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I wonder to what extent motivation is the culprit. I, for one, have experienced intense motivation and intense procrastination at the same time. I have every

I wonder to what extent motivation is the culprit. I, for one, have experienced intense motivation and intense procrastination at the same time. I have every reason, internal and external, to get the thing done, but I sometimes have trouble starting. This is particularly true of tasks where premature optimisation is possible, as I quite enjoy the analytical/planning part of the work. It's just that it takes on a life of it's own and the actual/quali-mechanical act of starting keeps getting pushed further back. Surely I'm not alone...

jeremejevs 10y ago
You're not alone. I just eventually fall out of that phase, for no apparent reason, and start delivering, sometimes even for weeks and months. And then I fall back in. Been looking for years, but still can't pinpoint the cause.
ZenoArrow 10y ago
On the "intense motivation and intense procrastination at the same time" thing, I've found it's possible to turn that to your own advantage, especially when you're not working towards tight deadlines. What I find is there's often something "I know" I have to do, as well as other things that interest me at the time. So long as the thing you know you have to do doesn't have an imminent deadline, you can find other things to "distract" yourself with that end up working out for the best in the long run. For example, I've had times when I was finding it hard to concentrate on a piece of work, but found something technical (like a programming language) that I wanted to explore. By going with it, you end up improving your skills, and if you can chip away at the "must do" task on the side, you find that when you're ready to look at it again you've already laid the ground work. That's one of the approaches that works for me. Have you experienced something similar?
GoToRO 10y ago
same here. I had the motivation but not the ability to do it. After a few years I realized that lack of motivation just means "brain (the organ) in bad shape" (see my other comment).
dpacmittal 10y ago
I'm the same. Being self-aware has helped me a lot lately.

jeremejevs 10y ago

You're not alone. I just eventually fall out of that phase, for no apparent reason, and start delivering, sometimes even for weeks and months. And then I fall back in. Been looking for years, but still can't pinpoint the cause.

ZenoArrow 10y ago

On the "intense motivation and intense procrastination at the same time" thing, I've found it's possible to turn that to your own advantage, especially when you're not working towards tight deadlines. What I find is there's often something "I know" I have to do, as well as other things that interest me at the time. So long as the thing you know you have to do doesn't have an imminent deadline, you can find other things to "distract" yourself with that end up working out for the best in the long run. For example, I've had times when I was finding it hard to concentrate on a piece of work, but found something technical (like a programming language) that I wanted to explore. By going with it, you end up improving your skills, and if you can chip away at the "must do" task on the side, you find that when you're ready to look at it again you've already laid the ground work. That's one of the approaches that works for me. Have you experienced something similar?

GoToRO 10y ago

same here. I had the motivation but not the ability to do it. After a few years I realized that lack of motivation just means "brain (the organ) in bad shape" (see my other comment).

dpacmittal 10y ago

I'm the same. Being self-aware has helped me a lot lately.