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On a slightly related note, I, personally, noticed that I don't want to get things done. Most of the things, at least. After working GTD style I feel happier an

by gtt 9y ago

On a slightly related note, I, personally, noticed that I don't want to get things done. Most of the things, at least. After working GTD style I feel happier and more productive, but usually not closer to my goals. I found, that failing do to most of the things is bearable, as long as I'm keep doing things that matter. I'm still using GTD stuff, but just to "better forget", to unload working memory.

0xCMP 9y ago
I think that's one of the greatest head-fakes to take over the internet. You realize that priorities matter
cel1ne 9y ago
> I don't want to get things done Exactly. This is a really, really difficult and essential observation to make. Humans are built to procrastinate because it conserves energy. Do an experiment: Sit down and start doing what you are supposed to do. If you're not able to work or start, don't find excuses. Don't go looking for physical reasons like "Hungry", "Cold", "Tired". Don't procrastinate. Don't walk around. Don't work around the issue. Don't change the project. Those are all excuses. Just accept that you are not able to start and keep sitting there until you start. When you stop finding excuses or looking elsewhere, you will realise the immense stress that's building up inside you. That is the mountain you have to scale to stop procrastinating. A kind of stress that's not always there, luckily, but it's definitely built into humans.
- EGreg 9y ago
  I find that the problem is often the context switching. To get things done, I often have to take a step back and make a list of things that need to get done. This is the top-down brainstorming, that gets me more in the mood. I can do this when I'm not working, to get me thinking about the problem. Then when the time comes for working, you choose the easiest or shortest task and start on it. The "McDonalds theory" as stated on phpjs is that you can do a shitty job on your first iteration as long as you get it done. When you did it, or usually even as you are working, you have the urge to improve it. And that's where the excitement and emotional investment comes. Russians have an expression for this: Appetite comes when you start eating.
  - cel1ne 9y ago
    Yes, I do that as well. Start somewhere and work yourself into the mood. I keep the larger issue in mind though, to not spend too much time on improving "alibi"-subprojects. Regarding the "McDonalds theory": I call that "Don't mix production and criticism of your work." Either produce something or improve on you've already done. Otherwise these two modes of operation interfere with each other.
- posterboy 9y ago
  > try to lift a 100kg weight > just accept that you won't lift it, until you tried > if you try, you will feel a stress that might just crush you, but there is no other solution, you are absolutely expected to lift the weight
  - cel1ne 9y ago
    Not sure what you wanted to say, but I'll rephrase my tip in your words: Don't tell yourself the weight is light, you just never got around to lift it for reasons X, Y and Z, when really the weight is heavy.
    - posterboy 9y ago
      I'm not sure either but I guess I was trying to say that the weakness to lifting a weight is exactly the same as to getting up, ignoring x, y and z and do something. Because first of all, the brain is the biggest muscle and second of all, because training is impeded by distractions, whether training to ignore distractions or to lift weights.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
criddell 9y ago
> After working GTD style I feel happier and more productive, but usually not closer to my goals. Were you doing the different reviews to make sure the direction you are headed is bringing you closer to your goals? Working towards your goals is a pretty key part of the system. For me, the biggest thing I took away from that book was the 2-minute rule. If I see something that needs to be taken care of and it will only take a few minutes to do, just do it. That made a big difference to me because I'm the kind of person that will see a burned out light bulb and then make a mental note to replace the bulb when really I should just do it.
drusepth 9y ago
I have a similar mindset, and see it manifest as always being incredibly motivated/excited to tackle the first 90% of a problem, and then falling behind in the last 10% because I don't want to be done, or I get bored of the nitty gritty bugs, or whatever. To combat this, I always shoot a lot higher so that 90% is a lot more than what 100% would have been of the original. My GitHub issues are _always_ filled with todos and future projects because it makes me feel like I'm building towards something great, instead of just finishing up a project that I'll be done with and not work on again. It's a mindset that's worked really well for me so far.

by gtt 9y ago

0xCMP 9y ago

I think that's one of the greatest head-fakes to take over the internet. You realize that priorities matter

cel1ne 9y ago

> I don't want to get things done Exactly. This is a really, really difficult and essential observation to make. Humans are built to procrastinate because it conserves energy. Do an experiment: Sit down and start doing what you are supposed to do. If you're not able to work or start, don't find excuses. Don't go looking for physical reasons like "Hungry", "Cold", "Tired". Don't procrastinate. Don't walk around. Don't work around the issue. Don't change the project. Those are all excuses. Just accept that you are not able to start and keep sitting there until you start. When you stop finding excuses or looking elsewhere, you will realise the immense stress that's building up inside you. That is the mountain you have to scale to stop procrastinating. A kind of stress that's not always there, luckily, but it's definitely built into humans.

EGreg 9y ago
I find that the problem is often the context switching. To get things done, I often have to take a step back and make a list of things that need to get done. This is the top-down brainstorming, that gets me more in the mood. I can do this when I'm not working, to get me thinking about the problem. Then when the time comes for working, you choose the easiest or shortest task and start on it. The "McDonalds theory" as stated on phpjs is that you can do a shitty job on your first iteration as long as you get it done. When you did it, or usually even as you are working, you have the urge to improve it. And that's where the excitement and emotional investment comes. Russians have an expression for this: Appetite comes when you start eating.
- cel1ne 9y ago
  Yes, I do that as well. Start somewhere and work yourself into the mood. I keep the larger issue in mind though, to not spend too much time on improving "alibi"-subprojects. Regarding the "McDonalds theory": I call that "Don't mix production and criticism of your work." Either produce something or improve on you've already done. Otherwise these two modes of operation interfere with each other.
posterboy 9y ago
> try to lift a 100kg weight > just accept that you won't lift it, until you tried > if you try, you will feel a stress that might just crush you, but there is no other solution, you are absolutely expected to lift the weight
- cel1ne 9y ago
  Not sure what you wanted to say, but I'll rephrase my tip in your words: Don't tell yourself the weight is light, you just never got around to lift it for reasons X, Y and Z, when really the weight is heavy.
  - posterboy 9y ago
    I'm not sure either but I guess I was trying to say that the weakness to lifting a weight is exactly the same as to getting up, ignoring x, y and z and do something. Because first of all, the brain is the biggest muscle and second of all, because training is impeded by distractions, whether training to ignore distractions or to lift weights.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

criddell 9y ago

> After working GTD style I feel happier and more productive, but usually not closer to my goals. Were you doing the different reviews to make sure the direction you are headed is bringing you closer to your goals? Working towards your goals is a pretty key part of the system. For me, the biggest thing I took away from that book was the 2-minute rule. If I see something that needs to be taken care of and it will only take a few minutes to do, just do it. That made a big difference to me because I'm the kind of person that will see a burned out light bulb and then make a mental note to replace the bulb when really I should just do it.

drusepth 9y ago

I have a similar mindset, and see it manifest as always being incredibly motivated/excited to tackle the first 90% of a problem, and then falling behind in the last 10% because I don't want to be done, or I get bored of the nitty gritty bugs, or whatever. To combat this, I always shoot a lot higher so that 90% is a lot more than what 100% would have been of the original. My GitHub issues are _always_ filled with todos and future projects because it makes me feel like I'm building towards something great, instead of just finishing up a project that I'll be done with and not work on again. It's a mindset that's worked really well for me so far.