
Ask HN: How do you fight procrastination? - abraham
I often find myself with piles of work to do and many projects to complete but yet distracted by social media, investigating new technologies, and other less important tasks. I'm sure many of you are the same way so my question is how how do you buckle down and start working? And I don't mean simple technical solutions like resolving https://twitter.com to localhost but instead strengthening your mental resolve. What have you tried? What are your recommendations?
======
patio11
I believe in my bones that most large tasks are just arbitrarily long
collections of small tasks which are measurable, and since I know I can keep
going for _years_ as long as I get frequent small packets of success, I
structure things to look like that.

This is the WoWification of life for me: the thing about dragonslaying is that
you're not spending 720 hours to be able to slay the dragon. You spent 30
minutes rescuing this one village and then 2 hours pillaging this one dungeon
and then 5 minutes finding this one slipper and... whoa, you just killed a
dragon. And then it turns out that killing the dragon was, itself, just one
more small goal.

Your business, or your other arbitrary goal with real meaning to it, is a lot
like WoW. It has projects rather than raids, milestones rather than
achievements, and A/B tests rather than quests, but you can break it down into
arbitrarily fine units and conquer them one at a time.

I don't completely WoWify my business just because I think it would be
_frighteningly_ successful at manipulating my monkey brain, to the exclusion
of other things of importance to me.

Other things that help me: having routines, social support via HN & etc (here
we go with WoW again: sure, you could quit, but what would your guildmates
say?), structuring my business such that almost all deadlines are flexible (I
know that _shouldn't_ work, but it does for me), and having a life away from
the computer.

~~~
vog
Your analogy to WoW is a great idea!

In fact, WoW appears to be very addicting, to an extent you usually don't want
to have in a game. (Unless, of course, you are the one who sells the game.)

However, for the work you consider to be important, this is exactly the kind
of addiction you want. In that regard, we can learn a lot from WoW. I'm sure
they have more "tricks" than just splitting big tasks into smaller ones. A
study about that topic would be very interesting.

------
antirez
Trying to do what I really like, sleeping more, exercise. Procrastination is
often a symptom not a disease: you are doing something you don't care enough,
you are tired, or don't exercise enough. Also a fix can be stay away a few
days form the PC having fun with friends or girlfriend and so forth.

Also remember, to be productive 8x5 in our industry is a myth: not possible at
all. If you are able to code even 30% of the time in a focused way it's
already _great_.

~~~
keefe
Don't convince yourself it's not possible. I've done it and it was the norm at
my last startup. For me, I can't do more than 60-70 hours a week, but
certainly 30% is a low level of productivity.

~~~
sausagefeet
I think it depends on how you define productivity. I have had jobs where
people (even the programmers) felt that if you weren't typing code you weren't
working. In my latest job I luckily don't have managers harassing me at all
and find I spend a lot of time just thinking about how the system we are
building should work and not much time coding, but I push solutions out just
as fast, with less fixing down the road.

~~~
abraham
If a groups definition of working is just writing code it seems likely they
will hit a wall where they are no longer improving. They might know their
languages APIs better but they lose out on much of the larger communities
gained knowledge.

------
adityakothadiya
This is what I follow -

1\. I create "Today's list". This is little different than "To-do" list.
Today's list contains tasks that I want to finish today - with each task
assigned some deadline. Tasks are quite detail tasks - which takes 1-2 hrs.
Like breakdown to features, bugs, reading chapter, etc.

2\. I don't sit for long in front of computer in one stretch. I drink lot of
water, so generally have to take breaks quite often. During that break (from
computer) I talk to myself 2 things - "1. You're doing good - push more. 2.
Now the next thing I want to do is _______."

3\. Keep the browser/chat window closed if it's not required.

4\. Even if I start reading HN/Twitter - I don't read everything. I know my
time limits, I know things I want to build, so I know I cannot spend lot of
time in consuming information. So just browse headlines, don't click every
link. If headline is compelling, or source is trusted, then click it.

5\. Keep deadlines - have pressure, and tell your deadlines to someone -
friend, wife, colleague. Be answerable to someone. This trick worked quite
often for me.

------
Rust
I keep a short list of programming problems handy - small use cases that
interest me. When I feel like I'm slipping away into FB or Twitter or
whatever, I break out one of the problems and solve it.

The secret, though, is to solve it from scratch each time. If you're really
having trouble concentrating, do it in a new language (COBOL - seriously, this
will keep you up at night).

Some examples of my problem list: recursive function to show classified ads;
FSM for reading old-style INI files; simplest possible chat protocol, either
client or server

I'm no psychologist, but I suspect that, once you get used to doing this kind
of thing, it works a bit like self-hypnosis. Just create problems that you
would find interesting.

~~~
rapind
This is a great idea... And has given me an idea for a fun project.

------
kowen
I've found that pair programming for a bit can help me get past that initial
resistance. It doesn't have to be anything special or official - just a shared
screen with a friend over skype can be enough to get going.

~~~
ntoshev
REPL also helps me stay focused. Maybe for some people TDD does, but not for
me.

~~~
rapind
I guess I'm a little old school, but the first thing I do is build some
datasets. Either from the legacy app or via requirements if it's a greenfield.
Seems boring but for me it's simple work and it gets the creative juices
flowing. Then it becomes a problem / challenge which is of course interesting.

------
jazzychad
I am my own boss, so there is no-one lording over me to make sure I am
finishing things on-time, nor do I have "office hours"... I just work during
the day until I feel that enough stuff got done. Sometimes that means I work
for 6 hours, sometimes that means I work for 12 or more.

I often fall victim to the distractions of the inernetz; email, twitter, HN,
etc...

That being said, I have found that the best way to stop procrastinating is to
set goals with hard and fast deadlines. Nobody is going to accomplish those
goals on-time except for me. If they are missed, I only have myself to blame.
For me this is a great motivator to get things done during my waking hours.

I have an extremely huge and looming deadline approaching in the next couple
of weeks, and like patio11 said in a comment earlier today, _I am efficient
because I have to be_ [1].

[1] <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1189284>

[edit] found link to patio11's comment

[edit2] I also use a "Legal Pad Computer" to manage my TODO list. Making sure
the list doesn't overflow to more than one page is another good motivator. I
wrote a more extensive post about the concept here:
<http://bootstrapd.me/?p=62>

------
Mongoose
I find the best method is to just jump in. Once you make a solid effort to
dive into something, your drive to complete the task at hand will snowball as
you get more work done.

YMMV, especially with really difficult or irritating tasks. It's all about
overcoming the barrier of entry, be it due to a lack of experience, interest,
or value.

~~~
Jach
For me, the phrase "action precedes motivation" is relevant.

------
rubinelli
The most helpful book I've read about procrastination (and I've read many) is
_The Now Habit_. It explains why people procrastinate, what they think when
they procrastinate, why even simple tasks stress them out, how they can reduce
this stress, why they feel they don't have a life, and specific chapters on
how to deal with procrastinators. Just to cite one of its dozens of ideas,
advice like "just buckle down" and "tough it out" is part of the problem,
because it creates resistance. Your natural response is thinking "that's true,
I just have to finish it", which is wrong for two reasons. First, if you "have
to" do something, then it means you don't want to, so you fight yourself. You
become your most severe taskmaster, you deny yourself guilt-free play time,
you resent "having to" do that task even more, and procrastinate even more.
Second, when you think about finishing a project, you make it look
overwhelming. As others here said, the right approach is choosing a point,
starting from it for a few minutes, and see where it takes you.

------
aaronbrethorst
I don't spend my spare time posting 'Ask HN' questions.

No, seriously: I have more important things to do, like figuring out how to
pay my rent (and hopefully make 6-7 figures) without having to take a soul-
crushing job at a gigantic company, again.

Maybe you need a better job. Maybe you need a better reason to do the
important things. Maybe the 'important things' really aren't, in which case
you need to come up with a list of genuinely important things to do.

Maybe you should see a therapist. I dunno; at least those people are
theoretically well-qualified to talk about this stuff. Ask me about about
beer, F/stops, Objective C or Ruby on Rails, and I'm your guy. The rest of it
is a big mystery to me.

Good luck, though.

~~~
swombat
_I don't spend my spare time posting 'Ask HN' questions._

You do spend your spare time answering them, though... interesting.

------
froo
In the past I procrastinated a lot. The problem I found was that the sheer
number of tasks to be done was immense and I would often be paralysed by the
thought of it.

So what I did was get a simple task management tool (I use RTM) and started
off by just setting 2 tasks per day.

It's only 2 tasks, anyone can accomplish 2 tasks in a day.

Soon after I got accustomed to it, and I simply ramped it up, first 3 tasks,
then 4... very easy.

After I got used to the idea of accomplishing things often, then I worried
about efficiency, but the secret is to just get started.

------
RevRal
For me, it is all about tricking myself into getting the work done. Into
creating systems to follow for various tasks.

For example, the dishes. I hate doing them. And I don't mind a few days of
accumulation of dirty dished. So, I don't beat myself up trying to wash them
every day. It takes time to wash dishes. Time I could better spend doing
something else.

My solution. Wait until there are enough dishes to take a couple of hours to
wash them, then I listen to an audio book while washing the dishes. I call
this _consolidating the work-load_ , which allots me time to listen to audio
books. Saves water, too.

I have a lot of systems for various things. It's kind of fun, refining these
tricks.

~~~
Tichy
Or you could put "affording a bigger apartment with space for a dish washer"
on your list of things for "why am I doing this again?".

~~~
RevRal
I have a dishwasher and I live in a house. . . .

Great advice though.

------
thesnark
I think I got this idea from HN somewhere but I cannot remember: when you are
running good, and the ideas are coming easily, stop before you get stuck. That
way when you come back to something you know exactly what to do next and its
easier to find the thread.

Also, learning how to suffer through really painful exercise has improved my
ability to focus at work.

------
nearestneighbor
I tried many different things, too many to remember, including GTD type of
things, "don't break the chain", and many others. I think what's working best
for me (and what may work for you depends on your personality type and what
you do) is setting (preferably) one goal for a day in the morning, writing it
down, and then working to accomplish it.

------
tome
This is my favourite productivity blog.

<http://www.doitfuckingnow.com/>

I'm serious. Of course, it's partly a joke, but there is an extent to which we
just have to get on with stuff we don't like. Asking for a method to fight
procrastination is a symptom of the problem itself.

~~~
philcrissman
<http://productiveblog.tumblr.com/>

------
djm
I wrote about my efforts to avoid procrastination previously:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=809638>

Since then I've changed a few things. Here is what I am doing now:

1) Make a list of what I want to do tomorrow before going to bed.

2) Write down what I am doing during the day on a time sheet of one hour
blocks. I was using 30 minute blocks initially but got sick of it.

3) Try and do hard stuff first (coding) and easier stuff after (everything
else). I try and start work as soon as I get up as well.

4) Disconnect the internet. I physically unplug the cable. My current work
allows me to mostly get away with this and I only go online about twice a
week.

Since my previous comment I'm now working for myself on my startup too. I've
found a few additiuonal tricks to cope with being on my own:

5) Go outside every day. I have to make a conscious effort to do this or I end
up staying inside sitting at my computer for a week at a time. I normally just
go for a walk around the park, or sometimes arrange to meet a friend for a
coffee etc.

6) Pretend I am only going to do four hours coding per day. If I sit down at
the computer at 8.00AM thinking "I'll stop at noon and go for a bike ride"
then I have much less difficulty in getting started. I almost always end up
spending more time coding than this once I get started though, because I hate
leaving something unfinished.

------
stretchwithme
In my experience, when I am working with others or for a customer, I have no
problem taking the actions needed to deliver on my commitments to them.

But when I am working on my own thing, setting my own goals, with little
interaction, I tend to get easily distracted and start my things I don't
finish.

So from now on, unless I'm working on something I'm passionate about, I'll
find the right team first, before even deciding what to work on.

------
Murkin
Choose one thing each week that you know wastes your time.. and quit cold
turkey.

Delete your relevant accounts, remove from bookmarks, clear browser history
and just stop using it.

I find it gives me immediate results, got rid of lots of needless web-games,
news-sites, blogs, TV-series and such.

And yes, HN is in this category. If you logically think it's contribution of
information and motivation is not worth the time. Cold turkey.

~~~
vog
Also, you'll have to remove distracting things regularly, at least once a
month. Better every two weeks.

------
Eliezer
Recent related thread on LW, with reviews and aggregate scores for
suggestions:

<http://lesswrong.com/lw/1sm/akrasia_tactics_review/>

------
Luff
I try to identify and break hedonistic loops. Changing environment helps, even
if it's such a simple act as shuffle the furniture at home around.

Another way is to optimize away loops. The first example that pops ups is that
I was at one point manually visiting >20 news-sites, webcomics and blogs, and
when I'd reached the last one, I started checking if the other ones had
updated while I was reading. RSS saved me from most of that. Now if I could
only drop reddit and hackernews ;)

Oh, and this is the home page firefox shows when I open it:
<http://phylab.mtu.edu/~nckelley/Focus/>

------
jodrellblank
Re: procrastination/akrasia: _I've never been fond of the idea that "different
things work for different people". As a predictive hypothesis, after all, this
is only slightly more useful than saying "a wizard did it". It says nothing
about how (or why) different things work, and therefore gives you no basis to
select which different things might work for which different people._

[http://lesswrong.com/lw/1tu/improving_the_akrasia_hypothesis...](http://lesswrong.com/lw/1tu/improving_the_akrasia_hypothesis/)

------
scorpioxy
I don't try to fight it. I accept it.

During the day job, I open up the all the tabs that I'd like to read(usually
links from HN) and then start working. Whenever i want to take a 5 min break
between coding tasks, i read 1 article and then close it. This also helps when
a task is proving annoying to go through.

That's the thing with the computing field, there are way more things to do and
learn than you can finish in a lifetime. I still try to keep up as much as
possible, but I stress over it less and less with age and wisdom.

------
dtran
I think its all about the right environment which puts you in the mindset to
get things done. I've noticed that being in my dorm room is usu. not super
productive, so my co-founder and I most work in group study rooms in our
student union or coffee shop hop. Part of it is fewer distractions, but part
of it is also just a nice change in scenery/environment. I think every company
should have lots of rooms/other spaces for people to work besides their desk,
including nearby coffee shops =)

------
wisty
SelfControl for Mac. It puts up a temporary firewall, so I can't read the news
for a few hours.

Other techniques - tell somebody else what you are doing. Tell them when you
expect to get it done. Bragging is easy to do at the time, and puts pressure
on you to get it done. Procrastination is all about future commitments vs
present behavior. It's easy to make a commitment to yourself, but easy to
break it. Make commitments that you can't break as easily. But make sure that
they are "doable".

------
ggruschow
Solving your problem (procrastination) may require figuring out the root
problem(s). People have already mentioned a lot of good solutions for a lot of
problems, but trying to solve the wrong problem can make your's worse.. or at
least frustrate you more.

It may be you're too distracted, so eliminate the distractions. Not me - I get
overly focused.

It may be your task is so large and unclear that it seems pointless to even
try, so first break the problem down into manageable chunks. Not me - I think
I can do practically anything (but start :).

It may be your work is too annoying to you, so you wear out your self-control
"muscles". If so, find different work. This isn't usually my problem either --
I'm pretty much free to do whatever I want at work.

It may be you subconsciously avoid heavy concentration. This is one of the
symptoms of ADHD, so you may get lucky and be able to treat it with chemicals
(see a doctor). This is my biggest problem.

I don't have trouble doing "labor," but I amaze myself with the things I do to
avoid thinking. I don't have a good, _healthy_ solution yet, but I know a
couple things that work for me:

1\. Creating emergencies.. e.g. putting off a term paper until 6 hours before
its due, or imagining you'll die of shame if you don't squash your bugs. My
brain kicks right into gear when I _have_ to do something.

2\. Working closely with others keeps me engaged for other reasons. Pair
programming is a good example of this, but not my preference.

I'd love to hear others problems and solutions.

------
scotty79
Pomodoro technique. You pick task that can be done in 25 minutes, you set up
timer for 25 minutes and start working. You do your best to finish the task.
When timer rings you set it up to 5 minutest and make a 5 minute break from
computer. Take a walk to the bathroom, get coffee, do some push ups or sit
ups, talk to your colleague who also uses same timer to regulate his work. 5
minute is long enough to rest and short enough to not forget what you were
doing. 25 minutes is enough to get something done, and short enough to wait
for 5 minute break. Just two rules, don't do anything except the task at hand
during 25 minutes (you have no time for that!) and stop doing what you are
doing when timer rings.

I also use the break to plan what I'll be doing next 25 minutes. If I have
task longer then 25 minutes then I break it into smaller parts.

Trouble with that technique is that it becomes very hard to start first 25
minutes.

~~~
philcrissman
I've found that useful too, at times. <http://www.focusboosterapp.com/> is a
nifty timer made just for this.

------
timwiseman
I fail far too often, hence why I am posting here.

Seriously, when I really need to concentrate, I try to place myself in
environments where the temptations are minimized. Turn off the wifi if I don't
actually need it and put on headphones with mild background music and focus on
the work at hand. It is no cure, but it helps me.

------
Dylanfm
Please do read "How to Get Things Done" by Robert Benchley, written in 1949.
It's such a gem: [http://www.hackvan.com/pub/stig/etext/how-to-get-things-
done...](http://www.hackvan.com/pub/stig/etext/how-to-get-things-done-despite-
procrastination.txt)

There was a simliar thread to this quite a while ago:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=187132> . A comment by nickb
(<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=187277>) introduced me to structured
procrastination: <http://www.structuredprocrastination.com> . There's some
good content there.

~~~
mixmax
Offtopic, but did anyone ever find out what happened to nickb?

------
tbrownaw
Just put off the procrastination until tomorrow, it's really not that fun
anyhow. :)

Seriously. _Why_ are distractions enticing? Why is the stuff that needs doing
scary/boring? Find a way to cast your work as an interesting problem to solve
(like the WoW example upthread) and the distractions as just more of the same
old boring stuff you always do. Also if you're really stuck try to
procrastinate with an eye towards integrating whatever you learn with what you
already know, particularly in areas that are tangentially related to the
problem you're stuck on.

It's like that study with the children not eating the marshmallows, willpower
is really about convincing yourself "but why would I even want to do that"
rather than purely mental resolve.

------
bootload
_"... I often find myself with piles of work to do and many projects to
complete but yet distracted ..."_

Focus, discipline & strategy. You have to focus on getting your tasks done. Be
disciplined in not being unintentionally distracted and plan a strategy to
avoid or discourage distractions.

\- Focus by planing exactly what you need to achieve in a given time.

\- discipline your self by sticking at the required task

\- I plan thinking tasks in the morning, with short breaks. then in the
afternoon more unstructured tasks.

I also keep 2 browsers open for instance if I'm working. One for work, the
other for distraction. Then avoid looking at the distraction browser. Keep
posting, reading and non work activities to a minimum by scheduling time
wasters for short periods.

------
gyardley
In my experience, simple technical solutions (like hosts file site blocking)
force changes in behavior which end up strengthening your mental resolve -
you'll create a habit which you'll then stick to, even with a clear hosts
file.

You are what you do, not what you think.

~~~
vajorie
thinking is a doing as well?

------
cianestro
Try not to rationalize your troubles; doing so will only make them bigger,
that is to say there are no problems--only challenges. You cannot
conceptualize your work away, work can only be worked away. Once you have
followed this thread for a while you'll realize work is something infinite--to
which there is no end. For this reason, I have accepted that there are no
accomplishments in life and so I will never waste time patting myself on the
back, nor will I become upset if I do not finish something on time. Like the
great article about the "cult of busy" discussed, the more you glorify work
the harder it will seem to do.

------
stuntgoat
org-mode for emacs is great.

Prioritize your list of things to do. That way you only have 1 thing to do
next. It may seem daunting to have a pile, but if you line everything up in a
neat row, you can only see 1 thing to do until it is finished.

A good way to eliminate things from your immediate workload is to only do
things that will make your life more efficient. Some projects are fun but will
not make it easier to get more things done later.

If you have a unifying reason for completing a series of projects, that can
help inspire you- especially, if it is a great reason. I think I read
somewhere that Stravinsky said you have to force yourself to be inspired. . .

------
xcombinator
It is a complex issue. I read and watched videos and went to a lot of seminars
on psicology of productivity. "Read The Power of full engagement"(This is the
best book you can read ever!!) and create rituals.

I like investigating new technologies too, so I do it, with limits. I read HN
each day but no comments(it drains too much).

Emails and social media at the end of the day.

I do manage my emotional states, and schedule resting time.

I wrote down each day what I want to do(look at how many people here do the
same, it works).

Help other people without interest in mind.

Don't "fight" procrastination. Improve productivity(don't focus on your bad,
improve your strengths)

------
robinsmidsrod
I had the same problem myself. Yet again I would suggest to read the book Eat
That Frog by Brian Tracy. This book teaches you a set of methods to improve
your ability to get the right things done. It's available on O'Reilly Safari
(where I read it) and from Amazon.

<http://my.safaribooksonline.com/9781576754221/ch00>
[http://www.amazon.com/That-Frog-Great-Ways-
Procrastinating/d...](http://www.amazon.com/That-Frog-Great-Ways-
Procrastinating/dp/1583762027)

~~~
swah
Meta-comment: this Safari site advertises it has over _9000_ books and videos!
How is that going to attract people?

------
aufreak3
Hmmm.. I'll see if I can answer this tomorrow :P

Heheh .. more seriously sometimes I find my tendency to procrastinate is
telling me exactly what I should be putting off. So instead of going "I have
this stuff to do and I don't know where to start", I generally pick the
easiest and most fun of that list and do it first, even if the "top priority"
has to wait. Soon enough, my energy builds up and the pile is gone in a wink.

I'm not saying I never procrastinate (that'd be a lie), but when I do, I try
to pull myself into the above strategy. Usually works for me.

------
bemmu
Only thing that works for me is to do stuff I actually want to be doing. Right
now staring at my declining Google Analytics stats is enough to inspire me to
hack the code to reverse the trend.

------
froo
Oh, quick plug for rescuetime.

Go sign up for www.rescuetime.com

That should definitely help you when you can really see where you're wasting
your time with procrastination. It's definitely an eye opener.

------
phugoid
I find that I procrastinate the most in the early stages of a project.

First, it takes time to decide what to do first.

There's also the spoon effect. I just made that up. The first steps you take
still leave you so far away from your goal. But as you progress, say to the
half-way point, every action has a proportionately higher effect on your
progress. That's because I'm always focused on what's left. That last spoonful
takes care of 100% of what's left.

------
FreeRadical
I read somewhere the hardest part is starting tasks, so a combo of breaking
tasks into bit size pieces and starting each piece is probably the best
approach.

------
jaytee_clone
The solution that worked for me the most:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeboxing>

Plan out your schedule for the entire day (as detail as possible, i.e. when to
have lunch and for how long) the day before and follow it.

The key is to get into the habit of timeboxing. Forget about tricks. There's
no easy way out. You have a bad habit of procrastination. It will take much
effort to undo that.

------
tsally
My opinion is that procrastination is a symptom not a disease. The average
life span in the US is 78 years, and you're really only at your peak for about
50 of them. Ever have a year just fly by? Well that was 1/50th of the total
time you have.

To fight procrastination you have to ruthlessly eliminate the things you don't
want to do from your life.

------
prole
It's all in the mind. Framing is essential. As you've worded it, "[I need to]
buckle down and start working" sounds like the beginning a painful trek that
anyone would try to avoid. Instead, thinking about the exact same thing as
"[I] finally have the chance to play with this interesting problem" will do
wonders for self-motivation. As others have mentioned, it's not something that
changes overnight, and requires daily practice.

Now, I can already hear the little voices whispering in a few of your heads
"that's some optimistic bullshit, lying to yourself, etc." If you've read
_Self-Discipline in 10 Days_ , this nagging is said to come from a part of
your subconscious dubbed "Hyde." Here's a brief description from the book:

=== BEGIN ===

This Jekyll/Hyde approach is one of the more important concepts to understand
in your attempts to develop self- discipline. Time and time again,
participants in my workshops, seminars, and courses have reaffirmed that this
concept, understanding it and applying it, has been instrumental in their
self-discipline successes. So, you will begin by learning about how your
personal Hyde operates.

Hyde believes: If I begin a structured, organized journey toward any chosen
goal: \- I'll become a slave to routine \- I'll lose my freedom \- I'll lose
my sense of fun \- I'll drown in a sea of responsibilities \- I'll put too
much pressure on myself

We all have a rebellious side to our personalities that resists any form of
structure. We bring this rebellious seed from our childhood. One of the first
words a child learns to say emphatically is "NO." The child we once were still
lives inside us, and every child battles authority. Hyde, the name we will
call your inner childlike rebel, battles any form of authority, even if the
authority is you. Hyde subconsciously says: "Nobody can tell me what to do,
not even me."

=== END ===

I find that similar to the framing-work-tasks-as-WoW-quests mentioned above,
if I can tell myself that my projects are fun (and it helps if they are, which
is why I code as a hobby), I'll be eager to get cracking. That childish Hyde
character is still out for a good time, and mine still enjoys solving puzzles
if he thinks it'll be fun. A good litmus test is to try and explain what
you're doing to a non-techie. If you want to energetically share the details
of your project, you're doing something right! If you'd rather not discuss it
because it's "boring" or "work"... well, it's obvious where your
procrastination stems from.

------
daniel-cussen
I once looked high and low for habits to get me to stop procrastinating.

Now I take Ritalin (I have a classic case of ADD, which you might also suffer)
and it is willpower in pill form. I also drink a half-gallon of coke a day
(dissolved glucose for the win) which is the mental fuel ritalin is not.

~~~
dwwoelfel
You're not doing your body, and by extension your mind, any favors by drinking
5 cokes every day.

Here's a video titled _Sugar: The Bitter Truth_ that explains why:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM>

~~~
daniel-cussen
Thanks for that. I'll try to find a glucose-based drink now (if possible).

------
leif
This is sort of a technical solution, but as long as I'm working on something
that doesn't need a browser for reference (so, C programming, where I can look
up manpages), I just kill X and do my work on ttys. It helps you focus on only
one thing at a time.

------
Estragon
It really depends. You don't sound particularly excited by the "piles of work"
and "many projects to complete." Why do you want to finish them? When you
think about starting to work on them, what do you feel and think about?

------
jmonegro
Do _one small part_ of something, and you'll soon start doing the others.

------
Hates_
Ask yourself constantly "What is the most important thing I could be doing
right now?" and act on it.

Forget GTD and read "How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life", by Alan
Lakein.

------
cadalac
You have to see and fully understand the consequences of your procrastination,
and the benefit of doing your work, in order to fight procrastination.

~~~
neilk
Interesting. Do you have any techniques for making the consequences more
vivid?

------
raghus
I'll tell you later

------
zackattack
Do things that you are actually interested in. Seriously. It makes life MUCH
easier and it's easier to be productive.

That being said, willpower is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it
gets. Practice willpower whenever you can.. for example, try not zipping up
your jacket when it's cold. (I'm talking about mental-discomfort cold, not
hypothermia-cold.)

My friends are all amazed at my willpower at things like dieting, and the
truth is I just build willpower by practicing on the little things.

In conclusion, as Eckhart Tolle says, when used correctly, the mind is a
powerful tool. Otherwise, your mind uses you.

