
At the End of a Procrastinated Day - pace
http://removed.posterous.com/at-the-end-of-a-procrastinated-day
======
alf
The Hemingway Trick: Stop in the middle. Never stop working at the natural
barriers. They next time you start working, the barrier will be the first
thing you encounter, and you won't have the momentum to overcome it. Try to
stop writing mid-chapter, or mid-sentence (or mid function). Know how to
finish, but stop working. The next time you start, you know exactly what needs
to be done. There will even be the _urge_ to start working to finish the
unfinished.

Nearing the end of a unproductive day, accept that the day was not productive,
start on what you will work on tomorrow, do a little, and stop in the middle.

~~~
skrebbel
Kent Beck calls this the "Red Test Pattern". If you do test-driven
development, check in your code, write one more test that fails, and only
_then_ stop working.

Works wonders for me.

~~~
bitops
Agree - this pattern is really underestimated.

I find it especially powerful at the end of a long day when you've been deep
in the details. When you come in the next morning and see that red test, you
"download" the context you were in much more quickly. I've also noticed that
you tend to remember little details and nuances more clearly.

------
kapitalx
For me, procrastination _always_ come from a lack of having a digestible plan
of attack.

When you find yourself procrastinating, figure out a _single_ next step for
your project, one single feature, or one single task in that feature that
needs to be done. If you know what your next step in the project is, you'll
have this urge to jump back in and do that task.

If you can't find that task, then you need to step back and look at your
project from a higher level and analyze it to see if you have a clear picture
of what you're trying to achieve.

Try it, it works wonders.

~~~
tomjen3
Since monday my home internet hasn't been working. Was told by tech support to
call them if it didn't work two hours after rebooting it.

My internet is important to me (and using an iPad with 3g wasn't a great
solution). The tech call wouldn't have taken more than 15 minutes. I had the
time.

Yet I procrastinated making the call. I might have made it, but the connection
started working today so I didn't.

The plan was simple. Pick up the phone. Dial the number.

Yet I didn't.

Not really sure why.

Heck I don't have any clean socks. I could easily pick the used one up from my
bed, put them in my laundry bag and put them in the machine. Yet I don't. It
is not like I don't know how or that I like not wearing socks.

So yeah the plan of attack is one thing, maybe it helps somebody, but it is
far from enough.

~~~
Tichy
Having to wash socks is incredibly depressing. Not sure what can be done about
it - perhaps move to a country where you wouldn't need socks, which would
probably also have more sunshine :-/

Or get floor heating, or a household hand? Maybe some bearable solution could
be found.

~~~
billswift
Wash socks when you want to procrastinate doing something worse. If there is
nothing in your life worse than washing socks, you really don't want to move,
you're already living in Shangri-la.

------
msutherl
I found this article on Less Wrong to be extremely useful: "How to Beat
Procrastination":
<[http://lesswrong.com/lw/3w3/how_to_beat_procrastination/>...](http://lesswrong.com/lw/3w3/how_to_beat_procrastination/>).
The article establishes The Procrastination Equation and outlines some
scientifically suggested techniques for increasing Motivation:

    
    
                     Expectancy x Value 
      Motivation = -----------------------
                    Impulsiveness x Delay
    

My notes on the article:

    
    
      Increase your expectancy of success.
      Increase the task's value (make it more pleasant and rewarding).
      Decrease your impulsiveness.
    
      Success Spirals:     small successes one after the other
      Vicarious Victory:   watch inspirational things, read books 
      Mental Contrasting:  imagine where you could be vs. where you are now
    
      Flow:     match the difficult of the task to your ability
      Meaning:  think about what you're doing and make it mean something
      Energy:   sleep, drink water, caffeine, exercise, cold water, music, de-clutter
      Rewards:  reward yourself for success
      Passion:  increase the value of the task
    
      Commit Now:    commit in advance (tie yourself to the mast)
      Set Goals:     break the ice, then daily goals
      Set Routines:  for instance, exercise every day

------
j_baker
I don't understand why some people beat themselves up so much over
procrastinating. Sure, it becomes a problem when you can't get anything done
because you're so busy procrastinating. But everyone has a day here and there
where they just can't be bothered to work on anything. Usually, it's a sign
that your brain needs a break. Listen to it! Take a break.

If it happens so often it interferes with your work, you need to address the
underlying issues. Do you enjoy what you're doing? Are you stressed out about
something outside of work? Your problem procrastinating won't go away until
you resolve those issues.

~~~
rhizome
So, my procrastination won't stop until I resolve the reasons for my
procrastination. Thanks!

~~~
kaizendc
Isn't he simply suggesting that we might want to address the problems, rather
than the symptoms?

------
tdavis
This may not apply to everyone, but I found the thing that consistently
removed my procrastination was simply to stop working in isolation. Whether
it's going to the office of an employer or renting a desk at a co-working
space, being around other people who are being productive worked wonders for
me.

I used to think there was some fundamental flaw with my psyche; I would
procrastinate quite often and always feel utterly depressed afterwards. Turns
out that external motivation and clear delineation between "work space" and
"play space" was all I needed. I still work _after_ work pretty often, but
usually on other projects. If I just sit around and watch TV or play video
games I don't feel badly about it because I know I just put in 8 hours of
solid programming, which is something I used to think myself utterly incapable
of.

If you're in an environment where watching Hulu all day is acceptable, find an
environment where it isn't. I practically guarantee it's all you'll need.

------
herbivore
I feel you. I've been procrastinating a project for 3 years already (yes 3
years). I write code maybe half of one day each week. The rest of the time I
do as you describe. I'm so ashamed of it I tell no one. Glad to have quite a
bit of savings.

~~~
3pt14159
I don't mean to come off as a dick, but switch projects. I procrastinated for
a month straight on something, as soon as I dropped the project the code
flowed.

~~~
herbivore
I did twice already. Both times because competitors beat me due to my chronic
procrastination.

~~~
3pt14159
Talk to a doctor, it seems like you suffer from something along the lines of
ADD. I have a friend that drastically improved his condition through
medication.

------
Sukotto
I find procrastination is a symptom, not the actual problem.

The very root of the problem is that I'm either faced with something I just
don't want to do or can see that the NEXT thing is something I really don't
want to face.

It usually means I need to do some introspection.

~~~
danso
Yes, this. I have no problem working when I'm excited about the work. If I'm
not excited, then it's usually some extra-curricular problem or the work is
not the kind of work that inspires me.

~~~
rane
Sometimes you just have to work on less interesting things, there's no way
around it.

~~~
Sukotto
There's a difference between dealing with a little boredom or muckwork in a
project (there's always some of that) and the sort of relentless, day-long,
can't do _anything_ procrastination the OP describes.

Sure, we all have those little jobs we don't want to do... But if you find you
just can't get _anything_ done for days at a time, it means your subconscious
is trying to tell you something. You'd be wise to try and figure out what, and
take steps to address the underlying problem.

------
perlpimp
I have been fighting somewhat winning battle with procrastination and it sums
up to a few things, key ones are: \- get a good nights sleep, having less then
8 hours of sleep lowers your IQ and therefore doing complex and rewarding work
its a catch 22, you go home feeling bad fret go to bed late. \- make a plan
before you go to sleep for the next day, visualize, conceptualize results in
your head - feel the accomplished goal. \- when you wake up focus and tell
yourself that you trust that you can be reach each one of those goals. goals
can be .. being focused and productive and feeling great! \- few pushups
crunches goes a long way at the beginning of the day. if you feel a bit tired
- i take a shot of double espresso before morning excerize, it all falls into
place.

Procrastination can be good if it is deliberate, like when you are stuck and
you can't move you can deliberately switch focus, take a nap read a book.

My 2c.

~~~
3pt14159
Honestly I find my IQ to be a hindrance for all but the most difficult coding.
Getting a night of 4 or 5 hours (half the mornings waking up naturally) does
wonders for my productivity.

Most of the time I'm not actually working on the math part of what I do
(building data analysis applications), I'm working on the glue code. Glue code
is terribly boring, but less so when your mind doesn't have the energy to
think about more complicated things. Also, TDD really helps because it makes
it feel more like a game where dots are XP tokens, but still. Also being
sleepy makes me more likely to just say "$#%@ it, I'll just roll it in C"
rather than trying to reduce an O(n __3) to a O(nlog(n)).

Hmmm. After writing all that out, I came to the realization I need a vacation.

------
gabaix
I found a way to reduce procrastination, while enjoying some of it. I
alternate a procrastinate day with days of non-procrastination.

For one day, I am allowed to watch as many movies as I want, play chess, do
whatever useless and enjoyable I might want. Then I would do variable periods
without procrastinating. This could be 1 day, 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month. It
depends on your other priorities, work, family, achievements. During those
periods, I have blacklisted the things I usually do when procrastinating. When
I go back to my procrastination day, I am very happy since it has been a while
I have watched a movie, trailer or play chess.

This is very similar to some drug-addiction techniques, and I found it worked
for me very well. If you feel bad and haven't tried that yet, try that and let
me know how it went.

~~~
sukuriant
So ... you've scheduled in breaks and call them 'procrastination days',
because 'break' or 'vacation' or 'sanity holiday' sound wasteful?

~~~
gabaix
You're right, those are breaks.

------
JamesAn
How I kicked the same problem:

Spend a day procrastinating. Contemplate how unpleasantly wasteful it was
(even if it felt superficially 'fun' at the time.)

Spend time being productive. Contemplate how I enjoyed doing it, and how I
enjoyed _having done it_.

Consider the contrast between a day spent (in my case) learning C++ versus a
day messing around on Reddit.

I don't have to make an effort any more. After my allotted procrastination
time is up, I lose interest, and start to feel drawn towards my studies. It's
like an internal productivity timer that automatically dampens my enthusiasm
for wasteful activities and makes me keen to return to my books. I guess this
is what it feels like to be hypnotized into disliking chocolate and into
preferring healthier snacks.

~~~
TheEzEzz
Just a friendly caution: overcoming procrastination to study is very different
than overcoming procrastination to work. I'm not exactly sure why. Perhaps
because learning is more passive than producing. Perhaps because learning
usually feels _productive_ , like you're permanently gaining something,
whereas a lot of work will lead you to question the purpose of the work
itself, and usually doesn't compound in value of time.

------
angkec
Here's a realization that scared me to death that I don't procrastinate any
more: The whole life only exists in the current moment. The reason being that
the past doesn't exist any more, and the future has yet to come into
existence. Hence all my life exists only in the current moment.

This leads to the conclusion that if I procrastinate for even a bit moment,
I'm wasting away all my life. This is the most scary conclusion I've ever had
and it works wonders to drag me back to work.

~~~
kbatten
It seems to me that working away all your life isn't any better that "wasting
away" all your life.

~~~
angkec
You don't need to work every minute. All you need to do is to not waste it
away. So go skiing for a full day is still considered making good use of the
current moment than reading reddit. For me, I think not wasting my life away
means I'm either contributing to the society by working or I'm making my self
a better person by working out, skiing, reading books etc.

~~~
dudurocha
The problem is the half-assed work/activities.

I think you have to be fully engaged in any activity you are making. If you
want to relax, relax in a full paced way. Not worrying about the work you have
to make. If you must work, work in a fast-paced way, and make the job done.

The worst kind of works is the one multi-tasked. You dont get in a 'flow'
state that is necessary for the most jobs people here in hacker news makes.

Two books are very good in the matter, The power of full engagement
<http://amzn.to/vdS1Tc> and Flow <http://amzn.to/t2bed6>

~~~
_delirium
I can see that being good practical advice for getting things done, but I'm
less sure it's good (or at least universal) life advice, especially to follow
all the time. My model for a good day spent is a lot of intermingled puttering
around, reading, thinking, relaxing, working, to make unexpected connections
between things, find new angles on problems, and generally understand how
everything fits together better. Like the way a Douglas Hofstadter book
"flows". I really, _really_ dislike the "work-hard / play-hard" lifestyle;
just doesn't work for me at all.

------
obilgic
I think procrastinating is one of the most obvious symptoms of low EQ. You are
just to emotional, you feel extremely unmotivated because you do not want to
do what you need to do(studying etc). You just can not overcome your emotions
and you do what ever your emotions want you to do, which is procrastinating
and feeling better for this moment of time.

Emotions do not care about what you will feel in the future, they just care
about what you feel right now. Procrastinating makes people happy. It is some
type of addiction. You just can not ignore your emotions, and you do what
makes you happy right now which is procrastinating.

------
wattjustin
As some say, procrastination may be a symptom not an actual problem I think
the less "tools" you have to procrastinate with the better. My top
recommendation that I think has helped me become more productive within the
past month is deleting all bookmarks and apps involving Reddit. Yes, it is
just one site and you can easily replace it with another time filler but it is
easy to get lost on that site for quite some time each day. Replace "Reddit
time" with work and you can gain back some time to complete tasks each day.
It's working for me and I don't really miss it.

------
daenz
I'm with the "it's ok to procrastinate sometimes" camp. Lot's of exercise
plans include a "junk day" where you're allowing yourself to eat whatever you
want without guilt. The reason is because it's good to reward yourself with
something you like, and because it's near impossible to continue at something
forever without little breaks.

From the sounds of it, maybe your "junk day" breaks aren't regular enough to
keep you balanced, and you've reached an overloaded point.

Take regular breaks, don't feel guilty, and your net productivity will
benefit.

~~~
jarin
Here's something I noticed:

If I spend all day browsing around the web unproductively, I don't feel
motivated at all.

If I say "You know what, I'm not getting anything done. I'm going to play
video games for a few hours.", I feel energized to get work done afterward.

I think it's the fact that browsing aimlessly is like knowing you need to run
an errand and then sitting in the car with your hands on the wheel, but not
turning the key. It's close enough to what you SHOULD be doing that you feel
even worse that you're not getting things done. If I take a break to play a
game or read a book or something, it's an explicit transition between
activities.

------
ebiester
My trick is mindful meditation, even two or three minutes is often enough to
get me back on track.

~~~
babebridou
Mine is to just stand up, push the volume a bit and start dancing as if the
world was ending outside. This is so satisfying!

------
outside1234
my tactic: if you are burned out on coding, stop and do something else
positive:

* go for a run * do an errand that has to be done anyway * balance your checkbook

This gets your mind on something else which is probably the problem - we
aren't meant to stare at a screen doing exactly the same things over and over
for 8 hours.

And remember, you are not alone in this. No depression allowed - you are not
weak, you are human.

~~~
mrleinad
Doesn´t work for me. After I get my mind off the issue at hand and do an
errand, when I come back I´m at the same position I was before. Sometimes even
worse, because of the context switching.

------
eps
You know how sometimes you are reading a book and then at some point you
realize that you have no idea what the last few paragraphs were about. There
was a study that traced this sudden loss of comprehension to the first word
that didn't make sense. Anything between that word and the current position
was read, but not understood.

I am guessing the procrastination is similar. I would be working and it all
would be flowing along, but then I would hit a problem. Something stupid, like
having several variable names 5 characters each, and needing another variable,
but not being able to find a 5 char name for it. And that's it. I will just
keep idling here.

The remedy in both cases is to realize there was an unknown word or a
stumbling block, explicitly identify it and work around it. This really works,
though YMMV.

------
jronkone
> I've still no clue why humans procastrinate.

I've still no clue why people consider doing stuff so important.

------
wwdevries
Just start. Usually the problem is that you unnecessarily look up to your
tasks. You think it's boring, difficult, or you don't know where to start.
Just start. Once you start, you get into a positive flow and become motivated
to finish it.

------
zalew
> I've still no clue why humans procastrinate

[http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/mkwf2/why_do_hum...](http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/mkwf2/why_do_humans_procrastinate_and_how_can_it_be_beat/c31rsxx)

------
overshard
I have this exact same problem and I just have to get started. I don't start
because I know a task is going to be a lot of work but that work will go away
if I just get started. It's difficult and I think all coders deal with it.

------
harryf
> I've still no clue why humans procrastinate.

I do - it's a sign you need a rest and a sign you've been doing too much of
the same and some variety is required. Take a day off, do something different,
get some fresh input.

------
NiceOneBrah
Check out the excellent book "Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About
It Now" by Burka and Yuen. I discovered it via a HN comment and figure I
should repay the favor.

------
apurvamehta
I can't believe that this has been up 8 hours without any mention of Steven
Pressfield's "The War of Art" (<http://www.stevenpressfield.com/the-war-of-
art/>)

This lays bare the root of procrastination. It is also provides forceful,
direct ways for dealing with it. I don't know a single person who has read it
and not taken something positive away.

And it's a really quick read. I went through it in an evening.

------
hndl
Procrastination shouldn't just suck, it should be unacceptable. Don't tolerate
it. No excuses. Not even if it's "just today".

Close everything! Ask yourself why you're not enjoying your work today. If
you're not enjoying what you're doing, do something about it. Either finish
it, so you can move on to something you enjoy. If that's not the case, talk to
someone about how boring your stuff is and _fix_ this problem.

DON'T ACCEPT PROCRASTINATION!

------
namank
You know, I think its a manifestation of anxiousness about the work. Haven't
figured out why this happens but I've seen that it is easier to overcome when
I'm 1. working on a passion project 2. Working in a group.

Passion project point is really interesting because this implies that all
other projects have something my(our?) subconscious is not quite comfortable
with...but what is this??

Is it that I'm scared to attempt this new project for the fear of failure? Or
is it that I'm too comfortable with it and therefore don't think its worth my
time? Or is it because doing(attempting) this project will take me down an
unknown route?

Ah!! So many possibilities...but I'm slowly learning to overcome this. One
thing that works for me on a bad day: First think about the big picture of
what needs to be done and how to go about it (sequentially) - I find this
provides me with a _time perception_ of the project, that I can visualize what
steps are involved in completing this project. Then just start the project!
Just start it without thinking anymore and pretty soon its been 2 hours and
you're almost done with phase 1!

------
firichapo
I find that procrastination, at least in my personal case, is strongly
correlated to the amount of work I have pending. I tend to procrastinate when
I a light work load. I find that I can focus on task when there is a heavy
load. Well, at least now days, back when I was a student it was quite a
different story and I guess I changed because of that experience.

------
narrator
At the beginning of the day when I'm lying in bed, after looking at my
calendar and reading the morning email when I get up, I picture myself going
through my whole day in my mind. Whenever I get stuck in the middle of the
day, I take some time to let my right brain image stream through the rest of
my current task, which usually gets me back on track.

------
mrleinad
Something that helps when acknowledging I´m procrastinating is to fast forward
to the future and think: How will I feel after I´ve wasted a perfectly good
day doing nothing, when the day before I told myself I was so going to do all
of those things?

Getting myself out of the present, in a nutshell.

------
peteforde
It's extremely important to be working on the right thing. That's why some
things just don't feel like work.

<http://www.humblepied.com/jessica-hische/>

I find Jessica's perspective refreshing. I try to end almost every talk I give
by quoting her.

------
brandoncor
Reading that was pretty eery since I just ate a banana, got a glass of water
from the kitchen, have Chrome open with 20 tabs (including, obviously, Hacker
News) and have a Pomodoro Android app within reach. The only thing that
snapped me out of it was that my app was free.

~~~
dudurocha
The only difference to me is that I'm reading a book in my kindle, and I use
the e.ggtimer.com/pomodoro to work.

Feels bad man.

~~~
potomak
Same for me, but using <http://tomatoes.heroku.com>

------
cycojesus
A very sad post. Even sadder when to know it represents my exact thoughts...
most of the time.

------
shreeshga
Procrastination is also because of a tired mind. I get spaced out after a
long/hectic week and lose a day or two without realizing. Then I just work on
something else which dosent need too much brain-work [read: blogging]

------
hammock
Relevant: [http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/job-fails-
monday...](http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/job-fails-monday-thru-
friday-not-a-lot-of-takers-strangely-enough.gif)

------
sheldor
I don't get why stories like this make it to the first page of HN. Seriously.

~~~
rane
I have a problem with procrastination.

Seeing this post has led me to possible solutions to the problem.

~~~
sheldor
There are a million sites on the Internet about procrastination and you found
your solution in a mediocre (at best) 15 line blog post? Google. Seriously.

~~~
dudurocha
The solution is not on the post, is in the comments.

So you think that the solution for procrastination is google for it? I see
this approach going all way around, and making people procrastinate more. Here
in hn we can listen to other peers, that have the same problem and have good
solutions.

~~~
zalew
sheldon wonders why a lazy few lines post "hey, my day today was a lazy day,
why is it so? I dunno, lol" is considered valuable enough to be upvoted, and
submitted in the first place. how is it insightful in any way?

~~~
roryokane
I think it’s a little bit insightful in that it highlights how not-fun
procrastination is, even while we’re doing it (“Procrastination is the worst
feeling ever”). A reminder of that feeling, which we often forget when we
desire to procrastinate, can give people a little extra motivation to avoid
procrastination.

------
baby
Finally a post that talk about procrastination without giving advice away.

Because really, I've read them all. I'm pretty sure I could do a PHD about
procrastination. The thing is, I would never start it.

------
ed209
This question: Why do humans procrastinate, and how can it be beat? prompted
an excellent reply from Sneering.

"People overestimate the value of the reward if the reward is imminent, and
increasingly discount the value of the reward, the further away it is in
time."

Worth a read if are interested in neuroeconomics [who knew?].

[http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/mkwf2/why_do_hum...](http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/mkwf2/why_do_humans_procrastinate_and_how_can_it_be_beat/c31rsxx)

------
stupidhurts
It's pretty simple:

When you procrastinate your day away, at the end of the day you feel like a
shit.

When you work hard and deliver, at the end of the day you feel like a boss.

I'm going to keep feeling like a boss :)

------
goblin89
At least one post I've read here on HN while ‘procrastinating’ influenced my
life quite significantly (in a measurable way). More than pretty much any
number of hours spent working instead would. That made me reconsider my
classification of activities as useful and useless. What matters more is
probably willingness to take action or something along these lines (haven't
thought this through yet).

------
vanni
Lot of posts about procrastination past days here on HN. This confirms my
feeling that this is a real and widespread issue. Even for startuppers.

[On topic shameless plug] This is why I'm building asaclock
(<http://www.asaclock.com>), an anti-procrastination web community for startup
single founders and people working on side projects.

------
wtracy
One partial solution for me: Buy a netbook that won't run any of my favorite
games. Work on this netbook, from a location that has no internet access, if
necessary.

If you need internet access to do your work, go to a public location (say,
Starbucks) where you'd be embarrassed to be caught Youtubing.

------
poodougnut
I'm procrastinating reading the comments to this post.

~~~
grusk
Same. I just webmarked it along with hundreds of other articles and youtube
videos to check out later.

------
lazyeye
Tales of mere existence - Procrastination

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItMFWpKofSg>

------
evoltix
I find that writing things down on paper in a divide-and-conquer fashion
really help in battling procrastination.

------
billpatrianakos
I'm having one of those days today and I need help! The while week has been
that way. It sucks. I know much of my procrastination is due to burnout. I
totally burned myself out and now I need to recover. But sometimes recovery
isn't an option when you've got deadlines to meet. Sometimes you've got no
choice. So now it's off to try to force myself to finish and hope to God I end
up with just enough time to take a long enough break to recover.

