todo list of features/bugs I have to do/fix, but not as a task list I have to follow, but as a backup memory)
    - tedmiston 11y ago
      Have you tried a methodology like GTD?
      - cylinder 11y ago
        Hadn't heard of it before. Thanks. Researching it and will set some time to setting up the framework. It seems like quite a lot of administrative overhead but I'm willing to give it a shot.
        tedmiston 11y ago
        There's definitely some overhead to start, but you don't have to do everything on day 1. You can simplify that a bit with existing GTD-friendly software. There are many, but one of the most popular is Wunderlist (https://www.wunderlist.com/ https://www.wunderlist.com/). If you don't have time to sit down to read the book right now, here's a nice 15-minute overview - https://hamberg.no/gtd/ https://hamberg.no/gtd/.
  - tedmiston 11y ago
    Keeping an "easy" list is one idea from Getting Things Done that still works for me. Energy level was one type of context, but there are others as well. https://hamberg.no/gtd/#contexts https://hamberg.no/gtd/#contexts
- hoodwink 11y ago
  Well, maybe you're being too hard on yourself. Seeing that this is a widespread problem might help that.
- pflanze 11y ago
  Don't blue collar workers procrastinate by chatting with each other?
raldi 11y ago
I think you're underselling this TED talk. The entire 14 minutes is about OP's exact problem.
- tirade 11y ago
  Thought I'd never bother with a TED talk again, but having now spent the 14 minutes watching this one, I think you've actually oversold it. It's 10 minutes restating the OP's problem (the urge to procrastinate with what is easy and fun until time pressure and fear provide enough motivation to finally work) with the visual of a funny monkey. Worse, the last 4 minutes is just the speaker throwing up his hands and saying, "Well, I'm fine with this being my way of working (it's even how I prepped for this talk) but I got lots of letters from people who find this to be a totally crushing and painful way to live. But rather than discuss solutions to the affected, I'll just blithely say that everyone is a procrastinator and we should all stop procrastinating so much, because life is short." Gee, thanks, TED guy!
  - raldi 11y ago
    I never said anything about solutions.
    - hoodwink 11y ago
      Agreed. Unfortunately the solution to procrastination is unlikely to be found in a 14 minute TED Talk. However, I hoped that the OP could find some solace in recognizing that he is not inherently worse than other people. Procrastination is part of the human condition!
      - raldi 11y ago
        Well, there's also the scarier point made at the end of the talk that a lot of procrastinators find a way to get through life by using deadline pressure to trigger productivity, but that while this can seem like a perfectly functional, if gut-wrenching, system, it actually leads to long-term life problems that are hard to notice until it's too late to do anything about them.

JoeAltmaier 11y ago

Maybe later.

cylinder 11y ago

It's pretty bad for me, I dream about bailing to a blue collar life because then I can focus and work with my hands, and not click around online procrastinating. All that talk did was talk about the symptoms of what it's like to be a procrastinator. Including the link in another comment. Who wants to talk about how to fix it other than "stop procrastinating!"

ak39 11y ago
Do you keep a simple list of things to finish? Whenever you think of something that needs to be done, jot it down. Carry that black book everywhere. See if that works.
- cylinder 11y ago
  I am horrible at lists and calendars. Even if I start keeping a Todo list or an organized calendar or Evernote ideas log, I just stop paying attention to the list eventually. I see how coworkers are constantly looking at their calendar, and that's just confusing to me.
  - ak39 11y ago
    I too am horrible with lists. But when you get started - just a simple list of things (no calendar due dates etc) - just the list ... you start thinking differently. Step 1: Make a list. Step 2: Do nothing! Jokes aside, soon enough you'll execute on the list and then you can show your cat what a badass you are at getting things done. Good luck friend.
  - feiss 11y ago
    Me too. I just stopped trying to follow any productivity technique time ago, because all of them ask you a minimum of discipline and consistency, and I'm too chaotic for that. So I just try to be responsible and get the job done. (Well, I sometimes keep a todo list of features/bugs I have to do/fix, but not as a task list I have to follow, but as a backup memory)
  - tedmiston 11y ago
    Have you tried a methodology like GTD?
    - cylinder 11y ago
      Hadn't heard of it before. Thanks. Researching it and will set some time to setting up the framework. It seems like quite a lot of administrative overhead but I'm willing to give it a shot.
      - tedmiston 11y ago
        There's definitely some overhead to start, but you don't have to do everything on day 1. You can simplify that a bit with existing GTD-friendly software. There are many, but one of the most popular is Wunderlist (https://www.wunderlist.com/ https://www.wunderlist.com/). If you don't have time to sit down to read the book right now, here's a nice 15-minute overview - https://hamberg.no/gtd/ https://hamberg.no/gtd/.
- tedmiston 11y ago
  Keeping an "easy" list is one idea from Getting Things Done that still works for me. Energy level was one type of context, but there are others as well. https://hamberg.no/gtd/#contexts https://hamberg.no/gtd/#contexts
hoodwink 11y ago
Well, maybe you're being too hard on yourself. Seeing that this is a widespread problem might help that.
pflanze 11y ago
Don't blue collar workers procrastinate by chatting with each other?

raldi 11y ago

I think you're underselling this TED talk. The entire 14 minutes is about OP's exact problem.

tirade 11y ago
Thought I'd never bother with a TED talk again, but having now spent the 14 minutes watching this one, I think you've actually oversold it. It's 10 minutes restating the OP's problem (the urge to procrastinate with what is easy and fun until time pressure and fear provide enough motivation to finally work) with the visual of a funny monkey. Worse, the last 4 minutes is just the speaker throwing up his hands and saying, "Well, I'm fine with this being my way of working (it's even how I prepped for this talk) but I got lots of letters from people who find this to be a totally crushing and painful way to live. But rather than discuss solutions to the affected, I'll just blithely say that everyone is a procrastinator and we should all stop procrastinating so much, because life is short." Gee, thanks, TED guy!
- raldi 11y ago
  I never said anything about solutions.
  - hoodwink 11y ago
    Agreed. Unfortunately the solution to procrastination is unlikely to be found in a 14 minute TED Talk. However, I hoped that the OP could find some solace in recognizing that he is not inherently worse than other people. Procrastination is part of the human condition!
    - raldi 11y ago
      Well, there's also the scarier point made at the end of the talk that a lot of procrastinators find a way to get through life by using deadline pressure to trigger productivity, but that while this can seem like a perfectly functional, if gut-wrenching, system, it actually leads to long-term life problems that are hard to notice until it's too late to do anything about them.