[HN Gopher] Show HN: I made an interactive anti-procrastination ...
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Show HN: I made an interactive anti-procrastination video course
Author : vitabenes
Score : 176 points
Date : 2021-07-16 07:37 UTC (15 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.deprocrastination.co)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.deprocrastination.co)
| Sinidir wrote:
| Bookmarked ...
| neurofuturo wrote:
| Fantastic product! I'm glad to see another team here on HN
| tackling the problem of procrastination. Your product and mine
| take totally different approaches, so I'll be keeping an eye on
| your progress. Best of luck!
| totetsu wrote:
| Bookmarking this one.
| [deleted]
| jascii wrote:
| The other day I found myself working on what I'm supposed to be
| working on, as a distraction from my distraction...
| Razengan wrote:
| I think procrastination, and mental laziness in general, is an
| offshoot of Depression: The lack of motivation, that "Why
| bother?" wall..
| another_story wrote:
| Or maybe some people are content with just existing, eating,
| hanging out with friends and family. It's not lazy to not want
| to push yourself mentally.
| Razengan wrote:
| Procrastination is generally understood to be "not doing
| something you know you should be doing", i.e. putting
| something off for later, not "not wanting to push yourself".
| faeriechangling wrote:
| >Countdown timer
|
| Weird sales tactic to use on a psychologically vulnerable
| population. I notice that nothing on your site is actually sold
| at regular price so I'm not too concerned with this once in a
| lifetime offer.
| foobar1962 wrote:
| Damn, no point in me starting the one I have been making for the
| last few years.
| sAbakumoff wrote:
| favorited this one along other 100+ topics that I am about to
| read some time.
| aitchnyu wrote:
| This. I see a big article how to beat procrastination, I skim
| it, find it promising, then I keep the tab or bookmark it.
| c60 wrote:
| omg. this is amazing. i'll watch it tomorrow when i have time
| onion2k wrote:
| Posting this to HN is a stroke of genius. We all need it.
| kposehn wrote:
| I'd love to see the extension in Safari as well, not just Chrome
| and Firefox. Great work.
|
| Edit: Also, the create password page has a bug where once you set
| your password, it then leaves the name/email/password/confirm
| fields blank instead of redirecting you to login. Could confuse a
| small number of users.
| vitabenes wrote:
| Thank you for catching the bug, I'll take a look at it.
|
| As for Safari, unfortunately, some critical APIs (used for
| timers or distraction-catching notifications) don't seem to
| work at all, so it'll take some time to port the extension.
| pelasaco wrote:
| I came here to comment, but reading the comments with exactly the
| kind of humor I was aiming for, saved me some time to check some
| cute cat videos, thanks!
| kevsim wrote:
| This looks great! People interested in generally cutting out
| distractions that lead to procrastination should also check out
| "indistractable" by Nir Eyal. I found it both entertaining and
| useful for cutting down on unwanted distractions (like too much
| HN browsing)
| vitabenes wrote:
| Yep, it's a good book. We've integrated the main parts of it in
| the course--like the preview lesson about internal triggers
| leading us to seek out distractions. That distinction is great.
| dento wrote:
| Thanks! I'll watch it tomorrow.
| onion2k wrote:
| "Why put off until tomorrow what you can put off until the day
| after that." _ancient proverb_
| AndrewOMartin wrote:
| While hard work often pays off in the future, laziness always
| pays off right away.
| taneq wrote:
| The fastest code is the code that's never executed. The most
| efficient task is the one you dodge entirely. :P
| vitabenes wrote:
| C'mon! Every time. Give it a watch today, that's why the videos
| are 5 min long (+ you can 2x speed them up).
| helmholtz wrote:
| I think the OP was making a joke.
| vitabenes wrote:
| I know. It's a classic.
| seumars wrote:
| I actually laughed out loud.
| leke wrote:
| Haha, I see what you did there.
| synthc wrote:
| i'll watch this later
| arkitaip wrote:
| The problem with actionable anti-procrastination content is that
| they have too many steps and to little immediate action. As
| procrastinators, we've marinated our anxious brains to develop
| sophisticated techniques to ignore any and all remedies.
|
| The ultimate anti-procrastination app? It just has one "Stop
| procrastination" button.
| vitabenes wrote:
| I'd argue that the ultimate scenario is that you prevent
| procrastination before it arises.
|
| I do get what you're saying about too many steps. I tried to
| avoid that pitfall. For instance, the Deprocrastinator 7000
| feature is about getting the right lesson in a short amount of
| time. You pick a problem, you get a lesson that contains a
| specific technique, you apply it with the worksheet.
| Information --> action.
| arkitaip wrote:
| You're probably right about preventing procrastination. The
| pomodoro technique is often recommended because it prevents
| procrastination from happening within small time boxes.
|
| But then again, how would I as a procrastinator reach this
| pretty profound insight? Any information targeting me has to
| be skillfully crafted to guide me in the right direction
| while avoiding all the issues that cause me to procrastinate
| in the first place.
| vitabenes wrote:
| Well, yes, that's an issue. We hope to reach people via
| blog and Twitter - we post about all the various issues, so
| that people get exposed to them, and click or read when
| they encounter something relevant to them.
| arkitaip wrote:
| I like talking about this so I hope you indulge me, did
| you base your design on any specific research or works on
| procrastination? It would be interesting what the state
| of the art has to say about the causes of procrastination
| and potential solutions.
| vitabenes wrote:
| Our sources are diverse. To name a couple:
| Procrastinator's Digest by Timothy Pychyl, The Now Habit
| by Neil Fiore, Procrastination by Jane Burka (lengthy),
| Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg, ...
|
| There's more - a technique from here, an insight from
| there...
| [deleted]
| deregulateMed wrote:
| Simple solution for me was to do a dopamine detox. This requires
| getting rid of things you enjoy, but that's somewhat the point.
| Instead of doing things you want, you are wasting time on things
| you don't.
|
| After giving up video games, programming was fun. Reading
| nonfiction was insanely fun. So much so, it became a new
| addiction.
|
| Maybe giving up things you enjoy is easier said than done.
| vitro wrote:
| With gaming, I've started to allow myself play only during
| Friday evenings and Saturdays. It's like a reward after whole
| week. Also I play only on the computer, got rid of mobile games
| completely because of ads and in app purchases and a bad habit
| of playing in the bed. And interestingly, for a month I haven't
| played at all, although I could.
| turbinerneiter wrote:
| It's also weird, because I believed that a good live is filled
| with doing things you enjoy.
|
| But then they used psychology to make us addicted to scrolling
| feeds.
| steve_adams_86 wrote:
| The thing about those addictive behaviours is (for me), like
| most addictions, you have a tenuous association with
| enjoyment and the behaviour but mostly it leaves you very
| dissatisfied.
|
| Scrolling through feeds or watching videos actually causes me
| to become pretty sad, but sometimes I find myself feeling
| quite a compulsion to do it. It's usually when I'm stressed
| out or anxious, and the behaviour aligns perfectly with
| escapism. So there's very little enjoying involved.
|
| I think it's important to consider what enjoyable means, and
| how we frame it. Instant gratification is only a small sliver
| of what could be considered enjoyable, in the scheme of
| things.
| schoen wrote:
| > like most addictions, you have a tenuous association with
| enjoyment and the behaviour but mostly it leaves you very
| dissatisfied
|
| There's a whole bunch of research and writing lately about
| "wanting versus liking", describing these two emotions
| related to experiences and behaviors as distinct.
|
| When people encounter that distinction, most of us can
| think of things that we like much more than we want, or
| that we want much more than we like.
| vitabenes wrote:
| Yeah, that's one way to do it. My co-founder is currently doing
| an extended dopamine detox to focus on writing better. Our last
| 2 blog posts were about that - see here:
| https://www.deprocrastination.co/blog/topic/distraction
| eralps wrote:
| Interesting, considering gaming, do you completely give up
| gaming? Or reduce it to moderate levels?
| deregulateMed wrote:
| I have an addictive personality so I gave it up completely.
|
| It only sucked on a Friday evening for like 1 hour. weird
| because I would game every night.
| tangue wrote:
| It's not about getting rid of what you like : It's getting rid
| of things designed to be addictive. Modern gaming is incredibly
| addictive and I found myself addicted to dumb games in recent
| years. I deleted everything and play only old school games once
| in a while (rtype etc ).
| dhimes wrote:
| I think you've got the right idea here. Worksheets are key! I
| have something similar at bizworklife.com, but not focused on
| procrastination specifically (although it's covered in one of the
| lessons).
| moneywoes wrote:
| That domain appears to be suspended
| dhimes wrote:
| Which domain? bizworklife.com? It's up and running. EDIT:
| Certain countries may have difficulty accessing it, though.
| latexr wrote:
| > Overcome procrastination with 10 min a day
|
| There's your solution to procrastination right there, no course
| needed. Instead of spending ten minutes each day watching videos
| which will make you _feel_ productive, use them to advance
| whatever you need to do.
|
| Chronic procrastinators tend to realise _starting_ is the hard
| part. How many of us have consumed book after blog post after
| video, getting the jolt of "this time I'm going to do it" which
| never sticks?
|
| Procrastination is an emotional problem. Get yourself to start!
| Commit to ten minutes--and _only_ ten minutes--of whatever you
| have to do. Give yourself permission to stop once the time is up.
| Chances are you'll continue.
| thingification wrote:
| Starting: often true (or at least a big part of it).
|
| But how to change your ways so you do start, more reliably? I
| think there are ideas that are more effective than the message
| "just do it" (sorry if that mischaracterizes your position --
| in fact I agree "commit to 10 minutes" is not a bad place to
| start, but not the only useful idea to be had by a long way).
| vitabenes wrote:
| Committing for 10 minutes is what we call the 10 Minute Rule,
| and yes, it's super effective. But like you say, sometimes
| there are different mental blocks that need to be tackled
| before one is ready to commit, even if for 10 min. That's
| what the rest of the course is about.
| vitabenes wrote:
| You're spot on.
|
| The built-in worksheets are there specifically to help apply
| the videos and not just watch. Information + action -->
| transformation.
| frr149 wrote:
| I ll watch it tomorrow
| xivzgrev wrote:
| Sounds great. I'll try it later.
| procthrowhn wrote:
| https://alexvermeer.com/getmotivated/
|
| Follow this chart
| ttul wrote:
| I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned possibly seeking help
| from a doctor. Prevalence of ADHD in the adult population is
| estimated to be much higher than the rate at which it is
| diagnosed.
|
| If you have the inattentive subtype of ADHD, medication is 90%
| effective at alleviating symptoms such as procrastination.
|
| Many people here have commented about doing a "dopamine detox,"
| but what if your brain isn't producing enough dopamine on its
| own? A detox is unlikely to help.
| vitabenes wrote:
| There's definitely a link between ADHD and procrastination.
| However, our project is more focused on the behavioral side of
| the issue, not the pharmacological side.
| dabernathy89 wrote:
| Got tested a few years back and was told I don't have it,
| although I check pretty much every box on the inattentive type.
| I need to be better about attempting other ways to address the
| issues, but it feels like I can never catch up to give myself
| enough time to make a real game plan, and when I do try things
| (like Pomodoro) they fall apart within hours.
| vitabenes wrote:
| Pomodoro is only one method, and it's best for repetitive
| work. For creative work 60 or 90 min intervals often work
| better since we operate in 90 min ultradian cycles.
|
| See if you can find anything useful on our blog (or in the
| course).
| thingification wrote:
| In this general area of focus/productivity etc, I'm not sure
| procrastination is a big problem for me these days. But I'm by
| nature a procrastinator, and in the past I've found occasional
| small tweaks so unreasonably useful in this sort of area that
| I'll definitely have a look at the free stuff (tonight! no
| really). The picture with the frowns turning into numbered points
| made me smile.
| vitabenes wrote:
| Thanks!
|
| We have lots of articles on the blog, I'm sure you'll find
| something useful.
| izgzhen wrote:
| Not to dismiss this course since I never tried it, but my
| personal experience is that I procrastinate a lot when I don't
| enjoy my work, have a lot of FUD around the project, or simply
| not passionate about the profession.
|
| On the contrary, when I got motivated by my work and feel
| excited, I just naturally stop procrastination. In fact, it
| becomes difficult to pay attention to things beyond work at that
| state.
|
| My advice to people who suffer from procrastination: first think
| about the root cause, that is whether pivoting from current job
| is what you really need to do.
| dreamer7 wrote:
| I agree with your points, having experienced both sides. One
| other thing that I've noticed helps a lot is to have a starter
| template. It's a lot easier to not procrastinate when you have
| a structure to think with even if the structure is bad and you
| end up changing it completely. I tend to procrastinate more
| when I have to do something from scratch
| darkwater wrote:
| Yes and no. I usually procrastinate also when the project or
| even ticket is too big or I'm not that familiar with the topic
| and I get a form of "writer's block". In that case, pairing
| with someone else or try to split the task in smaller chunks
| helps me. But not always, unfortunately.
| yomly wrote:
| Sometimes you don't always have a choice with the task. Eg
| filing your taxes. You can pay someone to do your taxes but my
| point is there are plenty of procrastinating triggering tasks
| in life you can't escape
| k__ wrote:
| Same here.
|
| Two things helped here:
|
| 1. Doing something else instead. But something that's also
| valuable. Not just scrolling on your phone, but learning
| something, building something, training, etc.
|
| 2. Put yourself out there. If you do good work and get positive
| feedback regularly, it is easier to keep going.
| [deleted]
| Sanguinaire wrote:
| I need a catalyst - motivation is fine once I'm going, but my
| activation energy for most tasks is enormous.
| HPsquared wrote:
| The catalyst should also be specific. A smartphone is a very
| broad-spectrum catalyst that accelerates all kinds of side
| reactions, depleting your free energy.
|
| You want to have specific catalysts (think enzymes), clean
| feedstocks, and a good supply of free energy. Also the
| pressure (physical/mental confinement within one area) and
| temperature (level of stress/energy/chaos) need to be
| managed.
| tomjen3 wrote:
| Oh man, I feel exactly the same way. Even if it is something
| I actually like, just getting started can be so hard.
|
| My only real trick is to try and do something for ten minutes
| and then I can continue or not as I want. Often I want to
| continue, sometimes so much I get irrationally angry on the
| timer because it interrupts my work.
|
| Do you have any other strategies?
| vitabenes wrote:
| Yes, momentum is key. Without it, every little thing seems
| hard.
| [deleted]
| vitabenes wrote:
| Yep, not enjoying the work in general is definitely one cause,
| but there are other ones. In our materials, we divide the
| causes into: behavioral, temporary, and deeper causes. Then we
| deal with them more specifically.
|
| From personal experience I know that the same work can be
| daunting or motivating, depending on the personal
| habits/behaviors and systems. In other words, they are
| temporary. That's what the course focuses on (not looking for a
| new job).
|
| In any case, your advice about figuring out the root cause is
| spot on (and also in the course).
| superasn wrote:
| Good advice. Also one thing that has very often worked for me
| which I learned from a run-of-the-mill Youtube video is just
| countdown from 5-4-3-2-1 and then do it for 5 minutes. So many
| times I've ended up working the whole day after that and often
| enjoyed myself too.
|
| For a lot of people it's like the static friction vs kinetic
| friction kinda deal.
| HPsquared wrote:
| I like the friction analogy but would have it on an inclined
| plane to account for the energy produced/consumed once it's
| started. For example a task which provides its own motivation
| (once started) would be downhill and may only need an initial
| push to overcome static friction, then might be self-
| sustaining. On the other hand, an unrelentingly unpleasant
| task would be "uphill" and require constant willpower (cf.
| mechanical power) to finish.
| dhimes wrote:
| Unless you just think of it like you are the person
| applying the "force" (to get something done), then the
| analogy is that you have to keep applying it but less once
| you get into motion.
| [deleted]
| HPsquared wrote:
| Force of will, perhaps.
| 5fnheluzdj wrote:
| This assumes that procrastination is some sort of a problem.
| I'd like start from scratch. What is the purpose of doing
| anything? What is the point of productivity? Is this subjective
| and materials like these are for people that see it as a
| problem or is there some generality to it?
| jordwest wrote:
| Agreed, but for me there have been a few more reasons than
| boredom. Broadly I see 3 reasons I've procrastinated in the
| past.
|
| 1. I'm bored, and not learning anything new, just doing the
| same thing over and over.
|
| 2. I don't see where this is going, or the point of doing it.
| Felt this a lot with university assignments in particular.
|
| 3. I'm afraid. This is the only one where I think it's worth
| persisting. Sometimes something is new and scary, like public
| speaking or deploying to production for the first time. In this
| case, what I've found to work really well is to just sit with
| the fear, observe the sensations it produces in the body, and
| then it naturally just sort of weakens.
|
| For 1 and 2, I think the procrastination is actually telling
| you something important.
| vitabenes wrote:
| There's a view out there (partially promoted by Taleb) that
| procrastination is good - it indicates that you shouldn't
| pursue something, that it's not natural for you.
|
| The problem is that while sometimes that applies, sometimes
| it doesn't, and it's worth overcoming (I fall more on this
| side of the issue). In any case, I'm a big advocate for
| reflecting on why people procrastinate. There are many
| different reasons.
| cinntaile wrote:
| I guess I'll just never clean my home and buy new plates
| instead of doing the dishes, it's not natural :P
| vitabenes wrote:
| Exactly.
| mLuby wrote:
| > just doing the same thing over and over
|
| At that point it's worth considering if the work can be
| automated or outsourced.
| fjfaase wrote:
| 5. I start day-dreaming about the root cause of a problem and
| how there are better ways to solve it. Often leading to some
| frustration about why there does not exist a better solution
| for. A good reason to start googling around or have a look at
| some HN for possible interesting solutions or approaches.
|
| I guess, this is also a kind of boredom.
| unlimit wrote:
| Completely with you on 3. This is the most dangerous one -
| its like not wanting to hear bad news or give bad news. I
| have found myself doing this with health issues.
|
| 1 and 2 can be helped with a bit of discipline and
| perseverance.
| n1000 wrote:
| I also found 3. is a self-reinforcing downward spiral
| (postponed work piling up creating more anxiety, etc.).
| This one is important to break early on.
| n1000 wrote:
| 4. I am exhausted or did not sleep enough. Sometimes it is
| difficult to realise / accept that I simply need some
| downtime. In that case cut yourself some slack.
| bertr4nd wrote:
| I find that I procrastinate the most when I have to write
| something "required."
|
| I basically never procrastinate on writing code.
|
| I also don't procrastinate when I'm writing things for
| intrinsic reasons, like I want to describe a neat thing I
| discovered.
|
| But anything that's required is hard. Writing conference papers
| for my PhD was horrid. I'd stare at a blank screen for days. I
| really wish I knew how to get past that, but I never figured it
| out.
| redmaverick wrote:
| Haven't watched the video.
|
| For me the only thing that works. The only hack that works is
| having a contract with a third party.
|
| You don't procrastinate on paying your mortgage right. You do it
| every month.
|
| You don't not show up for work right. Or for meetings right.
|
| You don't procrastinate on paying your cellphone bill/internet
| bill/paying rent etc.
|
| Why? Because you have contracts with another party and there are
| consequences if you miss them.
|
| Losing weight? No consequences! That novel you've been meaning to
| write.. no consequences! Want to learn a new language/do a
| passion project etc.. there are no consequences to not doing it.
|
| For me I resolved this issue by going into a contract with a
| third party with consequences if I miss my obligations.
|
| Inspired by a "lock-in" productivity based ted talk which was
| banned so I can't link it here.
| throwaway675309 wrote:
| To a point, but you can also create a negative stigma
| associated with the activity through conditioning using this
| sort of consequential-based motivation unfortunately.
|
| Sometimes when you do something out of fear of a negative
| consequence it ends up becoming an activity that, while you
| might become more proficient at it, you might also grow to
| dislike the activity. (How many children were forced to learn a
| musical instrument by their parents and as a result hate it)
| redmaverick wrote:
| This was my exact initial fear in theory but it doesn't work
| out that way in practice. Children are forced to learn a
| musical instrument and it takes away their sense of agency.
| They will hate both the instrument and the parent. This makes
| sense.
|
| Here. In this case the situation is different. Both the
| parent and the child is the same person. In my case I was
| pretty excited because finally I found something that worked
| and resolved my issues. Once the feeling of accomplishment
| sets in you will feel pretty happy. Once your mind knows that
| there is no way out it starts adapting and starts assisting
| you. That's why the contract should be irreversible.
| antisthenes wrote:
| Sorry, but I don't buy this.
|
| > You don't procrastinate on paying your mortgage right. You do
| it every month. You don't procrastinate on paying your
| cellphone bill/internet bill/paying rent etc.
|
| Yes, because it is effortless and auto-pay does it for me. What
| you're really saying is that I don't procrastinate earning
| money to pay for those things, which is not the same thing as
| just paying for them.
|
| > You don't not show up for work right. Or for meetings right.
|
| Showing up for work and procrastinating on _some_ tasks at work
| is not the same thing. You 're doing your point a disservice by
| painting it in black and white.
|
| > Why? Because you have contracts with another party and there
| are consequences if you miss them.
|
| I've had tenants whose stay was conditional on fulfilling
| certain obligations specified in the rent agreement, aside from
| paying rent. Even though there were consequences for not doing
| so, none of them did it and 1 ended up being evicted.
|
| > For me I resolved this issue by going into a contract with a
| third party with consequences if I miss my obligations.
|
| This only works because you're already a high-consciety
| individual. Sure, consequences help in general, but only if you
| know exactly what the problem is AND if you actually have the
| flexibility and energy to complete the things you have been
| procrastinating on.
| Scarbutt wrote:
| For some people is not that easy, no mater how high the stakes
| are.
| Falling3 wrote:
| Creating accountability is definitely a solid strategy, but
| I've got to point out that I absolutely procrastinate all of
| the things you mentioned in your first several paragraphs.
| redmaverick wrote:
| This strategy doesn't eliminate procrastination. You still
| pay the price but it evens out the peaks and valleys of
| productivity/unproductivity.
|
| For ex: You need to spend 3 hours and write a 5 page report
| that is due on Monday at 9:00 AM.
|
| You spend the whole week not working but feeling guilty about
| not making progress. Then suddenly in the last minute i.e a
| few hours before the deadline i.e around 5:00 AM to 8:00 AM
| you start panicking and make progress. You turn in less than
| stellar report.
|
| With a contract based strategy you still procrastinate. But
| the end result is much better. i.e You need to finish 2 pages
| by the middle of the week or you pay $25 per missed page.
| Another 2 pages in the second half of the week. This way you
| still procrastinate and occasionally you pay the penalty but
| still you would be done with the essay/ report 2 days in
| advance rather than the last minute where the consequences
| are way higher in terms of getting a bad grade/losing
| scholarship/not graduating/ not getting into a better career
| etc.
| nonbirithm wrote:
| For me the monetary based strategy loses its luster because
| the introduction of money causes you to see the
| consequences in terms of finances. As in, you start to
| think that you can just pay the 25 dollars as a
| subscription fee to skip doing the work for that week, and
| so long as you don't raise the amount of money you lose,
| this continues indefinitely. And of course, without a third
| party, there is nothing obligating you to raise the price
| for failure. In the end, because the system eventually
| fails in its purpose of getting you to work, you start to
| wonder why you're paying a 25 dollar subscription to skip
| work instead of skipping work free of charge, so you simply
| cancel the obligation.
|
| That's the major problem with setting up timers or
| schedules or other obligation mechanisms yourself. If
| they're in your control, you're given as much freedom to
| remove them as you have to set them up in the first place.
|
| If no amount of self-restraint or anti-postcrastination
| systems can get me to do something I tell myself I want to
| do, then maybe I either need to have someone force me to do
| it or realize that what I say I want in life is wrong.
| Maybe this is because I've been trained so that about the
| only thing left that's 100% effective for getting
| intrinsically boring work done is someone else forcing me
| to do something.
| redmaverick wrote:
| Okay.. this is the ted talk. I basically implemented his
| talk and molded it per my situation.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2paoNvG5Nmo
|
| In this guy's case he was able to run a successful
| startup and his brother was able to get into and graduate
| from Harvard despite being terrible procrastinators.
| (because of the strategy.) He was not using a monetary
| based strategy. Basically he placed a hit on himself via
| his brother and viceversa to become successful.
|
| Another thing he did was to write a letter to his ex and
| told his brother to mail it if he did not finish a
| certain task.
|
| Again.. these are terrible examples. I would not advocate
| violence or stunts like this. In my own case, I used
| money but for others it could be anything. Any
| consequence they would like to avoid.
| codesternews wrote:
| Give me practical example of this? What and how you did
| vitabenes wrote:
| You could make a bet with a friend or use something like
| stickk.com to increase the stakes.
| redmaverickclon wrote:
| I had to create another account just to reply. I had
| nocprocrast turned on for hacker news (the irony!)
|
| Practical:
|
| 1. I lost 30 lbs from 200 lbs to 170 lbs How I did it.
| Step#1. Made an irreversible decision. I pay $100 every week
| if I miss losing 2 lbs that week. The deal was for 12 weeks.
| I started Monday and the deal is every Monday. I have to
| stand on the scale and take a pic and send it.
|
| 2. I solved 200+ Leetcodes over a span of a year Deal. I had
| to solve 10 problems a day on random days. Each missed
| problem costed me $25 per miss.
|
| Here is another guy who became ripped i.e 6 packed within 6
| months
|
| https://nypost.com/2017/07/17/poker-player-goes-all-in-
| with-...
|
| Now to the theory part.
|
| See. The deal is this. The answer to procrastination is not
| more information. There is no magic info online that will
| change your brain and you stop procrastinating. You already
| know procrastinating is bad. You already know that you need
| to small chunk the work. You already know you need to be
| disciplined. You know you need to "just get started" or "just
| need to do it NOW!" that life is made up of choices and you
| need to make a choice.. You know this and yet...
|
| YOU WON'T DO IT!
|
| There is this movie called "Memento" where all these concepts
| are already discussed.
|
| Here is the gist. You are not ONE person. That's why nothing
| has worked so far and nothing will work in the future too.
| (likely)
|
| You are a multitude of people living inside of you. The you
| that is going to nod your head or is going to be "inspired"
| is not the same person who is going to wake up tomorrow. You
| listen to a video and have an "aha" moment but the you two
| days from now will not follow through on your grand plan.
| This is like a relay race between different versions of YOU
| and the problem is that there is a version of YOU that is
| definitely going to drop the baton.
|
| Now. You can hit rock bottom or want success as bad as you
| want to breathe air and then you will get what you want. This
| is what everyone already knows.
|
| But what if you kind of want to be ripped or kind of want to
| be done writing a book or just not sufficiently determined.
| Is there a mechanism by which you can still do the things you
| don't normally have enough motivation to do?
|
| The answer is a contract.
|
| Beeminder is one such but the biggest flaw is that you are
| still in charge so you can easily renege on it. Likewise for
| Stickk etc.
|
| Instead do this: 1. Make an irreversible decision where you
| are not the one to call off the deal. Just like a mortgage,
| internet bills, rent, cell phone bills etc.
|
| Watch yourself automatically, automagically achieve
| ridiculous stuff that previously you would Never have been
| able To do.
|
| This is a 100% anti self help approach. Note: I did lose a
| solid 30 lbs from 200 lbs to 170 lbs. But the problem is that
| once the contract expires I will likely go back to 185 lbs..
| eventually. Likewise, you will never develop natural self
| discipline with this approach but hey.. it works..
| layer8 wrote:
| > Make an irreversible decision where you are not the one
| to call off the deal.
|
| How can you possibly enforce irreversibility? Tomorrow's me
| is perfectly capable of reversing any decision whatsoever I
| make today.
| redmaverick wrote:
| Once you create or sign a deal its a done deal. You can't
| renege on that. You sign an agreement with the other
| person and they will hold the money hostage till either
| the deal is completed or not.
|
| This guy used escrow.
|
| https://nypost.com/2017/07/17/poker-player-goes-all-in-
| with-...
|
| >> Tomorrow's me is perfectly capable of reversing any
| decision whatsoever I make today.
|
| True. That's why the stakes should not be too high nor
| too low.. its pretty experimental..
| kubanczyk wrote:
| You got me interested as well on "a multitude of people
| living inside of you". A model which works suitably for me
| is just the adult and the big child.
|
| The adult is writing this text. (Hey, after all he's the
| only one able to write or read!)
|
| The big child, is literally me as a child plus the
| sexuality that came later.
|
| (There's also an animal, but it is only noticeable in the
| most extreme circumstances. You know, table tennis and the
| like.)
|
| With this model it all boils up to the child being tricked
| by the adult. Yes, it is tempting to assume that the adult
| is "raising" the child, but no. Internally it feels more
| like the child needs to be tricked into compliance, then
| all gets well (i.e. the child is seemingly happy after it
| is shown its place).
|
| But, a multitude?...
|
| I have trouble imagining any more personas. I'm curious how
| does that feel like? Multiple "adults" at the same time?
| Sequentially?
| redmaverick wrote:
| I don't mean a total split personality.
|
| From the movie "Memento": This explains it better.
|
| Here's the truth: People, even regular people, are never
| just any one person with one set of attributes. It's not
| that simple. We're all at the mercy of the limbic system,
| clouds of electricity drifting through the brain. Every
| man is broken into twenty-four-hour fractions, and then
| again within those twenty-four hours. It's a daily
| pantomime, one man yielding control to the next: a
| backstage crowded with old hacks clamoring for their turn
| in the spotlight. Every week, every day. The angry man
| hands the baton over to the sulking man, and in turn to
| the sex addict, the introvert, the conversationalist.
| Every man is a mob, a chain gang of idiots. This is the
| tragedy of life. Because for a few minutes of every day,
| every man becomes a genius. Moments of clarity, insight,
| whatever you want to call them. The clouds part, the
| planets get in a neat little line, and everything becomes
| obvious. I should quit smoking, maybe, or here's how I
| could make a fast million, or such and such is the key to
| eternal happiness. That's the miserable truth. For a few
| moments, the secrets of the universe are opened to us.
| Life is a cheap parlor trick. But then the genius, the
| savant, has to hand over the controls to the next guy
| down the pike, most likely the guy who just wants to eat
| potato chips, and insight and brilliance and salvation
| are all entrusted to a moron or a hedonist or a
| narcoleptic. The only way out of this mess, of course, is
| to take steps to ensure that you control the idiots that
| you become. To take your chain gang, hand in hand, and
| lead them.
| xerox13ster wrote:
| It's interesting to me that you mention the "not one
| person" viewpoint. I am forced through traumatic past
| experiences to live my life consciously aware of these
| other "me"s and them of "me", as a result of dissociation.
| We have to actively communicate with each other internally
| and work together. Things don't happen if we don't agree on
| them, or other "me"s will go off and do their own thing and
| we have to get on the same page to keep that from
| happening. Lots and lots of therapy.
|
| Want to lose weight? I have to have every part of me on
| board, if one of me doesn't want to and instead wants to
| eat crap, they can and will and we lose our progress.
|
| I can't count the number of times the dev-minded parts of
| myself resolve to work on X project or leetcode/day only to
| wake up the next day switched to a different personality
| that doesn't remember making that resolution, or even know
| how to work on code. There are parts of me that cannot even
| comprehend code another part of me has written, but when
| the part that wrote it comes back it's crystal clear. It
| has to be communicated among everyone inside that we have
| the goal to work on X and time has to be given to the parts
| that want to and can, consciously (if we're even able at
| the time).
|
| There are still other parts with the internal authority to
| say that X thing will happen and they will show up every
| day to enforce their expectations. This doesn't happen
| often, usually in very stressful periods.
|
| Any time a part of me wants to make a long term change in
| my habits, appearance, or behavior it must be put to a
| quorum majority vote. If there is not a quorum or majority
| we cannot make the change, or the formation of the habit or
| new behavior will fail. If we have a quorum but a conflict
| in what we want to do any given moment, we end up
| procrastinating. Parts of me can try to make their own
| routines and habits, or do their own activities if they
| have time alone, but inevitably if it's against collective
| will it gets put to an end quickly.
|
| We have to have a contract with ourselves to be functional
| in day to day life. There is no reneging on the contract
| when we are forced to share a single life in this way.
|
| When we agree? It's powerful. Lost 100lbs in 2018, saved up
| and moved across country in the middle of the pandemic last
| year, got a new job, a new car, and started moving forward
| in our career.
|
| Also we get to use We/They/Them pronouns which is fun (I
| like to joke that technically any pronoun could be used for
| us.)
| valgor wrote:
| Very interesting idea. If you had to pay, who did you pay?
| My thought is the money would go to charity, but since that
| is (usually) a good thing then I don't know if paying money
| for failing is a good enough incentive.
| redmaverick wrote:
| I hired a contractor and I paid him when I failed. You
| should be hell bent on not paying a dime. Otherwise you
| are doing it wrong. If it goes for charity then your mind
| will sniff out an escape route. Instead give it to causes
| you don't believe in. The goal is to be afraid of
| failing. You should be kicking yourself and feel the
| pinch when your hard earned money is going out of pocket.
| Otherwise you are doing it wrong.
|
| Here's the deal. Even when you fail you still will win in
| the end and that the beauty of this approach.
|
| I lost 30 lbs over the course of 4 to 6 months. I lost
| around $200 - $300 and it definitely stung. But it was
| worth it for now I have a strong and fit body.
| heliodor wrote:
| It would probably be more motivating to give the money to
| a cause or person you hate.
| vitabenes wrote:
| Yep, that works.
|
| Problem is, some people aren't willing to commit to that level,
| so more of a baby steps approach is relevant.
| laurieg wrote:
| I feel like I'm one of the worst procrastinators in the world.
| Today I spent an hour doing some focused, concentrated work with
| zero problems, but then I had to reply to a "difficult" email
| that I've been putting off. The instant I opened my mail client I
| felt overwhelmed and started procrastinating. What would you
| recommend I do in this situation?
| kawzeg wrote:
| What helped me overcome the dreadful empty mail window was
| using a brainstorming / editing approach:
|
| 1. Using a different editor to write the draft, to prevent the
| immediate negative reaction to the mail client.
|
| 2. Brainstorming my draft. That is, I wrote down the first
| thing that came to mind, no matter how ridiculous or
| nonsensical. It doesn't even have to be related to the message
| at hand. It only needs to remove the daunting empty page and
| get my brain into "write something" mode.
|
| 3. Edit and repeat. Read what you've written and select
| anything that actually makes sense. Use that as a starting
| point and start again.
|
| I think an important aspect of this is to freely allow my brain
| to write silly things. It's not a fun task to write serious
| emails, but writing a silly outline and filling it in with more
| serious wording makes it possible, for me at least.
| taneq wrote:
| Get a difficult-er email to reply to and you'll be all over
| that first one. Just don't let on to your brain what you're
| doing or it'll stop working!
| spookyuser wrote:
| At least you managed to open the email :P
| vitabenes wrote:
| 1. Take it gradually. Perhaps first jot down some thoughts in a
| notes app or on paper. Also, think about your reply in terms of
| drafts - you don't have to send the 1st draft anywhere. Write
| the 1st draft down somewhere just to get the main ideas out of
| your head, and then perhaps do a round or 2 of revision. But
| the 1st draft is just for you, to clarify your thoughts.
|
| 2. Take a walk to figure out what you want to say. 20 min walk
| in nature (or a park) boosts concentration, and helps you
| figure out what you want to say. A walk before a difficult task
| clarifies your thinking, so that when you sit down, you know
| what to do or say.
|
| Hope that helps.
| shantnutiwari wrote:
| I started reading The Now Habit, which was recommended on Hn a
| day or 2 ago, as it also talks about procrastination. Havent
| finished it, but really good so far.
| vitabenes wrote:
| Yep, it's one of the better books on procrastination.
| WaandoMarhu wrote:
| These
| [resources](https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/Resources/Looking-
| After-You...) on West Australian health website might help people
| struggling with procrastination. They have detailed modules,
| exercises and workbooks which helped me a lot during a paralysing
| procrastiantion period. It might also help OP with their course.
| 12ian34 wrote:
| Great work getting this together, building a curriculum, a
| pricing model and a website. Some feedback:
|
| - I don't trust you yet - I saw the pricing before I gained trust
| in you as a tutor. Why should I learn how not to procrastinate
| from you, for money?
|
| - The video I watched was quite dry - to be honest I found your
| presentation style a little monotonous and not very engaging.
| deanebarker wrote:
| Your first point was my first thought as well -- who is this
| guy, and why should I trust that he's an expert on this?
| vitabenes wrote:
| Thank you for the feedback! Much appreciated.
|
| Trust - Yes, I've collected some testimonials from other
| products (book, extension, Deschool program), but none about
| the course yet, since it's brand new. I'll work on this.
|
| Video - Thank you. I'll plan on improving the course
| continuously. I'm more animated in some videos, but I'll re-
| record others.
|
| This is the 1st version of the product. My background is
| programming, so I plan to update this as if it were a software
| product (it partially is).
|
| Again, thank you for the feedback!
| 12ian34 wrote:
| It is a great v1 - keep it up!
| vitabenes wrote:
| Thanks!
| tmabraham wrote:
| I just wanted to say that your deprocrastination.co Chrome
| extension is quite good and very helpful (I am just using the
| free version). Your blog posts are also quite nice. Quite
| exciting to see these course materials, excited to delve into it!
| vitabenes wrote:
| Thank you, that's awesome to hear!
| jcuenod wrote:
| This is great, I was hoping for something to watch instead of
| doing my work...
| log101 wrote:
| :D:D:D:D:D
| throwaway2016a wrote:
| Plot Twist: The creator made this course as productive
| procrastination when they were supposed to be working on
| something else.
|
| </joke>
| zomdar wrote:
| hey awesome content dude, appreciate the daily tips for anti-
| procrastinating!!
| vitabenes wrote:
| Thanks! Happy to help
| bmn__ wrote:
| Classic hacker anti-procrast in German: http://frollein-
| schmidt.de/antiverpeil.html
| fumblebee wrote:
| Does watching an anti-procrastination video course count as
| procrastination?
|
| But in all seriousness, great work!
| vitabenes wrote:
| I'd say it depends on whether you're doing it instead of
| something productive, or in your free time/leisure.
|
| And thanks! It's just the beginning, more updates coming - both
| on the content side and the interactive side.
| 90hexe wrote:
| Cool project with a clean layout and neat little illustrations.
|
| If you were taking suggestions:
|
| * First video should be somewhat interesting and relevant to the
| topic, I felt that for a video named "Introduction" it was mostly
| promotions for other products/the "premium" versions/etc.
|
| * Having three animating progress bars on desktop for each step
| is a little distracting. There's one in the video embed, one
| green progress bar below the video, and another green loading bar
| on the left.
| vitabenes wrote:
| Thank you! Your feedback is much appreciated.
|
| The introduction is about the course, the Internal Triggers 1
| lesson is meant as a preview of the course. I'll work on the
| first mile experience (term from Scott Belsky) more.
| BiteCode_dev wrote:
| Perfect, now I can procrastinate in front of a video by
| pretending I'm working on not procrastinating.
| hugosbaseball wrote:
| And pay $70 for the privilege of having access to 35 videos, of
| which only 15 exist at the moment. OP is going to make 35
| videos about procrastination? Alllllrightythen.
|
| Something something suckers, money, parted, soon, etc.
|
| OP has provided _zero_ information in their post or even on
| their site about who they are and what their qualifications
| are. Which means they don 't have any qualifications.
|
| Is there literally any moderation of the front page, or can any
| rando submit "ShowHN" posts that are basically spam for a scam?
| vitabenes wrote:
| Well, that's one way to view it.
|
| OP is going to make those videos, because OP (+ co-founder)
| spent the past few years scouring procrastination books,
| studies, etc to find something that could be helpful in
| everyday life.
|
| I found what helped me, started talking to others 1-on-1,
| found out what helped them, and put it into a book, and then
| a course (videos + code). That's the qualification. It's not
| like I have a degree in procrastination, though some people
| claim to have such a thing.
|
| Not sure where the scam part is. By all means, don't buy
| anything, or read any of the 50 articles on various
| procrastination causes on our blog. Probably not for you.
|
| Anyhow, a great day to you too!
| vitabenes wrote:
| Well, hopefully not pretending! But yeah, I'm aware of the
| potential paradox. As far as procrastination goes, a 5 min
| (finite) video that gives you some practical tips is better
| than any infinite scrolling platform.
| nbzso wrote:
| Not passionate enough. Not payed adequately for the effort. To
| much information and possibilities. Fear of missing out.
| Solution: Limit your daily information flow, make a choice what
| is really exciting for you with reasonable reward and make it a
| habit. Proceed without doubt and overthinking.
| tgsovlerkhgsel wrote:
| > However, we realize that not everyone likes to read or add more
| calls to their calendar, so we've put together a video course
| that takes the most useful techniques, and presents them in an
| easy-to-use format: video.
|
| Video is IMO the worst format, as it takes much longer to consume
| than written text. Since many such "time management pro tip"
| courses suffer from being a waste of time, and you only know
| _after_ you 've wasted your time, this is not good.
| vitabenes wrote:
| I get that. It often comes down to personal preference. Some
| people read, some don't. Either way, the course bundle contains
| both the book, audiobook, and the videos - that should cover
| all preferences + offer more learning modalities. You can watch
| the video, and then read, or vice versa.
| BadOakOx wrote:
| Is this somehow related to https://procrastination.com/online-
| course ? ..or just the design is really similar?
| vitabenes wrote:
| Not related, though I do know the author.
| adenner wrote:
| I'll watch it later.
| rogerian wrote:
| I'll check it out later
| kitd wrote:
| Saved for when I get round to it
| jl2718 wrote:
| The irony is palpable.
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