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Show HN: A little help to overcome procrastination
How it works.
State the task you are going to postpone, but want to be done. Make it done step by step.
Real life example.
Yesterday I needed to work on a small part of a project, and I had to create a separate project for it. It only takes a few minutes to create a new project, and copy and adjust some code from the main project. But it was around 11pm and I felt overwhelmed. So I literally wrote: create a folder. And I created a folder. Then I wrote: open it in vs code… etc.
I know it looks stupid, so I’ll add a backstory as a first comment.
- Kenes-sh 2y agoBackstory. Procrastination is my big problem. There are no simple whys and hows about it. It is just how our neural system works. How easy or hard it is to do something depends on a lot of things like personality, mood, time of day, some random events, and so on. And the simplest solution often seems to be pushing the task to tomorrow. Even the smallest task doesn't exist in isolation. When it comes to big projects, work, personal life, and family, you can't really separate one from the other. There is never enough time, and often you have to sacrifice something. But some people naturally manage to do everything—they just get things done. I've been trying to do something about it for a long time. In particular, I tried many different tools, to do lists, time managers, project managers. Most of these tools are designed to discipline me and none of them cover my needs. I always came back to google sheets, Keep and handwriting notes. So, I decided to develop my own. I have no idea what the final product will look like. I've just started with this small component. Any feedback would be helpful. About not knowing what I want. I began coding 7 weeks ago, because I couldn’t explain to my team what I wanted. I didn’t know what I wanted until I saw it. I started with Python, then switched to TypeScript, Node.js, and React. I installed Next.js for the first time 10 days ago. Actually this is why I have all these steps to initiate a new project and install dependencies. There are no such things like ‘create a folder’ or ‘run vs code’, but all other steps are written in the google sheet. I’ll be thankful for any technical comments too.
- mklepaczewski 2y agoWhat makes your todo app different from all the other todo apps? What's the value of it? As for the feedback - the app doesn't seem to work. Maybe you're developing it in production, and I opened it while you were editing something? When I type in the first task and press "+," nothing happens. There are no errors, but the UI doesn't update either. After reloading the page, I see my task, but now I can't mark it as completed, and I see no way to add another task. Reloading the page again shows the task as checked. I'm using Chrome and Windows 10. You wrote that you're a procrastinator. You couldn't explain to your team what you wanted, so you started programming, switched languages, and now create subprojects of the project, i.e., you spend time organizing and refining a simple todo app. Maybe I'm wrong, but it feels like the project is your way of distracting yourself from working on something you should be working on, but you don't want to do it. Is your anti-procrastination app your way of procrastinating on something?