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The easiest antidote for procrastination is boredom. This may not work for everyone but for me it works exceptionally. Most often the reason why you don't want

The easiest antidote for procrastination is boredom. This may not work for everyone but for me it works exceptionally. Most often the reason why you don't want to work on something is because you find it too hard, too boring, or too irrelevant. But if you force yourself to be bored for a while, you will eventually crave some mental stimulation. And that's when you can pick up the task you have been avoiding and work on it with renewed interest and focus. Of course, this requires some discipline and self-awareness. You have to resist the temptation of checking your phone, browsing the web, or doing anything else that distracts you from your boredom. Maybe there is some psychological reason for it but I have found this technique to be very effective for overcoming procrastination and getting things done.

almostnormal 3y ago
An alternative to boredom is something else more important even less desirable that needs to be done, that drives progress on what is being procastrinated. Unfortunately, it only shifts the problem elsewhere.
- OldHunter69X 3y ago
  As in, pursue something else that seems even more important, yet less desirable than what we were already considering? Or am I mixing something up?
- machomaster 3y ago
  This does not solve the issue of procrastination at all. A common myth is that procrastinators are simply lazy people who don't do anything useful. This is not the case. Many procrastinators are super-efficient at working on what they need to do; it's just that they are procrastinating on another useful task/project that objectively should have a priority.
- IggleSniggle 3y ago
  I call this procasti-working and it is absolutely my most productive space. I don't really see it as a problem though; I might be completing lower-priority tasks, but they would have later become high- or critical-priority tasks; it's ultimately a net win.
- GuB-42 3y ago
  I have seen it called "structured procrastination". The idea is that instead of trying to focus on what's important, leaving out everything else, make a long task list, including things that are not that important, but still productive. So that you have plenty of things to do to avoid doing the top items. To avoid shifting the problem, it suggests self-deception, so that you put items on top that appear important, but are not really. So that you do the really important ones in order to avoid doing the falsely important ones. I don't know how effective it is though.
ethbr1 3y ago
I'd be curious how quickly neurochemical stimulation levels reset to baseline, on order-of-hours scale. Given that afaik tasks seeming "hard" can be a consequence of bathing in hyper-stimulation from media/games, thereby raising the "much be this stimulating" minimum about what normal tasks provide, does 30 minutes or an hour of boredom reset some of that?
Aurornis 3y ago
> The easiest antidote for procrastination is boredom. From my experience with young people, the worst procrastinators will often choose boredom over the task they're avoiding. Doing nothing at all is less painful to them than doing the work they're avoiding. This is even more true for the perfectionist procrastinators: They are avoiding some exaggerated hypothetical pain that might come from failing at a task. If they never finish the task, they can't experience that disappointment. Some of them will happily do nothing at all, walk around, or daydream to avoid even engaging with their computer, because engaging with the computer would remind them that they're procrastinating, which would remind them that failure to deliver is also imperfection. > Of course, this requires some discipline and self-awareness. Unfortunately, the people with the worst procrastination problems are in their situation largely due to a lack of discipline and self-awareness in some variation.
- pjerem 3y ago
  It depends, do you define endless scrolling as boredom ? Because I think it’s not.
  - skeaker 3y ago
    That's not what the post above you is talking about. "Endless scrolling" was never even mentioned
    - pjerem 3y ago
      I know, I was just asking.
    - kaashif 3y ago
      The point is, I guess, the worst procrastinators don't choose boredom, they choose some mindless but not boring activity like endless scrolling through social media.
      - pjerem 3y ago
        Thank you, that was my point but I should have been more precise. I heard that some boredom may be "good" to "reset" dopamine systems and try to fix procrastination issues (especially since I have diagnosed ADHD. So I tried to get bored. And I observed that being really bored is incredibly hard when you have a smartphone (or a laptop or …). The point of my question is that I often physically looks like I’m bored but actually if i have a screen in front of me, I’m never bored. So I wouldn’t be surprised if the people that looks like they prefer boredom are really bored or a just look like they are.
dboreham 3y ago
There are well known psychology experimental results to support your hunch. When the alternative is total lack of mental stimulation, people will perform all kinds of otherwise unattractive activities.
- profstasiak 3y ago
  interesting! Can you recall a source for that?
  - KleinerJan 3y ago
    There is this study where they let people sit alone in a room with the option to shock themselves. Many shocked themselves. I thinks it’s this one [0]. [0]: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1250830 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1250830
pbhjpbhj 3y ago
For me, I procrastinate to get the reward of making progress without having to do the hard thing that I'm supposed to be doing. It is an emotional thing, almost entirely; I feel low (perhaps for unrelated reasons - I was bereaved of my mother 18 months ago) and so seek quick rewards through "work", just not the work I'm being paid for. So, I got diverted from a difficult task and spent time doing a task that created a very useful and time-saving tool but which I want being paid for and which I know I can't share because I was doing something other than my job ... it was rewarding in the sense of 'I created something useful' and so made me feel better about myself until I reflected that I was further behind on the task I was getting assessed for. I found Tim Pychyl's writing/videos and http://www.procrastination.ca/ http://www.procrastination.ca/ useful on this topic.

almostnormal 3y ago

An alternative to boredom is something else more important even less desirable that needs to be done, that drives progress on what is being procastrinated. Unfortunately, it only shifts the problem elsewhere.

OldHunter69X 3y ago
As in, pursue something else that seems even more important, yet less desirable than what we were already considering? Or am I mixing something up?
machomaster 3y ago
This does not solve the issue of procrastination at all. A common myth is that procrastinators are simply lazy people who don't do anything useful. This is not the case. Many procrastinators are super-efficient at working on what they need to do; it's just that they are procrastinating on another useful task/project that objectively should have a priority.
IggleSniggle 3y ago
I call this procasti-working and it is absolutely my most productive space. I don't really see it as a problem though; I might be completing lower-priority tasks, but they would have later become high- or critical-priority tasks; it's ultimately a net win.
GuB-42 3y ago
I have seen it called "structured procrastination". The idea is that instead of trying to focus on what's important, leaving out everything else, make a long task list, including things that are not that important, but still productive. So that you have plenty of things to do to avoid doing the top items. To avoid shifting the problem, it suggests self-deception, so that you put items on top that appear important, but are not really. So that you do the really important ones in order to avoid doing the falsely important ones. I don't know how effective it is though.

ethbr1 3y ago

I'd be curious how quickly neurochemical stimulation levels reset to baseline, on order-of-hours scale. Given that afaik tasks seeming "hard" can be a consequence of bathing in hyper-stimulation from media/games, thereby raising the "much be this stimulating" minimum about what normal tasks provide, does 30 minutes or an hour of boredom reset some of that?

Aurornis 3y ago

> The easiest antidote for procrastination is boredom. From my experience with young people, the worst procrastinators will often choose boredom over the task they're avoiding. Doing nothing at all is less painful to them than doing the work they're avoiding. This is even more true for the perfectionist procrastinators: They are avoiding some exaggerated hypothetical pain that might come from failing at a task. If they never finish the task, they can't experience that disappointment. Some of them will happily do nothing at all, walk around, or daydream to avoid even engaging with their computer, because engaging with the computer would remind them that they're procrastinating, which would remind them that failure to deliver is also imperfection. > Of course, this requires some discipline and self-awareness. Unfortunately, the people with the worst procrastination problems are in their situation largely due to a lack of discipline and self-awareness in some variation.

pjerem 3y ago
It depends, do you define endless scrolling as boredom ? Because I think it’s not.
- skeaker 3y ago
  That's not what the post above you is talking about. "Endless scrolling" was never even mentioned
  - pjerem 3y ago
    I know, I was just asking.
  - kaashif 3y ago
    The point is, I guess, the worst procrastinators don't choose boredom, they choose some mindless but not boring activity like endless scrolling through social media.
    - pjerem 3y ago
      Thank you, that was my point but I should have been more precise. I heard that some boredom may be "good" to "reset" dopamine systems and try to fix procrastination issues (especially since I have diagnosed ADHD. So I tried to get bored. And I observed that being really bored is incredibly hard when you have a smartphone (or a laptop or …). The point of my question is that I often physically looks like I’m bored but actually if i have a screen in front of me, I’m never bored. So I wouldn’t be surprised if the people that looks like they prefer boredom are really bored or a just look like they are.

dboreham 3y ago

There are well known psychology experimental results to support your hunch. When the alternative is total lack of mental stimulation, people will perform all kinds of otherwise unattractive activities.

profstasiak 3y ago
interesting! Can you recall a source for that?
- KleinerJan 3y ago
  There is this study where they let people sit alone in a room with the option to shock themselves. Many shocked themselves. I thinks it’s this one [0]. [0]: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1250830 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1250830

pbhjpbhj 3y ago

For me, I procrastinate to get the reward of making progress without having to do the hard thing that I'm supposed to be doing. It is an emotional thing, almost entirely; I feel low (perhaps for unrelated reasons - I was bereaved of my mother 18 months ago) and so seek quick rewards through "work", just not the work I'm being paid for. So, I got diverted from a difficult task and spent time doing a task that created a very useful and time-saving tool but which I want being paid for and which I know I can't share because I was doing something other than my job ... it was rewarding in the sense of 'I created something useful' and so made me feel better about myself until I reflected that I was further behind on the task I was getting assessed for. I found Tim Pychyl's writing/videos and http://www.procrastination.ca/ http://www.procrastination.ca/ useful on this topic.