3 ms·

Maybe procrastination is just another word for planning for a programer.

• jamesbritt 16y ago
  Was talking with some friends about conferences and preparing a talk. One fried says that JavaOne requires slides in advance, forcing you to get them done by a fixed deadline. "Without that deadline you just procrastinate." My other friend replied, "You say that like it's a bad thing." Procrastination gets a bad rap. I think of it as "late-binding for ideas". Like late-binding in software there's some overhead and it's not always the best choice, but demonizing it is bullshit Protestant work ethic run amok.
  • jtheory 16y ago
    I think real procrastination richly deserves the rap it gets. If you've ever found yourself frantically slaving away at priority # 10392 while priority # 1 goes all to hell, and you're miserable because you know exactly what you're avoiding (and what it's costing you), you'll have some idea of why procrastination has an evil reputation. I think your point is more that "be the labor great or small, do it well or not at all" is absolute crap advice. I'm absolutely agreed with you on that. There are also tasks that should be delayed, because they may change or even prove unnecessary if you put them off. Procrastination, though... chronic procrastination (and a whole slew of psychological defenses that grew around the basic action paralysis) has pretty much destroyed my father's life, work, relationships, etc.. I've had my own issues, though I do a lot better now than in the past.