

Letter to a Young Procrastinator: Some last-minute advice from a veteran slacker - robg
http://www.slate.com/id/2190918/pagenum/all/

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tdavis
Personally, I love finding solutions to problems that are new to me. I will
work for 20 hours straight on a coding problem, but once I actually solve the
problem I lose all interest. If, in the course of finding the solution, I
didn't fully implement it, there's a solid chance that if I'm not given a
deadline for finishing that implementation it will never be done; I'll have
already moved on to the next interesting puzzle.

~~~
mwmanning
I think this is the cause of death for a lot of my projects that could have
become successful businesses. Once I figure it out, I don't care any more.

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DaniFong
Maybe some humility would do you good, then? There's more to successful
businesses than most can predict.

~~~
izaidi
I sympathize with mwmanning, and I don't think it's a matter of humility; I
think it's that solving an interesting problem is often a much stronger
motivator than the prospect of making money -- that is, running a business, as
difficult and unpredictable as it is, sometimes isn't as much fun as fleshing
out an interesting idea.

I toss a lot of stuff on the scrap heap after "figuring it out," not because
I'm confident that I know exactly how to turn a profit from it, but because
what I'd rather do is move on to the next idea.

~~~
DaniFong
I sympathize as well; this certainly one of my 'faults', too. But there really
is value in completing things. Perhaps more importantly, a lot of otherwise
bright people can become quite conceited after having 'figured something out'.
One of the most valuable things about bringing something to completion is
that, on the way, it challenges assumptions.

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izaidi
Yeah, I totally agree. When you keep getting off on knowing you could do
something instead of actually doing it, the evidence on which you're basing
that knowledge starts to get pretty shaky.

~~~
mwmanning
I don't know what you mean by "getting off on" other than the fact that it's
fun to solve problems. It's not like I'm gloating about what I do. Most of the
little things I work on are completely private endeavors that I never even
talk to anyone about.

Knowledge is worth pursuing for its own sake; not everything is a competition.

~~~
izaidi
I meant it solely in the sense of deriving pleasure from the activity, and not
at all in the sense of gloating or competition.

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brk
Sounds like a great article. I plan to read this later, after a few rounds of
Guitar Hero III.

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Sam_Odio
I honestly think procrastination paid my way through school. When you don't
start studying for tests until a few hours before, you suddenly find yourself
with a lot of time on your hands.

The key was creating incentives that forced me to spend that free time on my
business. IE: artificial deadlines. Turns out clients are a great for this.
They become very disappointed when you don't do what you said you would, when
you said you would do it.

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tristian
I'm wondering if there is anyone here who could refute the claim in this
article: that once a chronic procrastinator, always a chronic procrastinator?
Someone who has managed to overcome their innate procrastinationess and can be
a source of hope for the rest of us.

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quellhorst
In "Buffett & Gates Go Back to School" Bill talks about overcoming
procrastination after getting out of school. He says it took over a year.

I found Getting Things Done and The Now Habit useful in fixing my
procrastination.

~~~
prakash
Thanks for that, interesting interviews.

Part 1: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3zBfBs-hBc>

Part 2: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ic1Ro4LkKw> \-- 5.40 minutes into it

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scott_s
I don't procrastinate because I'm lazy. I procrastinate only when doing the
task makes me feel uncomfortable. Reasons for discomfort are generally I don't
know how to do it, or the outcome is unsure and I'd rather not know.

I don't procrastinate to avoid work. I do it to avoid the feeling of
discomfort that comes with facing something I'd rather not.

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fallentimes
Interesting read, but I didn't agree with this:

"'Couldn't I be more like that kid if I put my mind to it?' No. You couldn't.
That kid will grow up to be a powerful politician or business leader. You
won't."

Procrastination != success or lack of success.

~~~
Goronmon
_Procrastination != success or lack of success._

I don't think that was the point of making that comment. I took it to mean
that if you really are a chronic procrastinator, you probably aren't going to
end up in a position where you will need to be super-organized and
disciplined. You may be the guy that develops that cool app that launches a
start-up into success, but you probably won't end up as the CEO of the large
company that is created as a result.

That's just my take, and I'm not speaking from a strong position of experience
or anything, haha.

~~~
dualogy
Makes me wonder, as non-native speaker: is "slacker" short-hand for "success
lacker"? ^^

~~~
eru
No. But I am not a native English speaker myself.

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maheshcr
Good article.

Procrastination is usually a sign of not being engaged with whatever is in
front. Laziness that vanishes with Guitar Hero, or any other interesting
activity, is not laziness.

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eru
Then what is true laziness? I seldom see people doing absolutely nothing.

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maheshcr
True laziness would be to have no ambition, or not to love anything enough to
pursue it. To be in love with a stalemate would be laziness.

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trekker7
I think the techniques the writer suggests are on the right track. If you feel
lazy about doing something, don't brute force yourself into getting it done;
there are more clever ways to hack the situation. Transform the task you have
to do into one that is much more fun, or figure out a way to accomplish your
goal without doing the task.

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daniel-cussen
Sounds like the author has a classic case of ADHD. He can't get around to
things unless it's an emergency, and when it is, he gets into a hyperfocus
mode. Sadly, the hyperfocus only happens when a person with ADHD truly thinks
he or she is in an emergency. That, and ritalin.

Of course, a friend of mine would leave his assignments for last minute. If an
essay was due at 7 a.m. before class, he'd set his alarm clock for 5 a.m. and
start the essay then. He did well on them, too. What amazes me is that he knew
what was best for him, despite teachers who sermonized about avoiding
procrastination.

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edw519
I think that for the rest of my life, every time I see the word
"procrastination", I'll think of my first pg essay (and the one that got me
hooked):

<http://paulgraham.com/procrastination.html>

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eznet
Maybe I will go roll a spliff now...

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patrickg-zill
Bookmark to read later.

