

You’re Procrastinating Without Even Realizing It - mixmixmix
http://codepreneur.tumblr.com/post/57158314704/youre-procrastinating-without-even-realizing-it

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nine_k
There's a difference between procrastination and play.

Children play all the time. They don't usually engage in orderly head-down
strictly optimal activities unless parents or school forces them.

Still, children learn a lot of stuff. (Have you tried to learn a language in 3
years without a single grammar book and no dictionaries? That's what babies do
playing.)

Grown-ups can optimize their activities and learn the urgently necessary
things faster, while also doing the chores that win them bread (and hopefully
some bacon). But stopping to learn random related things, stopping to _play_
with things that are related with whatever makes them "productive" is a
mistake.

Well, maybe one can learn how to fell trees or milk cows in one year and then
never have to learn anything new. I suppose that HN crowd is not like that.

Any member of the IT crowd is facing a constantly changing landscape. There's
no chance to stay relevant in 10 years unless you constantly learn about a lot
of things and take time to get your hands dirty with some of them. Often you
don't have a chance to learn many new things while being paid for it, so you
have to find time and _play_ with them.

This playing gives you experience that may be relevant and valuable for your
next gig. it may _land_ you on your next gig.

~15 years ago I started to play with then-immature Python, Java, and Web, on
my free time that I could be spending on making more money. In a few years I
found out that people with experience in this are in demand, and eventually it
led mo to a job at JetBrains, writing a top Python IDE in Java. (Regarding the
Web technologies — should I even comment?..) Have I not played with Linux when
it still seemed "pointless", I'd have much harder time getting me a number of
my programmer and sysadmin jobs.

Currently I play with things like Haskell and Clojure and many others that
don't win me any money. Well, maybe they never will. In any case, it's still
fun!

~~~
jrarredondo
You were really _learning_ through playing. Learning is an investment. Not all
_play_ is learning.

Another distinction is that children are fed by their parents. So if you have
a "parent" in your company who "feeds" you then you can play a lot (of course,
until they realize you are 18 and kick you out of the house).

OP's point is that you need to build code or sell code. If learning helps you
do either one, then I think it is not procrastination.

~~~
nine_k
OP also seemed to learn a thing or two in the process. I suppose it's still
valuable, it just does not usually pay off the same day.

Maybe 3 days of continued play is too much, though. It depends on urgency of
other issues you might have.

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lxt
Re the headline: duh, I'm reading HN. Anyone who has convinced themselves that
this is work is in denial.

I do agree with TOA though. You have to learn to call yourself on this stuff,
or get a buddy/mentor/manager who will.

Do first what needs to be done now. The backfill tasks can be saved for when
you have a slow time, or really need a change of pace (to solve some kind of
long-slow-thought problem, or when you're tired at the end of the day, or
whatever).

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the_cat_kittles
Reminds me how I can goof off on the internet for hours, and then as soon as I
bring up vim, all of a sudden I a) have to go pee b) am hungry c) need a cup
of coffee d) should clean my desk ...etc.

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scarecrowbob
But that's how I learned to ssh into a machine. :( And how to setup Apache.
That kind of "procrastination" is how I learn about 90% of the stuff I use to
make my living.

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breckinloggins
Also known as _Yak Shaving_ , but in this instance it's even worse because the
end goal wasn't worth it.

That said, some of the best discoveries and products happen because someone
was playing around. There needs to be a balance. Personally, I like to hit my
core deliverables by Thursday so I have Fridays to explore and experiment.

~~~
a8da6b0c91d
Yak Shaving is when you start out to do a perfectly important and seemingly
straightforward thing, but unexpectedly wind up having to do multiple
surprising errands to achieve the goal. Yak Shaving does not refer to
procrastination.

------
wikwocket
This post, especially the Joel Spolsky quote at the end, reminded me of the
advice for new startups (especially bootstrapped ones): Don't do anything that
doesn't help you get your first 10 customers.

For example, move a site from Linode to EC2? Doesn't get you a customer. Add a
feature you think you'll need to the admin dashboard? Doesn't get you a
customer. Finally write your landing page and start using adwords? _Does_ help
get customers.

I think this advice can be generalized to the common case: Is what I am doing
right now really something that matters, or just something to do so that I can
say it is done?

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naiyt
Can someone explain in what context he's stating this? Is it "if you're
running a startup, anything you do in relation to your product that doesn't
include building or selling it is procrastinating"? Because just from reading
it, it felt way to broad, and makes me think that he's saying that anything I
do ever that's not building or selling something is a waste of time, and
procrastination.

I really don't think that's what he's saying, but it kind of comes across that
way.

~~~
srin
Yeah it makes more sense when you think of it in the context of making a
living. Though it comes off as doing anything in any context is a waste of
time if you're not making money, until he mentions startups

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socrates1998
I know a lot of programmers are focused on being efficient and trying to
maximize productivity.

But, it isn't nearly as cut and dry as you think it is.

Yes, you should be concerned if you aren't getting your work done, but this
seemed liked a decent use of time.

He learned something new and realized it wasn't exactly worth his time. So,
now, he won't do it again.

That is worth the effort in my opinion. If I learned that lesson every time I
did something "unproductive", then I would be super efficient.

We are not machines, although we would like to be one sometimes.

Sometimes being efficient at a task is really wasting time, sometimes wasting
time allows your brain to disengage and re-evaluate how you are allocating
your time.

If you try to work like a machine, you will burn out and end up hating your
life.

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alokm
I think the example he took of moving sites from Linode to EC2 is one of the
better things he can do while avoiding working on his product. As he claimed
he did learn something, adding value to his skills. But yeah, I get the point.
There are so many other things which might not be productive.

~~~
notahacker
...like blogging about procrastination...

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mathattack
I find that my apartment gets very clean when I'm really procrastinating.

The only thing that works for me is a To Do list that I check things off of
when they're done. There's something in the gamification that works there. And
I do include learning activities in the To Do list, it's just better when
they're planned. When they're spontaneous, I usually add them to the bottom of
the list.

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stcredzero
I totally realize I'm on HN.

