Ask HN: How to break this cycle of procrastination?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7080257

by notastartup • 13 years ago

8 9 13 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

hey guys, so I've been trying to put some code time but it's simply not happening or it happens when I'm just about to sleep.

Here's the cycle:

Okay, a new day, let's start. let's check hackernews first. great neat stuff. alright one more article and i'll fire up my ide and terminal.

okay i'm tired now, time to play some counter strike. lets play for 30 minutes.

oh I SUCK at this game just like I'm sucking at not procrastinating. this guy is talking trash time to show him who's boss.

crap, it's been an hour. now im hungry. lets eat.

alright now im full, i need to relax and check hackernews again.

repeat.

how do I break out of this cycle? it's like anytime I get ready to code, I end up doing the complete opposite. It's like I go out of my way to not do the work I'm supposed to do.

TheHydroImpulse• 13 years ago

I've definitely been in that situation before. Whenever it is goes like "I'll do Y, then I'll do X, after Y", where X is the more important thing to do, it doesn't happen. That's why whenever I catch myself saying that, I stop, I don't do Y but actually do X.

Instead of saying you'll code after another article, or another game, etc... you should instead code before those things. Just the act of sitting down and doing it is enough satisfaction and makes me motivated even more, conquering procrastination.

Anyways, that worked for me.

akg_67• 13 years ago

Make yourself feel guilty as much as possible and break your routine by introducing a new non-coding non-computer activity in between your guilty pleasures. Based on my experience with procrastination and trying to break it, how about your modify your procrastination little bit as suggested below.

"Okay, a new day, let's start. let's check hackernews first. great neat stuff. alright one more article and i'll fire up my ide and terminal." <

Before playing counter strike, Fire up your IDE and Terminal before going to next step. Make sure you maximize your IDE and Terminal to fill all the screen space. Then take a quick little walk in the room/apt/house. Come back to screen and if you want to still play counter strike, minimize your IDE and Terminal (don't close any of programs or switch to a different desktop view). If you still wants to play counter strike, go ahead play.

"okay i'm tired now, time to play some counter strike. lets play for 30 minutes.

oh I SUCK at this game just like I'm sucking at not procrastinating. this guy is talking trash time to show him who's boss.

crap, it's been an hour. now im hungry. lets eat." <

Before going to eat, Open up your project and source code file that you want to work on. Make sure again the screen is completely filled. Go eat something away from screen. Take a walk around the room/apt/house/neighborhood.

"alright now im full, i need to relax and check hackernews again." <

Come back to screen and if you want to still check hacker news, Write a few lines of code. And then check hacker news.

Sooner or later, you will start to feel guilty seeing the IDE, Terminal, Project, Source Code file on your screen every time you come back to your computer and start doing more and more coding.

frou_dh• 13 years ago

Simply go somewhere without an internet connection. It's a lot harder to fuck around on a computer when the pipe of infinite novelty is out of order.

S4M• 13 years ago

I'd second that. I notice I am much more efficient when I can get rid of internet. When I find an obstacle on what I am doing I take a note of my problem and move on to something else, and later I turn on internet and google my error or ask on Stack Overflow.

vijucat• 13 years ago

Basically, there's a clash between what you feel you SHOULD be doing, and who you WANT to do. Realizing this, ideally, you immediately freeze in your seat and ask yourself, "So what do I want to do really?". The only issue is that when your brain tells you that you really want to play Counterstrike, and you immediately fight it with, "NO! I want to be a great hacker". This is the real problem.

It's very difficult to allow one's real self to express itself, even if you're all alone at home! This is why "It's like I go out of my way to not do the work I'm supposed to do". Why don't you look at it in the face? You just feel you're supposed to code, you don't want to do it. And that's completely OK. It is the cycle of self-punishment and enforced "becoming" : "I am this today, I should be that in one year" which drains a LOT of energy. Realizing this, immediately stop trying to become anyone.

Give yourself a one month break where you promise to actually find out who you really are. A break from what all you're "supposed" to do according to your ambition, parents, The Cool People, etc; Maybe you will actually find something that you are so interested in that coding will come naturally to you while pursuing your interests. Or not. You need not be interested in what others are interested in. Or, just as an example, maybe you decide on coding a Counterstrike mod? That could be fun, too!

MatthiasP• 13 years ago

"It's like I go out of my way to not do the work I'm supposed to do." Well, that's exactly what you do and it helps thinking about why you avoid doing some coding. Sometimes this behaviour comes from thinking that you have to be in the right mood to start working, but the truth is, motivation comes while doing stuff, not before you start.

Another reason could be that you are afraid that the task is overwhelming, that you don't understand it, etc.

Try dividing whatever you want to do into tiny steps that don't take more than 15 minutes and tick them off in a list after finishing them.

mapster• 13 years ago

It's not going to happen unless you really want it to.

mdkess• 13 years ago

For me, anyway, the answer is tracking time.

If I want to do something, say, work on a project, I set a timer for 30 minutes and start working on the project. My rule for myself is that for 30 minutes, I have to work on the project, even if I'm banging my head against the wall and not making any progress. After 30 minutes, I either keep working (if I'm in the zone), or stop, re-evaluate and repeat - but never stop before 30 minutes is up. At first, this was painful, but now it's pretty easy to get into the flow. I do this also with things I really don't enjoy, like dishes and housework.

While I think that the rule itself is arbitrary, I think what it did was help me to build discipline, which was immensely important.

Then, video games and other entertainment go at the end of the day, where I can enjoy it guilt free - and importantly, where it can't overlap with work. One nice thing is that I don't feel guilty having fun anymore. Of course, I'm not so strict, sometimes I wake up on a Sunday morning and play games for three hours, but generally I try to stick to this plan.

As other people have said, you need to separate what you need to do over what you want to do.

Another technique that I use is to separate work space from play space. I'm not going to go and play Starcraft II (my chosen drug) in a Starbucks, so if I'm feeling particularly distracted, I'll go there to do work. I live in NYC so I don't have the luxury of having a spare room to use as an office, but if I did I'd seriously consider setting up an office separate from my main desk (ie. have a video game computer and a serious computer).

Finally, start slow. Lots of people look for big overnight change, don't get it, and revert to old habits. Instead, start slowly. Do one of these 30 minute sprints each week day, and two each weekend day.

Mimu• 13 years ago

What usually works for me when I end up running around my code:

1. Force you to start coding, I mean just write something, start solving an issue

2. Because I hate leaving something unfinished, I usually follow up with a pretty good session. My main problem here is that 90% of the time, I start feeling like I need to play again, hate myself, and realize I don't even have time to play because hours are gone.

On the other hands, sometimes just going out "refresh" you and you are good to go again. I have friends in another city (friends who aren't computer related at all, none of them know the first thing about dev), I sometimes go spend a week with them and I don't use a computer or internet and I don't need to.

Ask HN: How to break this cycle of procrastination?

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