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Comment by danm07 | Hacker News Reader

I think this is kind of a thumbtack solution to a more systemic issue. Self-deception, in my opinion, never works: you have to force yourself to be slightly dumber than you are.

The other reason why it doesn't work in the long-term is that you will always be working on things that are adjacent to what's truly important.

Clairvoyance is a better solution. Ever get stuck in a circular argument? After a while, you realize its going nowhere and you walk away. Procrastination, at least in my mind, is almost the same thing. If I let myself observe the mundane things I do, I'll eventually get sick of myself and stop doing it.

Success in dealing with procrastination really a question how viscerally you feel a dead-end coming, and also making the necessary adjustments to remove triggers if its difficult to stop yourself in the act.

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Another alternative (still requires willpower, but significantly less) is to ask yourself "What is the smallest step I can take in the direction of finishing the task" repeatedly.

It looks simple, but the answer to that question isn't always easy. Sometimes the "smallest step" really isn't; then you have to drill down to get to a smaller one. Sometimes its not clear which step should be first; a list of potential steps is beneficial in those cases.

I think most procrastination stems from a combination of unclear goals and getting stuck; for me the above method gets rid of the second aspect and lets me move without having a clear idea which direction I'm going.

That's also a way to analysis paralysis though; sometimes you think about it, make a list of steps, put the first on your to do list, and so on.

Later you find that the first five steps could in fact have been done in ten minutes total without deep thoughts required.

The important part is that it lets you move, even if at much slower speeds. The small nature and unambiguity of the first step allows the possibility for it to beat procrastination impulses with lower willpower.

Slow movement is better than no movement. Also it often makes it easier to pick up speed afterwards.

I don't think it is fully self deception. The author still needs to order the books for the next semester. So, there is really a work that needs to be done, and it really has a deadline. It is not like the author came up with a totally bogus task to do.

At any point in time, you have so many things you are supposed to be doing. By telling yourself that you have to do something and letting it get away with doing something else, you are basically letting yourself chose something more enjoyable to do. It is not self deception. It is giving yourself some amount of freedom.

> I'll eventually get sick of myself and stop doing it.

Everyone is different. Everyone has different tastes. Real change is hard. Real change also takes time to implement. A hack is much easier and it works right now, and it also buys you time to make real change without the wait. For example I used to be late a lot for everything, socially and professionally. As a trick, I'd just adjust the time on my watch about 37 minutes later than the actual time. Yeah in my mind I knew it that my watch was set 35 minutes ahead, but I didn't know that immediately when I woke up and it would give me the push to stop messing around and get ready to go for the times when I was awake since it was a odd number ahead and I used an analog watch.

The brain will eventually adapt and find a way to continue procrastinate. Self-deception might work for a while, just don't expect it to last forever.

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