
Procrastinate Until You're Ready - messel
http://www.victusspiritus.com/2009/09/14/procrastinate-until-youre-ready/
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sethg
Natalie Goldberg, in _Writing Down the Bones_ , described how for a while,
whenever she sat down to write she would just have this immense feeling of
inner peace flow through her, as if she were close to enlightenment, and she
thought "Well, I will just sit here and meditate, because after all, this is
the state of mind that writing is supposed to bring me to." She finally
described her feelings to her Zen master, who said, "Oh, that's just laziness.
Get to work."

~~~
messel
We've all been guilty of laziness at one time or another. But there are
definitely some BURST periods of time (weeks/months) where I'm super
productive, versus quasi-productive or outright unproductive.

------
RyanMcGreal
No. Greatness is not achieved by waiting for the right moment for inspiration
to strike - it's achieved by years of dedication, commitment and hard work.

~~~
messel
I don't think anyone can tell you when to be creative. You need to decide. If
you want to do so for years on end because you have the gift to, more power to
ya.

~~~
RyanMcGreal
When to be creative: Right now. Not later. Later will never come. _I'll be
creative later_ is the excuse we make for not just putting our heads down and
creating what we want to create.

Here's an example of what I mean:

Ask any writer who has written a book how they did it. They will answer by
telling you they did it by sitting down and writing, day after day, until the
book was finished.

Now ask anyone who wants to be a writer but has _not_ written a book why they
haven't done it. Their answers will all be different in detail, but will
reduce to the same thing: they did _not_ sit down and write, day after day,
until the book is was finished.

~~~
messel
Looks like we have radically different philosophies on creativity. I like your
description Ryan (and admire dedication towards a goal you care about).

But I can't help but feel you can burn yourself out if you're not careful. I
find my own work effectiveness to vary. Sometimes I'm a machine, cranking out
great code/ideas but at other times my brain really does prefer other
input/stimuli. Of course spending time with my fiance is always energizing.
Going for long walks is my reset/refresh, checking out a museum or movie helps
to. Browsing HN or other social shares is great to.

~~~
RyanMcGreal
I don't think my philosophy is radically different from yours. My experience
is similar to yours, and in fact I'm only really productive when I have a lot
of (too many?) projects on the go.

I'm not suggesting you should commit every waking moment to a project until
it's completed (if I did, I'd be guilty of the worst hypocrisy). Rather, I'm
suggesting that if you want to complete a creative project, you need to commit
to regular work on it, starting _now_ and not at some unspecified point in the
future.

~~~
messel
Right on. Looks like we have more in common than I first guessed.

Once you are "ready" you've got to spend your time and effort (over sometimes
very long periods) into transferring abstract concepts into concrete/shareable
products.

Bookmarked your post for later reading:
[http://quandyfactory.com/blog/1/productivity_and_procrastina...](http://quandyfactory.com/blog/1/productivity_and_procrastination)

Glad I read your post, now I found a couple of others to read. (you Pointed to
Paul Graham: <http://www.paulgraham.com/procrastination.html> & John Perry:
<http://www.structuredprocrastination.com/> )

Looks like procrastination is a hot topic for many of us.

~~~
RyanMcGreal
The secret to procrastination is to do it productively. :)

------
jcw
Steven Pressfield (author of Gates of Fire and Legend of Bagger Vance) would
disagree: <http://home.stevenpressfield.com/books/war_art.asp#excerpt>

I highly recommend The War of Art, his book on overcoming procrastination for
artists. Sit down every day and work.

~~~
messel
Thanks for the recommendation, looks damn interesting. I hope folks don't
think I'm proposing to do nothing. Keep active in all the areas you can
manage. But when it comes to producing your finest work, the inspirational
energy will keep you going. "Fire when you see the whites of their eyes".

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rooshdi
Procrastination is inversely correlated with motivation and is usually a sign
of disinterest or misunderstanding of a task or project. Usually this problem
can be diminished through setting realistic goals that one feels passionate
about achieving. I believe an aura of constant mystery within a project is a
key motivating factor for most individuals due to the intriguing unknowns and
self discoveries that one constantly encounters throughout the process of
development.

~~~
chipsy
No, procrastination and slow pacing can be a sign that your creative batteries
are recharging; it is a cycle. You abruptly plunge into intensive focus on a
problem, rest, and repeat. On a long project you just take many, many cycles
to finish, and the key to success is simply to be able to fight through the
melancholy that occurs at the bottom of each wave, getting enough done to get
back on the upward trajectory again.

If your motivations are intact this won't be a problem, though you may have
feelings of self-loathing since this sloth is in conflict with the Puritan-
style work ethic.

~~~
rooshdi
Well there seems to be many interpretations of what procrastination actually
is, but who is to say the "recharging of batteries" is procrastination and not
the actual process of one continuing the organization/development of their
tasks through the brain unconsciously. The type of "brain-charging"
procrastination you are implying is different in the sense that the individual
is usually motivated to accomplish a certain task or goal and is just taking a
break to regain his "senses", while the type of procrastination I was
referring to was a consistent lack of desire to work on certain tasks. Both
types of procrastination may be similar in the minds of some, but provide very
drastic consequences when compared side-by-side objectively.

~~~
messel
"recharging of batteries" is a great example of the type of procrastination I
was writing about.

~~~
rooshdi
Yes, besides procrastination, the "recharging of batteries" can be applied to
the term "rest", which is required by all human beings to a certain degree in
order to function normally and become productive members of society.

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chimariko
I think it is only possible to say whether one's work is great in a while
after it has been done. It's a good idea to take up something that you really
like and dive into it because the fact that you like the subject raises the
odds of your success. It is quite useless to look for an area where the
_average_ chances are high unless you are interested in the subject matter.

In terms of the Mark's hypothesis that "our greatest life’s works will be
inspired from both within and desired externally" I would definitely emphasize
the "inspired from within" part.

~~~
messel
Great comments chimariko. I hope much of the HackerNews feedback gets back (by
disqus) under the original post. Even within great disagreements there's a
helluva lot of value added.

------
yef
Wrong, possibly evil advice. Just my opinion.

~~~
hcayless
Well, the name of the site is "the defeated spirit"...so maybe it's that on
purpose...

~~~
messel
[http://www.eudict.com/?lang=lateng&word=victus&go=Se...](http://www.eudict.com/?lang=lateng&word=victus&go=Search)

------
diiq
Couldn't paint what I'm painting now, if I didn't paint what came before it
first --- even if what came before was utter drivel.

I will agree with this: Always work when you're inspired. Don't let it slip
past you.

But: Always work when you're uninspired. The work is the source of the
inspiration --- not contemplating the opening lotus blossom.

~~~
messel
I find living is inspirational. Going for a walk, chatting online, etc.

~~~
diiq
Absoutely. No one can work _all the time_. If I go for a walk after a few
hours in the studio, I see the world as a source to draw from, a fountain of
ideas. The world inspires because the work is an inspiration-tinted lens.

Going for a walk after a few hours of chatting online after a few hours of
cleaning the bathroom after a few days of not working --- then I rarely find
myself inspired; what feels like inspiration is mundane once realized, like
the violent discovery that milk's gone sour. The only benefit gained is that
I'm working again.

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listic
This looks like the thing Leonard Cohen mocked in "First We Take Manhattan":

And I thank you for those items that you sent me The monkey and the plywood
violin I practiced every night, now I'm ready First we take Manhattan, then we
take Berlin

[http://nickolai.tumblr.com/post/146013703/first-we-take-
manh...](http://nickolai.tumblr.com/post/146013703/first-we-take-manhattan)

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edw519
For me, I need both creativity and grunt work to make progress. And they
depend on each other.

Sometimes that creative leap is only possible because I've done all the little
stuff to put me at the point where I can finally "see the light".

OTOH, a creative breakthrough usually generates a whole bunch of tasks to be
done in order to implement that creative idea.

I have never been able to "force creativity". It comes much more easily at
certain times and in certain situations. So what do I do when the creative
juices aren't flowing as much as I'd like? The grunt work, of course. There's
always plenty of that.

Procrastination as a strategy? Never. As an excuse? Sure.

~~~
messel
Perhaps rotating your activities is a better suggestion, than simply putting
one of them off. I'm wondering if everyone that comments is reading the post?

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moron4hire
Creative inspiration is not a bolt of lightning that hits you at random. It's
a process of cascading train-of-thought. If you never get that train to leave
the station, you're never going to get anywhere. You need to stop
procrastinating and force yourself to work to put yourself in the necessary
conditions for creative work to happen. Sitting around, watching movies,
eating cheezy-poofs isn't going to do it.

~~~
messel
If someone puts a gun to my head and demands I produce my most elegant and
thoughtful work, there's a damn good chance he's going to be disappointed. You
can't force it. I'm not suggestion doing absolutely nothing with your time,
but instead allow yourself some time to think things over.

~~~
moron4hire
Some of the greatest works of art have been created in essentially that
situation. The subtly subversive works of artists toiling under the employ
oppressive, totalitarian governments, people like Hans Fischerkoesen.

------
rokhayakebe
Note: This is not a business advise.

