5 ms·

It's great that you're sharing what works for you. And indeed, that's the ideal to aspire to: procrastination is a sub-optimal response to emotions, so if you'r

by svat 6y ago

It's great that you're sharing what works for you. And indeed, that's the ideal to aspire to: procrastination is a sub-optimal response to emotions, so if you're able to check your emotions and reflect, that's what you should do! Also, feeling bad about oneself can be counterproductive too. It's useful for every discussion of procrastination to have these reminders. But if you're able to do that, I think what it amounts to is that you don't have it so bad. For someone suffering much more from procrastination, I'd like to caution against thinking “I ought not to need convoluted schemes; I should be able to fix my procrastination by just checking my emotions…” etc. Try everything, do whatever helps. To use your example, if I know it would be good for me to do X but it's too hard and I'll go check Instagram instead, then despite knowing that it would be good for me to reflect about my emotions… that too may be too hard and I'll go check Instagram instead too. I'm speaking from experience: a long time ago I had tried blocking my usual distraction sites except at certain times of day/week, then that method somehow stopped working for me, also at some point I guess I started thinking I ought not to do it — but after starting to do it again last week (more or less: trying not to beat myself up for the times I bypassed it), I'm now able to do things like journaling to check in with my emotions when I notice myself procrastinating, etc. Every bit helps.

UweSchmidt 6y ago
Maybe you're not in the right spot right now, not doing what you really want to do? Maybe a new job, new scenery would be good. Maybe taking a bit of a break.
- atian 6y ago
  Maybe all one needs is a small dose of amphetamines, and all will get back on track.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- svat 6y ago
  Actually I've already changed jobs/teams two times in the last ~2 years. But I wasn't even talking about "work" alone. I also procrastinate, to an incredible (to most people) extent, on: exercise, chores (laundry, dishes, taxes), which I guess everybody procrastinates to some extent on, and on personal fun projects (those I've told others about, and those that are only ideas in my head), and things as simple as sending a short "hey how are you" email to a very dear friend -- all with serious consequences over the last couple of decades. For instance, when you look forward with eagerness and anticipation all week to doing some particular thing on the weekend, and then when the time comes you just scroll Twitter all day for two days in a row. Basically anything I wish my future self would do: my future self doesn't seem to like getting messages from its past self :-) Yes the reason for procrastination can often be some kind of "not wanting to do it", but it can also be perfectionism (wanting it too much / to do it to a very high standard), counterproductive habits/addictions, and it turns out on reflection (checking in with emotions), that it is even possible to be "uncomfortably excited" and not know how to handle that discomfort. Whether and how much you procrastinate is a function of both your motivation and your basic efficacy (I guess "executive dysfunction" is a clinical version of this problem) -- or to put it another way, it's a function of not just "value" but also "expectancy" and "impulsiveness" in the procrastination equation (see e.g. https://alexvermeer.com/getmotivated/ https://alexvermeer.com/getmotivated/), and it's OK (and good!) to try addressing in whatever order, trying any possible solution and experimenting until you find what works for you. My intention with my previous comment was simply to highlight that there are degrees of procrastination, and to warn those who may need it against avoiding solutions that may help them (out of "this isn't the ideal way" perfectionism). It was not my intention to go into detail about myself, but I've done that here (thanks to your well-meant advice and) to make the point again.
- Apocryphon 6y ago
  That's really not helpful advice to the vast majority of people who are stuck by circumstances to do what they don't truly want to do.
afarrell 6y ago
I have inattentive-subtype ADHD and I think 1. "I ought not to need convoluted schemes" is often an unhealthy thought. We are humans. We build tools to care for each other. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_M._Spangler#Invention_of_the_portable_electric_vacuum_cleaner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_M._Spangler#Invention_of... 2. Part of the systems we build are the metaphors and self-talk which acts as software in our own minds. But if you've grown up being distracted, you've grown up with people expressing how disappointed they are in you. It is worth questioning if you're taking that external narrative and trying to use it to motivate you...because it may just be pushing you not to predict[1] your ability to succeed. There may be much more effective software to install. https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/09/12/toward-a-predictive-theory-of-depression/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/09/12/toward-a-predictive-th...

by svat 6y ago

UweSchmidt 6y ago

Maybe you're not in the right spot right now, not doing what you really want to do? Maybe a new job, new scenery would be good. Maybe taking a bit of a break.

atian 6y ago
Maybe all one needs is a small dose of amphetamines, and all will get back on track.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
svat 6y ago
Actually I've already changed jobs/teams two times in the last ~2 years. But I wasn't even talking about "work" alone. I also procrastinate, to an incredible (to most people) extent, on: exercise, chores (laundry, dishes, taxes), which I guess everybody procrastinates to some extent on, and on personal fun projects (those I've told others about, and those that are only ideas in my head), and things as simple as sending a short "hey how are you" email to a very dear friend -- all with serious consequences over the last couple of decades. For instance, when you look forward with eagerness and anticipation all week to doing some particular thing on the weekend, and then when the time comes you just scroll Twitter all day for two days in a row. Basically anything I wish my future self would do: my future self doesn't seem to like getting messages from its past self :-) Yes the reason for procrastination can often be some kind of "not wanting to do it", but it can also be perfectionism (wanting it too much / to do it to a very high standard), counterproductive habits/addictions, and it turns out on reflection (checking in with emotions), that it is even possible to be "uncomfortably excited" and not know how to handle that discomfort. Whether and how much you procrastinate is a function of both your motivation and your basic efficacy (I guess "executive dysfunction" is a clinical version of this problem) -- or to put it another way, it's a function of not just "value" but also "expectancy" and "impulsiveness" in the procrastination equation (see e.g. https://alexvermeer.com/getmotivated/ https://alexvermeer.com/getmotivated/), and it's OK (and good!) to try addressing in whatever order, trying any possible solution and experimenting until you find what works for you. My intention with my previous comment was simply to highlight that there are degrees of procrastination, and to warn those who may need it against avoiding solutions that may help them (out of "this isn't the ideal way" perfectionism). It was not my intention to go into detail about myself, but I've done that here (thanks to your well-meant advice and) to make the point again.
Apocryphon 6y ago
That's really not helpful advice to the vast majority of people who are stuck by circumstances to do what they don't truly want to do.

afarrell 6y ago

I have inattentive-subtype ADHD and I think 1. "I ought not to need convoluted schemes" is often an unhealthy thought. We are humans. We build tools to care for each other. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_M._Spangler#Invention_of_the_portable_electric_vacuum_cleaner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_M._Spangler#Invention_of... 2. Part of the systems we build are the metaphors and self-talk which acts as software in our own minds. But if you've grown up being distracted, you've grown up with people expressing how disappointed they are in you. It is worth questioning if you're taking that external narrative and trying to use it to motivate you...because it may just be pushing you not to predict[1] your ability to succeed. There may be much more effective software to install. https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/09/12/toward-a-predictive-theory-of-depression/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/09/12/toward-a-predictive-th...