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When I’ve done a great job of procrastinating, I normally have a lot anxious energy that I feel I need to get rid of so I go for a 30 minute walk or run. During
by dnh44 6y ago
When I’ve done a great job of procrastinating, I normally have a lot anxious energy that I feel I need to get rid of so I go for a 30 minute walk or run. During this outing I repeat the Mentat Mantra from the Dune film to myself the entire time.
"It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion."
I then arrive home ready to work, feeling like I can accomplish anything. I take a quick shower if I’ve been for a run then go to the kitchen and go through the ritual of making a cup of tea. I sit down at my desk, finally ready to begin. Then I’ll pick one last HN comments section to read. I normally pick the one that has the most comments. After that’s done I desperately search for anything else that I could justify doing. Then I’ve got a pretty good chance of starting unless it’s close to lunchtime.
In all seriousness though I’ve learned to just accept it without guilt and stop torturing myself. I’ll spend a couple days out of the office and not even try being productive, maybe have a long weekend. There’s no point in suffering in front of a computer screen if I’m not going to be productive anyway. Might as well sit in the sun with a cup of tea and listen to the birds.
- Nition 6y agoThis is a great parody/insight into that feeling of "if I just get the conditions right, I can get started." Like all the great writers who just need six months in a forest cabin to write their great novel, but they never start it in the one hour of time they already have every evening.
- hackerbabz 6y agoI watched a really helpful video on what the creator called "The Toolbox Fallacy". I can't start a project until I have every tool I need in my toolbox...but it seems every time I buy a tool I discover another one I need. I think of that every time I put something off - "Am I making up a reason not to do this? Can I really just do it all now?"
- _0ffh 6y agoLol yeah, my current FPGA project has been on ice for four weeks now while I figure out the Verilog preprocessor features that I really, really need before I continue... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- naasking 6y agoNot to mention, sometimes doing without the tool let's you find a novel solution. At the very least, it's a great learning experience.
- Cthulhu_ 6y agoI read a thing from Stephen King (IIRC) that poo-poohed the writer's block / "right circumstances" thing, he approached it more as a job, you sit down and write. Overpower the "I don't know what to write" thing, don't wait for creativity to come, etc. Maybe one day I'll unlazy myself and look it up again. But the most common advice I've seen against procrastination is to just force yourself to do five minutes of your task. Just five, then you can do whatever the heck you want instead. Of course, it also helps if you work off of a todo list - so you know what needs to be done - and prioritize the work - so you don't end up with choice paralysis because there's a dozen things you could be doing.
- badpun 6y agoThis approach probably works for non-creative tasks, but most of King's novels are just mediocre, which I guess reflects his factory-like attitude to writing.
- fenwick67 6y agoIt's easy to dump on King for being a philistine, but it's a stretch to imply his work is non-creative.
- badpun 6y agoFor me the main problem is that the writing seems unspired and lazy - i.e. the language, actual sentences and paragraphs looks like something slapped together without that much regard for quality or excellence (which, given his writing process and speed, is probably exactly what happens).
- tomjen3 6y agoI haven't read most of his work, but you can take the advice and use that as your draft. I can't imagine many writers not having to refactor their writings, possibly multiple times.
- tomjen3 6y agoIt would be hyperbolic to say that the only way I ever get anything done is to set a ten minute timer and then commit to do The Thing for ten minutes[1], but it is massively helpful. Curiously, sometimes I then get mad at the timer because it beeped[0] and I was working on The Thing. [0]: it beeped because the time was up. [1]: if you can't do The Thing for ten minutes because of physical limits, this trick does not apply. Also, it is totally fine to stop when the ten minutes are up, the goal is not to trick yourself into doing more work, but to get over the issue of getting started.
- xzel 6y agoI'll use the "fear is the mind killer" [1] quote when I'm upset or anxious quite often. I really should add this one to my arsenal as well. I've never thought of Dune as a self-help book but I might now. Weirdly enough I'm also currently re-reading it, after watching the miniseries due to quarantine, and I'll try to find more things like this during my reading. [1] “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
- tasogare 6y agoI use it too sometimes, but hopefully that’s quite rare. This book is amazing on many levels.
- nicbou 6y agoI prefer a much shorter quote: "Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can". I love the attitude it conveys. It's not an affirmation, but a call to action. It got me out of overwhelming situations when I was alone and far from home.
- rayalez 6y ago"I am not afraid. I am not afraid because if I let myself get too scared I might not be able to do what needs to be done. And I'm not the type of person who backs down. I am the type of person who does the right thing, even if it's hard. Right now, the right thing is to [x]. And even if it doesn't work, I'll just do the next right thing, and the next, and the next. I'll keep on trying until I figure out a way."
- auxfil 6y agoThis is beautiful. I'm integrating it.
- ponko 6y agoI do this too! I like to write the whole litany against fear out a few times to fill up a page. I find this helps me identify the root of whatever I am currently feeling anxious about. Once you identify the fear, then it can be addressed directly.
- njsubedi 6y agoDitto! As soon as I am on the desk for working, I unconsciously open Firefox and my fingers go "Cmd+L ne [Enter]"
- jamiepenney 6y agoMy procrastination loop! Cmd+T re [Enter] Cmd+W ... Cmd+T new [Enter] Cmd+W ... Cmd+T re [Enter]
- creamyhorror 6y agoCmd+W, you actually close tabs, that's advanced!
- grifball 6y agoWhat does that do? Goto hacker NEws?
- brutt 6y agoIncorporate your task list into HN page!!! Then share this Firefox plugin with me, please.
- m463 6y agoReminds me a little of: "I believe in taking care of myself, in a balanced diet, in a rigorous exercise routine. In the morning, if my face is a little puffy, I'll put on an ice pack while doing my stomach crunches. I can do a thousand now." "After I remove the icepack, I use a deep pore-cleanser lotion. In the shower, I use a water-activated gel cleanser, then a honey-almond body scrub, and on the face an exfoliating gel scrub." ...
- friendlybus 6y agoNow let's see Paul Allen's quote.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- Zezima 6y agoBest reference I’ve seen this week. You hit the nail on the head. Everyone trying to be Patrick Bateman.
- ChuckNorris89 6y ago'Try getting a reservation at Dorsia now!' Fun fact, apparently the creator of American psycho said that if it were to be remade today it would be about SV instead of Wall Street. Having been around the tech block for some years now and rubbing shoulders with various people from the industry I'm really starting to buy this.
- dognotdog 6y agoThat is the best possible 3rd paragraph. Thank you, I needed that chuckle/snort.
- nicbou 6y ago> There’s no point in suffering in front of a computer screen if I’m not going to be productive anyway. The biggest benefit or being self-employed is that I'm done when I'm done. For a while, I worked 10 to 3 or 4, then did something else. There was no loss in productivity, but it freed up a lot of time in my day.
- johnwangdoe 6y agomind over matter kinda thing