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Show HN: I made an interactive anti-procrastination video course
- kevsim 5y agoThis looks great! People interested in generally cutting out distractions that lead to procrastination should also check out “indistractable” by Nir Eyal. I found it both entertaining and useful for cutting down on unwanted distractions (like too much HN browsing)
- vitabenes 5y agoYep, it's a good book. We've integrated the main parts of it in the course—like the preview lesson about internal triggers leading us to seek out distractions. That distinction is great.
- dento 5y agoThanks! I'll watch it tomorrow.
- vitabenes 5y agoC'mon! Every time. Give it a watch today, that's why the videos are 5 min long (+ you can 2x speed them up).
- onion2k 5y ago"Why put off until tomorrow what you can put off until the day after that." ancient proverb
- taneq 5y agoThe fastest code is the code that's never executed. The most efficient task is the one you dodge entirely. :P
- quickthrower2 5y agoLike any work at all. Back to bare necessities!
- AndrewOMartin 5y agoWhile hard work often pays off in the future, laziness always pays off right away.
- leke 5y agoHaha, I see what you did there.
- seumars 5y agoI actually laughed out loud.
- fumblebee 5y agoDoes watching an anti-procrastination video course count as procrastination? But in all seriousness, great work!
- vitabenes 5y agoI'd say it depends on whether you're doing it instead of something productive, or in your free time/leisure. And thanks! It's just the beginning, more updates coming - both on the content side and the interactive side.
- BiteCode_dev 5y agoPerfect, now I can procrastinate in front of a video by pretending I'm working on not procrastinating.
- vitabenes 5y agoWell, hopefully not pretending! But yeah, I'm aware of the potential paradox. As far as procrastination goes, a 5 min (finite) video that gives you some practical tips is better than any infinite scrolling platform.
- hugosbaseball 5y agoAnd pay $70 for the privilege of having access to 35 videos, of which only 15 exist at the moment. OP is going to make 35 videos about procrastination? Alllllrightythen. Something something suckers, money, parted, soon, etc. OP has provided zero information in their post or even on their site about who they are and what their qualifications are. Which means they don't have any qualifications. Is there literally any moderation of the front page, or can any rando submit "ShowHN" posts that are basically spam for a scam?
- vitabenes 5y agoWell, that's one way to view it. OP is going to make those videos, because OP (+ co-founder) spent the past few years scouring procrastination books, studies, etc to find something that could be helpful in everyday life. I found what helped me, started talking to others 1-on-1, found out what helped them, and put it into a book, and then a course (videos + code). That's the qualification. It's not like I have a degree in procrastination, though some people claim to have such a thing. Not sure where the scam part is. By all means, don't buy anything, or read any of the 50 articles on various procrastination causes on our blog. Probably not for you. Anyhow, a great day to you too!
- totetsu 5y agoBookmarking this one.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- foobar1962 5y agoDamn, no point in me starting the one I have been making for the last few years.
- sAbakumoff 5y agofavorited this one along other 100+ topics that I am about to read some time.
- aitchnyu 5y agoThis. I see a big article how to beat procrastination, I skim it, find it promising, then I keep the tab or bookmark it.
- pelasaco 5y agoI came here to comment, but reading the comments with exactly the kind of humor I was aiming for, saved me some time to check some cute cat videos, thanks!
- arkitaip 5y agoThe problem with actionable anti-procrastination content is that they have too many steps and to little immediate action. As procrastinators, we've marinated our anxious brains to develop sophisticated techniques to ignore any and all remedies. The ultimate anti-procrastination app? It just has one "Stop procrastination" button.
- vitabenes 5y agoI'd argue that the ultimate scenario is that you prevent procrastination before it arises. I do get what you're saying about too many steps. I tried to avoid that pitfall. For instance, the Deprocrastinator 7000 feature is about getting the right lesson in a short amount of time. You pick a problem, you get a lesson that contains a specific technique, you apply it with the worksheet. Information --> action.
- arkitaip 5y agoYou're probably right about preventing procrastination. The pomodoro technique is often recommended because it prevents procrastination from happening within small time boxes. But then again, how would I as a procrastinator reach this pretty profound insight? Any information targeting me has to be skillfully crafted to guide me in the right direction while avoiding all the issues that cause me to procrastinate in the first place.
- vitabenes 5y agoWell, yes, that's an issue. We hope to reach people via blog and Twitter - we post about all the various issues, so that people get exposed to them, and click or read when they encounter something relevant to them.
- arkitaip 5y agoI like talking about this so I hope you indulge me, did you base your design on any specific research or works on procrastination? It would be interesting what the state of the art has to say about the causes of procrastination and potential solutions.
- izgzhen 5y agoNot to dismiss this course since I never tried it, but my personal experience is that I procrastinate a lot when I don’t enjoy my work, have a lot of FUD around the project, or simply not passionate about the profession. On the contrary, when I got motivated by my work and feel excited, I just naturally stop procrastination. In fact, it becomes difficult to pay attention to things beyond work at that state. My advice to people who suffer from procrastination: first think about the root cause, that is whether pivoting from current job is what you really need to do.
- vitabenes 5y agoYep, not enjoying the work in general is definitely one cause, but there are other ones. In our materials, we divide the causes into: behavioral, temporary, and deeper causes. Then we deal with them more specifically. From personal experience I know that the same work can be daunting or motivating, depending on the personal habits/behaviors and systems. In other words, they are temporary. That's what the course focuses on (not looking for a new job). In any case, your advice about figuring out the root cause is spot on (and also in the course).
- Sanguinaire 5y agoI need a catalyst - motivation is fine once I'm going, but my activation energy for most tasks is enormous.
- vitabenes 5y agoYes, momentum is key. Without it, every little thing seems hard.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- tomjen3 5y agoOh man, I feel exactly the same way. Even if it is something I actually like, just getting started can be so hard. My only real trick is to try and do something for ten minutes and then I can continue or not as I want. Often I want to continue, sometimes so much I get irrationally angry on the timer because it interrupts my work. Do you have any other strategies?
- 90hexe 5y agoCool project with a clean layout and neat little illustrations. If you were taking suggestions: * First video should be somewhat interesting and relevant to the topic, I felt that for a video named "Introduction" it was mostly promotions for other products/the "premium" versions/etc. * Having three animating progress bars on desktop for each step is a little distracting. There's one in the video embed, one green progress bar below the video, and another green loading bar on the left.
- vitabenes 5y agoThank you! Your feedback is much appreciated. The introduction is about the course, the Internal Triggers 1 lesson is meant as a preview of the course. I'll work on the first mile experience (term from Scott Belsky) more.
- nbzso 5y agoNot passionate enough. Not payed adequately for the effort. To much information and possibilities. Fear of missing out. Solution: Limit your daily information flow, make a choice what is really exciting for you with reasonable reward and make it a habit. Proceed without doubt and overthinking.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 5y ago> However, we realize that not everyone likes to read or add more calls to their calendar, so we've put together a video course that takes the most useful techniques, and presents them in an easy-to-use format: video. Video is IMO the worst format, as it takes much longer to consume than written text. Since many such "time management pro tip" courses suffer from being a waste of time, and you only know after you've wasted your time, this is not good.
- vitabenes 5y agoI get that. It often comes down to personal preference. Some people read, some don't. Either way, the course bundle contains both the book, audiobook, and the videos - that should cover all preferences + offer more learning modalities. You can watch the video, and then read, or vice versa.
- BadOakOx 5y agoIs this somehow related to https://procrastination.com/online-course https://procrastination.com/online-course ? ..or just the design is really similar?
- vitabenes 5y agoNot related, though I do know the author.
- procthrowhn 5y agohttps://alexvermeer.com/getmotivated/ https://alexvermeer.com/getmotivated/ Follow this chart
- 12ian34 5y agoGreat work getting this together, building a curriculum, a pricing model and a website. Some feedback: - I don't trust you yet - I saw the pricing before I gained trust in you as a tutor. Why should I learn how not to procrastinate from you, for money? - The video I watched was quite dry - to be honest I found your presentation style a little monotonous and not very engaging.
- vitabenes 5y agoThank you for the feedback! Much appreciated. Trust - Yes, I've collected some testimonials from other products (book, extension, Deschool program), but none about the course yet, since it's brand new. I'll work on this. Video - Thank you. I'll plan on improving the course continuously. I'm more animated in some videos, but I'll re-record others. This is the 1st version of the product. My background is programming, so I plan to update this as if it were a software product (it partially is). Again, thank you for the feedback!
- deanebarker 5y agoYour first point was my first thought as well -- who is this guy, and why should I trust that he's an expert on this?
- quickthrower2 5y agoI had the same thought about trust. For me even if you are not an expert in the scientific sense, some reasons why I should believe in this course would be good. Maybe you’ve tested it on X people and they have reported success, and have stories themselves that are convincing. I didn’t find the voice monotonous and I like the clear instructions and advice.
- c60 5y agoomg. this is amazing. i'll watch it tomorrow when i have time
- redmaverick 5y agoHaven't watched the video. For me the only thing that works. The only hack that works is having a contract with a third party. You don't procrastinate on paying your mortgage right. You do it every month. You don't not show up for work right. Or for meetings right. You don't procrastinate on paying your cellphone bill/internet bill/paying rent etc. Why? Because you have contracts with another party and there are consequences if you miss them. Losing weight? No consequences! That novel you've been meaning to write.. no consequences! Want to learn a new language/do a passion project etc.. there are no consequences to not doing it. For me I resolved this issue by going into a contract with a third party with consequences if I miss my obligations. Inspired by a "lock-in" productivity based ted talk which was banned so I can't link it here.
- codesternews 5y agoGive me practical example of this? What and how you did
- vitabenes 5y agoYou could make a bet with a friend or use something like stickk.com to increase the stakes.
- redmaverickclon 5y agoI had to create another account just to reply. I had nocprocrast turned on for hacker news (the irony!) Practical: 1. I lost 30 lbs from 200 lbs to 170 lbs How I did it. Step#1. Made an irreversible decision. I pay $100 every week if I miss losing 2 lbs that week. The deal was for 12 weeks. I started Monday and the deal is every Monday. I have to stand on the scale and take a pic and send it. 2. I solved 200+ Leetcodes over a span of a year Deal. I had to solve 10 problems a day on random days. Each missed problem costed me $25 per miss. Here is another guy who became ripped i.e 6 packed within 6 months https://nypost.com/2017/07/17/poker-player-goes-all-in-with-1-million-bet-to-get-in-shape/ https://nypost.com/2017/07/17/poker-player-goes-all-in-with-... Now to the theory part. See. The deal is this. The answer to procrastination is not more information. There is no magic info online that will change your brain and you stop procrastinating. You already know procrastinating is bad. You already know that you need to small chunk the work. You already know you need to be disciplined. You know you need to "just get started" or "just need to do it NOW!" that life is made up of choices and you need to make a choice.. You know this and yet... YOU WON'T DO IT! There is this movie called "Memento" where all these concepts are already discussed. Here is the gist. You are not ONE person. That's why nothing has worked so far and nothing will work in the future too. (likely) You are a multitude of people living inside of you. The you that is going to nod your head or is going to be "inspired" is not the same person who is going to wake up tomorrow. You listen to a video and have an "aha" moment but the you two days from now will not follow through on your grand plan. This is like a relay race between different versions of YOU and the problem is that there is a version of YOU that is definitely going to drop the baton. Now. You can hit rock bottom or want success as bad as you want to breathe air and then you will get what you want. This is what everyone already knows. But what if you kind of want to be ripped or kind of want to be done writing a book or just not sufficiently determined. Is there a mechanism by which you can still do the things you don't normally have enough motivation to do? The answer is a contract. Beeminder is one such but the biggest flaw is that you are still in charge so you can easily renege on it. Likewise for Stickk etc. Instead do this: 1. Make an irreversible decision where you are not the one to call off the deal. Just like a mortgage, internet bills, rent, cell phone bills etc. Watch yourself automatically, automagically achieve ridiculous stuff that previously you would Never have been able To do. This is a 100% anti self help approach. Note: I did lose a solid 30 lbs from 200 lbs to 170 lbs. But the problem is that once the contract expires I will likely go back to 185 lbs.. eventually. Likewise, you will never develop natural self discipline with this approach but hey.. it works..
- synthc 5y agoi'll watch this later
- bmn__ 5y agoClassic hacker anti-procrast in German: http://frollein-schmidt.de/antiverpeil.html http://frollein-schmidt.de/antiverpeil.html
- rogerian 5y agoI'll check it out later
- shantnutiwari 5y agoI started reading The Now Habit, which was recommended on Hn a day or 2 ago, as it also talks about procrastination. Havent finished it, but really good so far.
- vitabenes 5y agoYep, it's one of the better books on procrastination.
- onion2k 5y agoPosting this to HN is a stroke of genius. We all need it.
- jl2718 5y agoThe irony is palpable.
- Razengan 5y agoI think procrastination, and mental laziness in general, is an offshoot of Depression: The lack of motivation, that “Why bother?” wall..
- another_story 5y agoOr maybe some people are content with just existing, eating, hanging out with friends and family. It's not lazy to not want to push yourself mentally.
- Razengan 5y agoProcrastination is generally understood to be “not doing something you know you should be doing”, i.e. putting something off for later, not “not wanting to push yourself”.
- latexr 5y ago> Overcome procrastination with 10 min a day There’s your solution to procrastination right there, no course needed. Instead of spending ten minutes each day watching videos which will make you feel productive, use them to advance whatever you need to do. Chronic procrastinators tend to realise starting is the hard part. How many of us have consumed book after blog post after video, getting the jolt of “this time I’m going to do it” which never sticks? Procrastination is an emotional problem. Get yourself to start! Commit to ten minutes—and only ten minutes—of whatever you have to do. Give yourself permission to stop once the time is up. Chances are you’ll continue.
- thingification 5y agoStarting: often true (or at least a big part of it). But how to change your ways so you do start, more reliably? I think there are ideas that are more effective than the message "just do it" (sorry if that mischaracterizes your position -- in fact I agree "commit to 10 minutes" is not a bad place to start, but not the only useful idea to be had by a long way).
- vitabenes 5y agoCommitting for 10 minutes is what we call the 10 Minute Rule, and yes, it's super effective. But like you say, sometimes there are different mental blocks that need to be tackled before one is ready to commit, even if for 10 min. That's what the rest of the course is about.
- vitabenes 5y agoYou're spot on. The built-in worksheets are there specifically to help apply the videos and not just watch. Information + action --> transformation.
- thingification 5y agoIn this general area of focus/productivity etc, I'm not sure procrastination is a big problem for me these days. But I'm by nature a procrastinator, and in the past I've found occasional small tweaks so unreasonably useful in this sort of area that I'll definitely have a look at the free stuff (tonight! no really). The picture with the frowns turning into numbered points made me smile.
- vitabenes 5y agoThanks! We have lots of articles on the blog, I'm sure you'll find something useful.
- dhimes 5y agoI think you've got the right idea here. Worksheets are key! I have something similar at bizworklife.com, but not focused on procrastination specifically (although it's covered in one of the lessons).
- throwaway2016a 5y agoPlot Twist: The creator made this course as productive procrastination when they were supposed to be working on something else. </joke>
- quickthrower2 5y agoThat would be ironically very productive procrastination!
- jascii 5y agoThe other day I found myself working on what I'm supposed to be working on, as a distraction from my distraction...
- deregulateMed 5y agoSimple solution for me was to do a dopamine detox. This requires getting rid of things you enjoy, but that's somewhat the point. Instead of doing things you want, you are wasting time on things you don't. After giving up video games, programming was fun. Reading nonfiction was insanely fun. So much so, it became a new addiction. Maybe giving up things you enjoy is easier said than done.
- vitabenes 5y agoYeah, that's one way to do it. My co-founder is currently doing an extended dopamine detox to focus on writing better. Our last 2 blog posts were about that - see here: https://www.deprocrastination.co/blog/topic/distraction https://www.deprocrastination.co/blog/topic/distraction
- eralps 5y agoInteresting, considering gaming, do you completely give up gaming? Or reduce it to moderate levels?
- deregulateMed 5y agoI have an addictive personality so I gave it up completely. It only sucked on a Friday evening for like 1 hour. weird because I would game every night.
- tangue 5y agoIt's not about getting rid of what you like : It's getting rid of things designed to be addictive. Modern gaming is incredibly addictive and I found myself addicted to dumb games in recent years. I deleted everything and play only old school games once in a while (rtype etc ).
- vitro 5y agoWith gaming, I've started to allow myself play only during Friday evenings and Saturdays. It's like a reward after whole week. Also I play only on the computer, got rid of mobile games completely because of ads and in app purchases and a bad habit of playing in the bed. And interestingly, for a month I haven't played at all, although I could.
- frr149 5y agoI ll watch it tomorrow
- laurieg 5y agoI feel like I'm one of the worst procrastinators in the world. Today I spent an hour doing some focused, concentrated work with zero problems, but then I had to reply to a "difficult" email that I've been putting off. The instant I opened my mail client I felt overwhelmed and started procrastinating. What would you recommend I do in this situation?
- vitabenes 5y ago1. Take it gradually. Perhaps first jot down some thoughts in a notes app or on paper. Also, think about your reply in terms of drafts - you don't have to send the 1st draft anywhere. Write the 1st draft down somewhere just to get the main ideas out of your head, and then perhaps do a round or 2 of revision. But the 1st draft is just for you, to clarify your thoughts. 2. Take a walk to figure out what you want to say. 20 min walk in nature (or a park) boosts concentration, and helps you figure out what you want to say. A walk before a difficult task clarifies your thinking, so that when you sit down, you know what to do or say. Hope that helps.
- kawzeg 5y agoWhat helped me overcome the dreadful empty mail window was using a brainstorming / editing approach: 1. Using a different editor to write the draft, to prevent the immediate negative reaction to the mail client. 2. Brainstorming my draft. That is, I wrote down the first thing that came to mind, no matter how ridiculous or nonsensical. It doesn't even have to be related to the message at hand. It only needs to remove the daunting empty page and get my brain into "write something" mode. 3. Edit and repeat. Read what you've written and select anything that actually makes sense. Use that as a starting point and start again. I think an important aspect of this is to freely allow my brain to write silly things. It's not a fun task to write serious emails, but writing a silly outline and filling it in with more serious wording makes it possible, for me at least.
- taneq 5y agoGet a difficult-er email to reply to and you'll be all over that first one. Just don't let on to your brain what you're doing or it'll stop working!
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- kitd 5y agoSaved for when I get round to it
- ttul 5y agoI’m surprised that nobody has mentioned possibly seeking help from a doctor. Prevalence of ADHD in the adult population is estimated to be much higher than the rate at which it is diagnosed. If you have the inattentive subtype of ADHD, medication is 90% effective at alleviating symptoms such as procrastination. Many people here have commented about doing a “dopamine detox,” but what if your brain isn’t producing enough dopamine on its own? A detox is unlikely to help.
- vitabenes 5y agoThere's definitely a link between ADHD and procrastination. However, our project is more focused on the behavioral side of the issue, not the pharmacological side.
- ttul 5y agoADHD is a neurological disorder, much like short-sightedness is a vision system disorder. If you are a serial procrastinator and always have been, it might be worth looking into ADHD in addition to trying out tools like this course and many other things. Trying to fix actual ADHD with some self-help is like trying to fix your eyesight through meditation. It won’t work. I am just suggesting that people with extreme procrastination consider seeking out an ADHD assessment at least to rule that out. There is no good treatment for ADHD other than drugs. That’s just the science of it.
- dabernathy89 5y agoGot tested a few years back and was told I don't have it, although I check pretty much every box on the inattentive type. I need to be better about attempting other ways to address the issues, but it feels like I can never catch up to give myself enough time to make a real game plan, and when I do try things (like Pomodoro) they fall apart within hours.
- vitabenes 5y agoPomodoro is only one method, and it's best for repetitive work. For creative work 60 or 90 min intervals often work better since we operate in 90 min ultradian cycles. See if you can find anything useful on our blog (or in the course).
- WaandoMarhu 5y agoThese [resources](https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/Resources/Looking-After-Yourself/Procrastination https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/Resources/Looking-After-You...) on West Australian health website might help people struggling with procrastination. They have detailed modules, exercises and workbooks which helped me a lot during a paralysing procrastiantion period. It might also help OP with their course.
- kposehn 5y agoI'd love to see the extension in Safari as well, not just Chrome and Firefox. Great work. Edit: Also, the create password page has a bug where once you set your password, it then leaves the name/email/password/confirm fields blank instead of redirecting you to login. Could confuse a small number of users.
- vitabenes 5y agoThank you for catching the bug, I'll take a look at it. As for Safari, unfortunately, some critical APIs (used for timers or distraction-catching notifications) don't seem to work at all, so it'll take some time to port the extension.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- jcuenod 5y agoThis is great, I was hoping for something to watch instead of doing my work...
- neurofuturo 5y agoFantastic product! I'm glad to see another team here on HN tackling the problem of procrastination. Your product and mine take totally different approaches, so I'll be keeping an eye on your progress. Best of luck!
- tmabraham 5y agoI just wanted to say that your deprocrastination.co Chrome extension is quite good and very helpful (I am just using the free version). Your blog posts are also quite nice. Quite exciting to see these course materials, excited to delve into it!
- vitabenes 5y agoThank you, that's awesome to hear!
- adenner 5y agoI'll watch it later.
- xivzgrev 5y agoSounds great. I'll try it later.
- zomdar 5y agohey awesome content dude, appreciate the daily tips for anti-procrastinating!!
- vitabenes 5y agoThanks! Happy to help
- faeriechangling 5y ago>Countdown timer Weird sales tactic to use on a psychologically vulnerable population. I notice that nothing on your site is actually sold at regular price so I'm not too concerned with this once in a lifetime offer.
- rishav_sharan 5y agoThanks. Gonna watch it tomorrow for sure
- Sinidir 5y agoBookmarked ...
- justshowpost 5y agoNice, gonna look into it tomorrow.
- ozmaverick72 5y agoI’ll watch it later