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Here's a contrarian viewpoint- There's nothing wrong with you- your subconscious is doing its job. Procrastination is an unpopular but nonetheless effective m

Here's a contrarian viewpoint- There's nothing wrong with you- your subconscious is doing its job. Procrastination is an unpopular but nonetheless effective method of time and task management. In fact, I'd argue it's the most effective. Take a college class for example. Your instructor gives you a weeklong homework assignment. While a few type-A personalities may dive in right away and have it done by the following day's class, they run into two problems: one, the instructor may revise the assignment (you don't have to do problem 36, it's a typo in the textbook); and two, their subconscious didn't spend a week thinking about the problems. Compare to doing it the night before it's due. You end up spending no more time doing the homework than is necessary (whereas type-A will have to go back and spend more time at it than you), and you've had the benefit of your massively parallel subconscious cranking through it for a week. If you find your procrastination actually results in lateness (and actual detriment to your performance), then what you should consider targeting is better deadline management (change how you define "last minute"). I consider deadline management more an art to be practiced rather than a science you can be taught. Still, I find our subconscious gets short shrift when it comes to managing our time. I may still occasionally instinctively kick myself for waiting to the last minute (anyone else still doing their taxes?) but it's probably healthier to procrastinate with awareness of its benefits than to procrastinate without.

amasad 11y ago
>subconscious didn't spend a week thinking about the problems Is there another person hiding in the corners of your brain doing the work? What does subconciocus even mean in this context? I think if we replaced 'subconscious' with 'mojo' here it would sound the same for me.
- thwoaway6470 11y ago
  It means thought processes that aren't the focus of your attention. As you read or think about other things, your brain tries connecting them to this thing and seeing if they form a story. If they do, you have a flash of insight.
- kabouseng 11y ago
  It's that: "the solution came to me in the shower this morning"...
- tedmiston 11y ago
  For me, once I know that a problem exists and the constraints around, my brain starts working on it in its downtime. I've always felt like most clean code ideas I come up with come from marinating. Perhaps it' my brain arriving at the first solution, then seeking more elegance. For me, this results in committing a cleaner solution on paper at deadline time, even if I spend the same amount of hours of "active" mental energy on it by not starting until the day before it was due, etc.
jonnathanson 11y ago
Of course, that assumes you've even thought about or glanced at the material or project at all throughout the week leading up to your deadline. There is definitely a benefit to letting something "marinate" for awhile, and spending time on other things while your subconscious plays around with the problem. But that's different from unstructured/avoidant procrastination, wherein you don't even open the proverbial textbook until the day before the homework is due. You can call this "deadline management," sure, but that feels like another way of saying "don't completely put stuff off." You're qualifying and delineating your purported benefits of procrastination. But there's something interesting in that thought, nonetheless. If you know you're going to procrastinate, set an artificially early deadline to drop everything and actually get to work, like it or not. That way you gice yourself some permission to goof off and decompress, but you're putting a backstop on your "last minute." It's interesting.
ams6110 11y ago
Haha -- about to start my taxes. Just wanting to catch up on HN first...

amasad 11y ago

>subconscious didn't spend a week thinking about the problems Is there another person hiding in the corners of your brain doing the work? What does subconciocus even mean in this context? I think if we replaced 'subconscious' with 'mojo' here it would sound the same for me.

thwoaway6470 11y ago
It means thought processes that aren't the focus of your attention. As you read or think about other things, your brain tries connecting them to this thing and seeing if they form a story. If they do, you have a flash of insight.
kabouseng 11y ago
It's that: "the solution came to me in the shower this morning"...
tedmiston 11y ago
For me, once I know that a problem exists and the constraints around, my brain starts working on it in its downtime. I've always felt like most clean code ideas I come up with come from marinating. Perhaps it' my brain arriving at the first solution, then seeking more elegance. For me, this results in committing a cleaner solution on paper at deadline time, even if I spend the same amount of hours of "active" mental energy on it by not starting until the day before it was due, etc.

jonnathanson 11y ago

Of course, that assumes you've even thought about or glanced at the material or project at all throughout the week leading up to your deadline. There is definitely a benefit to letting something "marinate" for awhile, and spending time on other things while your subconscious plays around with the problem. But that's different from unstructured/avoidant procrastination, wherein you don't even open the proverbial textbook until the day before the homework is due. You can call this "deadline management," sure, but that feels like another way of saying "don't completely put stuff off." You're qualifying and delineating your purported benefits of procrastination. But there's something interesting in that thought, nonetheless. If you know you're going to procrastinate, set an artificially early deadline to drop everything and actually get to work, like it or not. That way you gice yourself some permission to goof off and decompress, but you're putting a backstop on your "last minute." It's interesting.

ams6110 11y ago

Haha -- about to start my taxes. Just wanting to catch up on HN first...