
Fooling myself to work - jirinovotny
http://www.dextronet.com/blog/2011/04/10-best-tricks-of-fooling-myself-to-work/
======
dasil003
A pretty good list of tips, however I've gotten more mileage over the years by
digging deeper into my procrastination to understand its roots. Most often
than not there is some fear or dissatisfaction tied to the procrastination
that needs to be heard. Checking in with myself and becoming aware of these
deeper feelings forms the foundation on which long term productivity is
possible.

~~~
praptak
Seconded. _Forcing_ or _fooling_ myself to do something is a symptom of an
internal split - one part "forces" and the other resists. Going to the roots
of both parts (Why do I want to do this task? Why do I resist doing it?)
usually helps.

There's also a good book about the usual suspects behind the resistance and
some weapons against them. "The Now Habit" by Neil Fiore. Fear of not doing
the task perfectly, unconscious resistance to authority, etc.

~~~
Hisoka
I agree. Fooling yourself to work is something you may need to do temporarily,
but if you need to do this on a consistent basis, maybe you need to reevaluate
your life, and make a change. Life shouldn't be about forcing yourself to do
things

------
Stormbringer
To do lists are great.

Having your subconscious solve the hard puzzles for you is great at the
time... but I wonder whether that has a flow on effect to insomnia. You want
your brain to be thinking, working, but sleeping is supposed to be rest
time...

Perhaps there are short term vs long term trade offs.

I've been experimenting with caffeine. So far I'm getting some surprising
results. Amongst hackers the common view is that it makes you faster or even a
little bit smarter or more productive. What I've found though is that it
actually makes you more _impatient_. Being impatient and wired to a high level
of alertness may mean that you pump out a lot of code ... but what is the
quality of it?

Really good code requires really deep thinking, and caffeine driven impatience
is counter-productive.

Also, it makes it harder to get to sleep...

~~~
jirinovotny
The brain is working anyway, when you sleep. This just directs it a bit.

When you whip a horse, it runs faster too. Caffeine is like whipping your
heart. IMHO the long-term consequences of caffeine consumption do not outweigh
the short-term gains.

Also, green tea (sencha anyone?) is healthier.

I also think that if you lack energy, you should rather "debug" your
lifestyle.

~~~
marchdown
I love me some sencha! >Green tea is helathier. Could you perhaps link to any
reasearch backing up that claim? Anecdotal evidence is fine, too.

------
Void_
If you don't feel like working, start writing about it.

Remember that scene in Social Network when Mark would come to his room angry,
and start blogging?

I don't know why, by that works for me when I'm lazy to work. Writing is easy,
it's just putting your thoughts on the paper. And we like to write.

So why not start writing about what you have to do, and why you have to do it.
Spend a few minutes doing it, and you will find yourself working.

This happened to me this morning. I'm working on a little project of mine, and
I can't get myself to open up Xcode and start coding.

I recalled I had to write an email to my teacher, explaining this project and
why it's so cool. I wrote that email and it really got me going.

Now I'm writing this comment and that helps too.

------
xiaoma
I've found a couple of those tips really useful in this past year. Since I'm a
student in China and working on art projects as well as programming, I'm not
quite so focused on the computer. But having a checklist on paper is probably
the biggest improvement I've made.

When a list is on my desk, I don't even have to think about what I want to
work on. It's just right there and it's easy to get to it. Checking things off
is also a great feeling. Thus far, I haven't felt the need to subdivide tasks
(tip#1) since the biggest obstacle for me isn't confusion. It's just a matter
of the inertia of getting started. Once I'm actually sketching something or
doing HW, it's very easy to lose track of time and find that I've worked for
an hour or two and it's done.

------
csomar
_I tell myself that I will merely write down the steps needed to complete the
task. Just a rough draft, at first, and that’s it. Maybe just 3 steps. I then
add more steps, breaking the 3 steps into smaller sub-tasks. I then add some
details, and thoughts, notes of things that I shouldn’t forget when doing this
task. I just think the task through and write everything down. After a little
while, I will be a proud author of “The Complete Guide To Finishing Task X for
Dummies”._

I have exactly the same problem, but I don't think it's laziness. I think it's
the fear of failure, or more precisely the fear and uncertainty of being able
to do a task. Breaking the task down into smaller steps, make you able to
overcome that fear but not procrastination.

------
dreyfiz
Maybe someone will see this late comment:

Do The Work, by Steven Pressfield, is free on Amazon for Kindle (you could
read it on your computer or smartphone, too) for now, so grab it! His War of
Art changed my life. Understanding the nature of Resistance is incredibly
important.

<http://www.amazon.com/Do-the-Work-ebook/dp/B004PGO25O>

~~~
becomevocal
Awesome book man. Thanks for the heads up!

------
srgseg
Counter-experience to 2. Not eating at the computer:

I used to take a break to eat food - I'd watch TV or read a magazine while
eating. However, this context switch would be costly, and when I got back to
the computer, I'd be starting to get tired from digesting the food.

By coding while eating slowly, I was able to realise massive productivity
gains. This only works if, like me, you don't mind eating luke warm food.

Then, instead, I'd take the break/nap after eating, and would not have my
productivity affected by the energy spent digesting the food.

~~~
stephth
You can also figure out what foods (and quantities) make you less sleepy. I
recently found out that rice works better for me than wheat based carbs.

------
bitwize
Pretend you are grinding for gold and experience?

~~~
jirinovotny
or rather stop pretending you are not (:

~~~
sskates
I look forward to the day where we have stat tracking of everything we do in
real life.

~~~
Devilboy
Would you purchase a device that did this for you somehow?

~~~
sskates
Absolutely. There would have to be almost no overhead in using it though.

------
forensic
I actually like your advice but it's such an obvious sales pitch for your
software.

Your ulterior motives make me nauseous.

P.S. I would probably try your software if it wasn't stuck in windows land.
Why not make a WebApp?

~~~
jirinovotny
Thanks. If I didn't use it, I wouldn't mention it.

Well, Windows land is our niche. Once we get the online synchronization and a
companion web-app (with support for mobile devices) going, we will have kinda
unique product combo.

~~~
roel_v
Actually, Toodledo is a free online service (free for the 'light' version) and
syncs with many apps - mobile of all sorts, desktop (Win/Linux/Max), has API,
...

It's very cool and not to be dissing your product, but if you'd just add
Toodledo sync you'd have all bases covered (you can't compete if you will try
to develop apps for all these platforms yourself).

------
mrschwabe
#9 is perhaps the best tip (start thinking about your most important task
before you goto sleep). Particularly in combination with #3 (do a specific
task first thing when you wake up and start at the computer).

I find that 'working momentum' is highest beginning as soon as the computer
turns on in the morning. For this reason, each day I will typically schedule 3
hours of focus on one specific task/project/vision; before doing anything
else. Trust me, anything you focus on for a solid 3 hours a day will
eventually get done... probably sooner than you expect.

~~~
lutorm
I'm not so sure about that. Thinking about work before going to sleep is also
a pretty good way to make it hard to fall asleep, especially if it's something
stressful. And lack of sleep is my #1 cause of loss of work efficiency.

~~~
MichaelGG
Exactly. I only fall asleep thinking about a problem if it's something that is
"hard". For instance, coming up with an algorithm I haven't been able to get
quite right during the day. If I do that, I usually don't sleep very well. My
dreams are filled with odd representations of the problem (once, an old man
yelling various time complexities at me). When I do wake up, I often have a
good fresh new idea to try out.

But, it's taxing. Nothing good has come of sleeping on a stressful problem, or
common work where I know more or less what to do.

------
pw
Did anyone else realize that English must be the author's second language?

Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm just always amazed by the
little clues that are behind by otherwise proficient non-native speakers.

~~~
justlearning
".. always amazed by the little clues that are behind by otherwise proficient
non-native speakers."

could you elaborate?

~~~
FaceKicker
I'll go through the article, posting some very nitpicky corrections until I
get bored. These will all be arguable and my "corrected" versions are of
course non-unique and probably themselves very imperfect. Personally I
initially scanned the article so fast that I didn't really notice any of the
phrasing oddities...

> If we want to achieve any kind of bigger success

This sounds awkward to me. Perhaps "In order to be successful" would work
better?

> because I have some tricks how to fool myself into work

s/tricks how to fool myself into work/tricks for fooling myself into working/

> When it seems that I really do not feel like working

This one isn't that bad, but it's sort of strange; the kind of thing I'd
imagine someone with an accent would say. I'd take out the "it seems that" and
change the "do not" to "don't" (I think the "really" in combination with the
"do not" is awkward).

> I even do not enjoy the food that much this way, as my mind is shattered by
> 5 different things.

s/I even do not enjoy/I don't even enjoy/ Also, "shattered" is an odd word to
use. I guess I'd say something like "my focus is split among 5 different
things" or something like that.

Anyway, I'm tired of this now. As I said, very nitpicky. Not to mention,
native English speakers phrase things awkwardly all the time.

~~~
jirinovotny
Awesome! Thanks for the "kick in the face" :) Fixed as suggested.

------
oscardelben
One tip that I'm experimenting right now is to stay at the computer only when
I know exactly what I'm going to do. Thinking and breaks have to be done out
the computer with old pen and paper.

------
HedgeMage
Linking once to something you use or something you made that you are proud of
is awesome. Getting that spammy about it caused me not to finish the post.

~~~
jirinovotny
Thanks for the advice! I've removed the extra links. For some reason, it has
never occurred to me.

~~~
gruseom
_For some reason, it has never occurred to me._

Probably your software is so inextricably part of your life that the thought
of a world (let alone a blog post) without it never occurs to you.

It's a good post. The reason you're getting criticized ("spammy", "self-
promoting", etc.) is that it breaks the informal conventions that have evolved
for such hybrid (good content plus product promotion) posts. One is to give
the reader a clear heads-up that the post falls in both categories.

In the absence of that signal, the flow for me went like this: 1. A blog post
about improving productivity? Cool. I like productivity. 2. Hmm, this guy
isn't an idiot. Guess I'll keep reading. 3. Some of these points seem useful,
I wonder how I could apply them? (In the meantime, completely missing the
first mention/link to your product). 4. Further down, dimly noticing the
product name, but not thinking about it. 5. Recognizing the third mention of
the product - what's that? Seems vaguely familiar. 6. Finally: oh, I get it.
This is software he's selling and the whole post has (also) been about this.
7. I feel like a bit of a dupe. No like. Bail.

The only reason why 7 occurred is that the post didn't set my expectation
correctly at the start, so I read it with a wrong expectation, then had the
unpleasant experience of reality contradicting it. It's actually the fact that
the content was good enough to absorb my attention that led to this; otherwise
I would have noticed the other details right away.

~~~
jirinovotny
That makes perfect sense. Thank you for the detailed explanation, I see the
issue now clearly. I've learned something.

------
aaronf
_"Although Swift To-Do List is awesome ;-), good old physical paper has an
intricate quality that no software can offer: It exists outside of your
computer. When I have 1-3 super-important tasks, I often write them down on an
actual physical paper, and put the paper in front of me."_

Do you really think software cannot replace pen & paper completely? Shouldn't
that be the goal of any task management software? Why not build this way to
focus on the top 1-3 tasks into your product?

~~~
jirinovotny
I think it just can't.

There is nothing like coming to your desk, and seeing the paper _before_
turning your computer on.

But Swift To-Do List can help you focus, sure. For example, it has inbuilt
time-tracker: You can start time tracking for any task - a small window
(always on top by default) will appear, counting the time spent on your task.

------
Terry_B
I find writing out the instructions to be very helpful as a start as well. If
I'm really struggling to get started on something I tend to divide myself into
Thinking Me and Robot Me.

Thinking Me just starts writing out the dot points on how to do something,
because thinking is easy right? Then Robot Me just starts following the
instructions, because simply following instructions is also easy. Can even
listen to your favourite music while doing it.

Then next thing you know, you're under way...

------
cma
In a recent radiolab, other tricks creatives use were discussed:

<http://www.radiolab.org/2011/mar/08/>

------
gohat
This is fairly blatant self promotion. That said, these are really good ideas.

Decomposing a task into what needs to be done to do it is really effective.

~~~
lawnchair_larry
I think there becomes a point at which self-promotion becomes ok, providing
that the magnitude of the self-promotion is commensurate with the
contribution. I feel that the author met that in this case, and I did not feel
spammed.

Edit: Judging by the other comments, it appears that the author may have
edited the post already to be less spammy. In any case, the current version
has a good balance.

------
Void_
So what todo list software do you use?

~~~
navs
I've always liked Notational Velocity for OS X. It's minimal but functional.
The latest version has some impressive todo features as described here:
<http://scrodlog.notational.net/notational-velocity-204>

------
will_lam
Nice list of productivity lifehacks. I use a combination of Rescuetime
Premium, LeechBlock for Firefox to prevent any slacking in case I'm tempted.
In the meantime I use FocusBooster (Pomodoro technique) to keep the pressure
on :)

------
dbuizert
I hope to be working outside the house soon. That will change a lot since I am
not distracted by stuff that goes on here. (Live across tram track, hospital
and behind all that there is a firehouse)

------
OhArgh
"Not eating at the computer" - was eating lunch while reading this :)

------
sktrdie
That was a great read until I realized he was mentioning the To-Do List
software way to much... great way to let people buy your software :).

~~~
becomevocal
I'd much rather read an article that has a couple quick insights, like this
one, than the millions out there that are indeed just omg-how-great-is-this-
product landing pages.

\+ I give credit to those who code and create (valid) content. One is hard
enough. ;)

------
panacea
Cognitive dissonance hacks?

------
jbverschoor
Very good tips.

------
farout
I can not recall that exact title of the book something about ants and
elephants (looked on amazon - did not recognize those books) but these are my
takeaways from it:

1\. state your goals

2\. write down your milestones - must be actual measurable metrics

3\. write reasons why you will not reach them - expect the unexpected; yes you
can not expect all the unexpected but this is preparing you so that when there
are issues, which are guaranteed to happen, this is how you need to respond
without your emotions totally taking over.

4\. Write down what you will do when you encounter these problems. Again be
specific. Think of this a as a recipe book/play book.

5\. write down the rewards you will give to yourself for each milestone
achieved. You need to put a positive feedback loop as incentive. Worked in
kindergarten with goldstars.

6\. and from the another book: Influencer: The Power to Change Anything answer
the 2 Qs:

Do I think I can do it? (meaning skills and resources)

Is it worth it to me to do it?

Wow, a lot of work? Sure is. Worth it. Yes.

~~~
dreeves
That last one is similar to my litmus test for Akrasia
[<http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Akrasia>]:

    
    
        1. How certain are you that you *want* to do it?
        2. How certain are you that you *can* do it?
        3. How certain are you that you *will* do it?
    

If your answers are "absolutely", "definitely", and "given historical
evidence, not entirely" then this is classic akrasia. I think the only
solution in that case is some form of self-binding. See
<http://blog.beeminder.com/akrasia>

~~~
farout
Very interesting.

Here is a nice synopsis of a case studied in the Influencer book about the
Carter Center helping to rid Guinea worm infections in several African
countries: <http://www.joshhunt.com/mail215.htm>

I have problem accepting your conclusion from your blog:To make the long-term
consequences of failing at your goal immediate, you need a bright and painful
line.

I think it more complex than that, which you alluded to earlier. I am
constantly trying to be a better me. Losing money would not be an incentive to
me if milestones were not met as you recommended.

The book, "Change or Die", talks about Dick Cheney needing a yearly heart
bypass and then finally getting $6M/invested in chefs/fitness
trainers/doctors/retrofitted planes to change himself (basically to exercise 1
hour a day). This is even before his recent massive weight loss.

It also talks about, people with fatal diseases that refuse to take their
daily meds as required. Why? I mean it is fatal. They will die.

Taking the pill every day made them realize they were dying. Forgetting to do
so, made them have a happier less depressing day. I guess quality versus
quantity. In this case if the pill was somehow better integrated, so they
would not notice it much and reflect so much, they might consistently take it.

I also liked this synopsis of take aways from this MS project manager about
the Influencer. the Power to Change Anything:
[http://sourcesofinsight.com/2009/06/09/influencer-the-
power-...](http://sourcesofinsight.com/2009/06/09/influencer-the-power-to-
change-anything/)

Also, you may have already seen this, Sendhil Mullainathan's, "THE IRONY OF
POVERTY" <http://www.edge.org/documents/archive/edge263.html> in which he
talks one such problem diarrhea causing infant deaths and how to successfully
change the mental model of the parents to save infant lives.

I have not yet read PG's essay.The Wikipedia article was a nice read. Thanks!

PS There are some interesting books on how train and change behaviors in
animals since I think in end we more like animals than we care to admit.

~~~
farout
Read PG's article. Ok.

The smoking issue was interesting. In the book, Lady Drinking Tea, which
explores how modern statistics came to be (BTW excellent read - fun), RA
Fisher, the father of modern statistics, argued that lung cancer and smoking
were correlated and you can NOT determine causation based on that.

For 60 years this smoker attacked everyone who disagreed. He was brilliant but
still an asshole. He died from lung cancer, apropos. Soon after smoking was
targeted again as a cause for lung cancer and many lives were saved since
Fisher was no longer there attacking them.

~~~
miked
_He died from lung cancer, apropos._

He died from colon cancer.

[http://www.bookrags.com/highbeam/r-a-fishers-life-and-
death-...](http://www.bookrags.com/highbeam/r-a-fishers-life-and-death-in-
australia-hb/)

~~~
farout
You are right. My bad. Memory going. Should have confirmed.

------
gcb
Tried all that. Work for some days, then I completely start to forget to check
my notes for whats next and idle on the internets

------
mrleinad
Can't fool myself. I'm too smart.

~~~
praptak
"If our own minds were simple enough for us to understand them, we'd be too
dumb to understand them anyway."

