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"But when I really have such tasks, procrastination is completely out of the way" I know for me it doesn't work that way. I assume "REAL rewards" means long la
by freshhawk 12y ago
"But when I really have such tasks, procrastination is completely out of the way"
I know for me it doesn't work that way. I assume "REAL rewards" means long lasting meaningful rewards rather than a quick dopamine hit. But hyperbolic discounting [1] is a bitch, so even if I know that once I start some real work it will be engaging and interesting, and tomorrow or next week my happiness will be partly determined by how much of it I got done ... maybe I'll do just one more HN story / Watch Dogs online hacking mission / etc.
It's a pattern I recognize and no longer really adversely affects my life like it did when I was younger but I definitely still feel that pull that makes starting things more difficult than it would otherwise be.
[1] http://www.damninteresting.com/hyperbolic-discounting/ http://www.damninteresting.com/hyperbolic-discounting/
- dm2 12y agoDo you know exactly what changed for you so that hyperbolic discounting doesn't effect you anymore? Family, discipline, maturity, other specific lifestyle changes?
- freshhawk 12y agoDefinitely conscious lifestyle changes. A while ago I decided that a few ingrained bad habits I had needed to go. I changed my lifestyle quite a bit in slow careful steps. The focus was on mindfulness and tracking the progress diligently. I also got really interested in research about habit building and modern scientific views of consciousness. At this point I am still as affected by hyperbolic discounting as ever but I have more of an ability to recognize it for what it is and steer myself towards/trick myself into what my rational self wants to do. I frequently feel like I'm trying to train part of my self (the unified self is an illusion) like I would train a dog.