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I know he's not for everyone but Nassim Taleb's quote is salient - “Few understand that procrastination is our natural defense, letting things take care of them

by IBCNU 8y ago

I know he's not for everyone but Nassim Taleb's quote is salient - “Few understand that procrastination is our natural defense, letting things take care of themselves and exercise their antifragility; it results from some ecological or naturalistic wisdom, and is not always bad -- at an existential level, it is my body rebelling against its entrapment. It is my soul fighting the Procrustean bed of modernity.”

TheOtherHobbes 8y ago
I could be wrong, but I strongly suspect that humans were procrastinating well before the first nail was hammered into the first plank of the Procrustean bed of modernity.
- WalterSear 8y ago
  The were fighting their Procrustean beds of modernity.
- debacle 8y ago
  Procrastination was much more difficult before the modern age (1960+)
  - beat 8y ago
    Why do you think that?
ghaff 8y ago
There are probably more or less two classes of procrastination. There are tasks that really do need to be done. No magical fairy is going to come along and do your taxes for you or some household task that someone really does need to do. On the other hand, there are projects that aren't time-critical and that, if you hold off doing them, the need for them may really go away or you may otherwise decide that task isn't actually necessary.
jrochkind1 8y ago
Almost nothing is _always_ bad. But I guess the question, as with everything, is if you believe it is interfering with your ability to do accomplish what is important to you in your life. And of course, there are always at least two possible paths there -- you can try to change it, or you can decide that you're actually okay with your life-under-procrastination after all. But sometimes some people are going to find their severe procrasnation is interfering with their ability to do what is important to them, and they want to do something about it. This decision alone does not make it _easy_ though. My observation and experience have matched the articles, that self-blame doesn't help, but that recognizing the relation it has to your anxiety and finding other ways to relate to your anxiety can.

by IBCNU 8y ago

TheOtherHobbes 8y ago

I could be wrong, but I strongly suspect that humans were procrastinating well before the first nail was hammered into the first plank of the Procrustean bed of modernity.

WalterSear 8y ago
The were fighting their Procrustean beds of modernity.
debacle 8y ago
Procrastination was much more difficult before the modern age (1960+)
- beat 8y ago
  Why do you think that?

ghaff 8y ago

There are probably more or less two classes of procrastination. There are tasks that really do need to be done. No magical fairy is going to come along and do your taxes for you or some household task that someone really does need to do. On the other hand, there are projects that aren't time-critical and that, if you hold off doing them, the need for them may really go away or you may otherwise decide that task isn't actually necessary.

jrochkind1 8y ago

Almost nothing is _always_ bad. But I guess the question, as with everything, is if you believe it is interfering with your ability to do accomplish what is important to you in your life. And of course, there are always at least two possible paths there -- you can try to change it, or you can decide that you're actually okay with your life-under-procrastination after all. But sometimes some people are going to find their severe procrasnation is interfering with their ability to do what is important to them, and they want to do something about it. This decision alone does not make it _easy_ though. My observation and experience have matched the articles, that self-blame doesn't help, but that recognizing the relation it has to your anxiety and finding other ways to relate to your anxiety can.