5 ms·

It's actually quite simple for me. I typically don't get any satisfaction from starting and completing tasks I am avoiding. Crossing them off doesn't excite me

It's actually quite simple for me. I typically don't get any satisfaction from starting and completing tasks I am avoiding. Crossing them off doesn't excite me - not in the least - regardless of all the motivational and time-management pseudoscience around. They simply make me tired and leave me with a feeling that I had wasted my time. It doesn't help either that such tasks are often chores or some kind of bureaucratic bs meaning they are basically in infinite supply. Once you finished with one there will be another one moved unconsiously from "would be nice to do" to "I should be doing this" category.

isolli 3y ago
Thanks, I wrote almost the exact same thing a few months ago. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34680970 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34680970
coliveira 3y ago
This should be upvoted more. The main reason we avoid doing these bureaucratic things is that they're useless in the long term. They're just part of the games that we play with each other, but it seems that the subconscious is really good at detecting BS and stopping us from doing that.
hinkley 3y ago
Took a long time for my partner to either understand or just give up on policing my chores. She didn’t understand why I would occasionally clean under the fridge or clear cobwebs if the kitchen or the floors were dirty. I’m not going to ever get to the bottom of my task list. You know it, I know it, my seventh grade French teacher knows it. But if I don’t randomly do something from the bottom, then it will be five years and nobody has every dusted the blinds or vacuumed out the car or cleaned the cupboard doors because I sweep and mop the same floors that will be dirty again in ten minutes and call it a day. I won’t clean the car again until the blinds are clear and the freezer has been defrosted, but at least it gets done once in a while.
- IshKebab 3y ago
  Yes! This is why I'm not such a fan of strictly prioritising tasks like P0, P1 etc. It just means that P2 or more are effectively "won't fix".

isolli 3y ago

Thanks, I wrote almost the exact same thing a few months ago. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34680970 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34680970

coliveira 3y ago

This should be upvoted more. The main reason we avoid doing these bureaucratic things is that they're useless in the long term. They're just part of the games that we play with each other, but it seems that the subconscious is really good at detecting BS and stopping us from doing that.

hinkley 3y ago

Took a long time for my partner to either understand or just give up on policing my chores. She didn’t understand why I would occasionally clean under the fridge or clear cobwebs if the kitchen or the floors were dirty. I’m not going to ever get to the bottom of my task list. You know it, I know it, my seventh grade French teacher knows it. But if I don’t randomly do something from the bottom, then it will be five years and nobody has every dusted the blinds or vacuumed out the car or cleaned the cupboard doors because I sweep and mop the same floors that will be dirty again in ten minutes and call it a day. I won’t clean the car again until the blinds are clear and the freezer has been defrosted, but at least it gets done once in a while.

IshKebab 3y ago
Yes! This is why I'm not such a fan of strictly prioritising tasks like P0, P1 etc. It just means that P2 or more are effectively "won't fix".