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It's so crazy that people spend so much effort creating self-help books to increase productivity. If you have a problem with procrastination, it is a simple que

by marvin 13y ago

It's so crazy that people spend so much effort creating self-help books to increase productivity. If you have a problem with procrastination, it is a simple question of self-discipline or alternatively, knowing your own limitations. You can't just read your way out of this problem. The technique described in this post is more or less the exact technique I naturally use myself in order to get things done. Sometimes, it doesn't work. Usually, this is because I am over my work capacity for the day. In this instance, the only thing which works is to either slog through and get terrible productivity per hour, or just take the rest of the day off. The latter is usually the best option, which results in better concentration the next day. But eventually, it really comes down to just sitting down and getting stuff done. If you are consistently unable to do this, maybe you should consider whether you are in the right line of work?

crusso 13y ago
it is a simple question of self-discipline You say that as though there's nothing to be learned about self-discipline or as though there's no way to increase your ability in self-discipline by using a technique you don't already know. There are lots of little techniques and tricks that people can use to fake or encourage self-discipline until neural pathways build that make the whole concept come more naturally. The Pomodoro technique works for lots of people. Personally, I've found that I can induce a lot of focus by putting on a pair of noise-canceling headphones and listening to music without words. I have a rule whereby I can have my headphones ONLY if I'm doing real work. The other thing that works really well for me is the "just one little thing" strategy. If I'm avoiding some task because it's huge and daunting, I decide to close my HN browser window for a few minutes and just do one little thing to make progress on the overall task. Nothing big, just one little thing. Maybe if I'm going to start a new web site, I decide to just create the repository or import a template. It's a good trick since typically what ends up happening is that one thing is easy so I decide to do another... and another. Before I know it, I'm engrossed in the task and feeling good about making progress.
jdminhbg 13y ago
> If you have a problem with procrastination, it is a simple question of self-discipline This is a little bit like saying that if you aren't as good at basketball as you wish you were, that it's a simple question of getting a ball to go through a hoop.

by marvin 13y ago

crusso 13y ago

it is a simple question of self-discipline You say that as though there's nothing to be learned about self-discipline or as though there's no way to increase your ability in self-discipline by using a technique you don't already know. There are lots of little techniques and tricks that people can use to fake or encourage self-discipline until neural pathways build that make the whole concept come more naturally. The Pomodoro technique works for lots of people. Personally, I've found that I can induce a lot of focus by putting on a pair of noise-canceling headphones and listening to music without words. I have a rule whereby I can have my headphones ONLY if I'm doing real work. The other thing that works really well for me is the "just one little thing" strategy. If I'm avoiding some task because it's huge and daunting, I decide to close my HN browser window for a few minutes and just do one little thing to make progress on the overall task. Nothing big, just one little thing. Maybe if I'm going to start a new web site, I decide to just create the repository or import a template. It's a good trick since typically what ends up happening is that one thing is easy so I decide to do another... and another. Before I know it, I'm engrossed in the task and feeling good about making progress.

jdminhbg 13y ago

> If you have a problem with procrastination, it is a simple question of self-discipline This is a little bit like saying that if you aren't as good at basketball as you wish you were, that it's a simple question of getting a ball to go through a hoop.