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It's an interesting idea - could we deal with procrastination by visualising ourselves in the future position where the task is not done? I don't think it's the

by cturner 12y ago

It's an interesting idea - could we deal with procrastination by visualising ourselves in the future position where the task is not done? I don't think it's the full story on procrastination though. Procrastination can be rational. If you have a difficult phone call to make, and you can't get focus to deal with it, it's rational to not do the obvious thing of picking up the phone and making a mess of the call. I procrastinate when I don't feel able to get a task sufficiently into focus that I can progress it. There's a particular struggle with sequencing steps - working out a series of things to do to contain the task. My technique for getting around this is to brainstorm simple things I could do around my outcome. This could be as trivial as writing a paragraph about why it feels hard. After a bit of this, I can string together four or five tasks. Once I have a sequence of things, I can get some motion. Then procrastination ceases to be a problem. Something else I find useful is to accept exhaustion. If I can't sequence, it may be because of exhaustion. Go and lay on a couch with no intent, and try to think about it with no pressure. Sometimes new ideas come here. But if I fall asleep - it was needed. Come back after rest for another go.

ryanklee 12y ago
>you can't get focus to deal with it... working out a series of things to do to contain the task... brainstorm simple things I could do around my outcome... writing a paragraph about why it feels hard... string together four or five tasks... Come back after rest for another go. This is not what I consider procrastination, and I consider myself a major procrastinator, struggling constantly with time management issues because of it. What you are describing is a context of ancillary effort surrounding the task. These are Things Being Done To Do The Thing. Necessary but insufficient. Secondary, but nonetheless essential. Procrastination, on the other hand, is the Absolute Evasion Of All Things Related To The Task At Hand. Not lead up. Not preparation. Not sequencing. Not anything. Anything But. Do Something, but make damn well sure it's Not The Thing That Relates To What You Ought To Be Doing. Email fidgeting. Netflix grazing. Guitar strumming. Water boiling watching. But not The Thing. And not Near The Thing. Anything But The Thing. This is doubly hard when creative (read: conceptual, thinking, fuzzy, ethereal, imaginative) work is The Thing To Be Done. Because sometimes Not Doing The Thing is what Needs To Be Done To Do It. But just as often, oh man, do we like to fool ourselves into even avoiding Not Doing The Thing Needed To Do the Thing We Need To Do by simply Not Even Doing That. If you pack batteries all day into tiny boxes in a warehouse filled with angry and watchful foremen (I've done this), there's no possibility for confusion between Getting It Done and Not Getting It Done. But if you've got 600 words to write on how SEC New Rule 506(c) pertains to real estate crowdfunding, who's to say that sitting on your ass and watching 7 episodes of Adventure Time isn't integral to your effort. (It's not. But still, who's to say?) Don't even get me started on billable hours. That's a whole nother can of worms.
- CaRDiaK 12y ago
  What you describe here my friend, doesn't seem to be procrastination. The above are pretty much all the hallmark signs of resistance. An interesting read; "The war of Art" -Steven Pressfield. edit: care to explain the downvote?
  - ryanklee 12y ago
    It wasn't me, but you posed an non-intuitive distinction without explaining it, which makes it difficult to discern what you're trying to claim.
  - squeaky-clean 12y ago
    Also not the downvoter, but I can also see why. Your comment doesn't really give me much to understand or respond to. What do you mean by it is not procrastination? You're going to have to explain that. The only thing I could about resistance in the sense you use was a small paragraph on Wikipedia about a term coined by Steven Pressfield. So it's probably not something known by anyone who has not read that book (which does seem interesting by the way, thank you). Even then, the way it was described, it doesn't sound like procrastination and resistance need to be mutually exclusive. Also looking into it (just based on the wiki blurb, not having read the book. So it's entirely possible I'm misunderstanding it). But a "universal force that he claims acts against human creativity" sounds cheesy. There's no external force acting against me when I watch Adventure Time instead of accomplishing something (I'm guilty of that too), or browse HN while at the office. I'm just being lazy and doing something easy and enjoyable, instead of something hard but beneficial. And that matches the definition of procrastination pretty well.
    - CaRDiaK 12y ago
      Thanks for taking the time to explain this to me, I really appreciate the feedback. I shall ensure replies are more thought out in future. Sometimes it takes someone pointing something out to me, to allow me to course correct and I thank you. I guess I really connected with what you said and it was well written. You said it in a way that would take me quite some time to get across, and described it much better than I could. That blended pretty well with my own experiences. I could procrastinate about procrastinating myself, it's not a good place and a frustrating feeling. I tried to read as many books and read about as many other people as possible to try better my understanding of why I do it so much, so often, despite me knowing a lot of data about it. I believe what Petsfold is trying to do is to personify procrastination to a recongizable point, like a character, so you can consciously choose to not let that character win. That's my main takeaway from the book. It's certainly helped me. I still procrastinate, but I feel like I know a little more. Almost like "what is it I'm resisting about x that's making me procrastinate so much". This can sometimes, not always, help me identify and act on variables that might be affecting me at that moment in time. Best of luck, and thank you again.
cgriswald 12y ago
I believe I procrastinate for similar reasons and my techniques for getting around it is similar to yours. However, I do consider my past and future selves as different people in my mind. I am someone who talks to himself constantly. I've added talking to my past and future selves. I will say, out loud or mentally, "Thanks Past Me." There is something about being grateful to my past self for things I have done that have made my life better today, that makes me more able to do things that will make my life better for my future self. And I think a part of it is that I know, because I am grateful to my past self, that my future self will be grateful to me.

by cturner 12y ago

ryanklee 12y ago

>you can't get focus to deal with it... working out a series of things to do to contain the task... brainstorm simple things I could do around my outcome... writing a paragraph about why it feels hard... string together four or five tasks... Come back after rest for another go. This is not what I consider procrastination, and I consider myself a major procrastinator, struggling constantly with time management issues because of it. What you are describing is a context of ancillary effort surrounding the task. These are Things Being Done To Do The Thing. Necessary but insufficient. Secondary, but nonetheless essential. Procrastination, on the other hand, is the Absolute Evasion Of All Things Related To The Task At Hand. Not lead up. Not preparation. Not sequencing. Not anything. Anything But. Do Something, but make damn well sure it's Not The Thing That Relates To What You Ought To Be Doing. Email fidgeting. Netflix grazing. Guitar strumming. Water boiling watching. But not The Thing. And not Near The Thing. Anything But The Thing. This is doubly hard when creative (read: conceptual, thinking, fuzzy, ethereal, imaginative) work is The Thing To Be Done. Because sometimes Not Doing The Thing is what Needs To Be Done To Do It. But just as often, oh man, do we like to fool ourselves into even avoiding Not Doing The Thing Needed To Do the Thing We Need To Do by simply Not Even Doing That. If you pack batteries all day into tiny boxes in a warehouse filled with angry and watchful foremen (I've done this), there's no possibility for confusion between Getting It Done and Not Getting It Done. But if you've got 600 words to write on how SEC New Rule 506(c) pertains to real estate crowdfunding, who's to say that sitting on your ass and watching 7 episodes of Adventure Time isn't integral to your effort. (It's not. But still, who's to say?) Don't even get me started on billable hours. That's a whole nother can of worms.

CaRDiaK 12y ago
What you describe here my friend, doesn't seem to be procrastination. The above are pretty much all the hallmark signs of resistance. An interesting read; "The war of Art" -Steven Pressfield. edit: care to explain the downvote?
- ryanklee 12y ago
  It wasn't me, but you posed an non-intuitive distinction without explaining it, which makes it difficult to discern what you're trying to claim.
- squeaky-clean 12y ago
  Also not the downvoter, but I can also see why. Your comment doesn't really give me much to understand or respond to. What do you mean by it is not procrastination? You're going to have to explain that. The only thing I could about resistance in the sense you use was a small paragraph on Wikipedia about a term coined by Steven Pressfield. So it's probably not something known by anyone who has not read that book (which does seem interesting by the way, thank you). Even then, the way it was described, it doesn't sound like procrastination and resistance need to be mutually exclusive. Also looking into it (just based on the wiki blurb, not having read the book. So it's entirely possible I'm misunderstanding it). But a "universal force that he claims acts against human creativity" sounds cheesy. There's no external force acting against me when I watch Adventure Time instead of accomplishing something (I'm guilty of that too), or browse HN while at the office. I'm just being lazy and doing something easy and enjoyable, instead of something hard but beneficial. And that matches the definition of procrastination pretty well.
  - CaRDiaK 12y ago
    Thanks for taking the time to explain this to me, I really appreciate the feedback. I shall ensure replies are more thought out in future. Sometimes it takes someone pointing something out to me, to allow me to course correct and I thank you. I guess I really connected with what you said and it was well written. You said it in a way that would take me quite some time to get across, and described it much better than I could. That blended pretty well with my own experiences. I could procrastinate about procrastinating myself, it's not a good place and a frustrating feeling. I tried to read as many books and read about as many other people as possible to try better my understanding of why I do it so much, so often, despite me knowing a lot of data about it. I believe what Petsfold is trying to do is to personify procrastination to a recongizable point, like a character, so you can consciously choose to not let that character win. That's my main takeaway from the book. It's certainly helped me. I still procrastinate, but I feel like I know a little more. Almost like "what is it I'm resisting about x that's making me procrastinate so much". This can sometimes, not always, help me identify and act on variables that might be affecting me at that moment in time. Best of luck, and thank you again.

cgriswald 12y ago

I believe I procrastinate for similar reasons and my techniques for getting around it is similar to yours. However, I do consider my past and future selves as different people in my mind. I am someone who talks to himself constantly. I've added talking to my past and future selves. I will say, out loud or mentally, "Thanks Past Me." There is something about being grateful to my past self for things I have done that have made my life better today, that makes me more able to do things that will make my life better for my future self. And I think a part of it is that I know, because I am grateful to my past self, that my future self will be grateful to me.