How to be more productive without forcing yourself
deprocrastination.co
deprocrastination.co
"Have less exposure towards super fun things". "Get bored". These describe the same general concept as dopamine fasting. The third bullet point can be reduced to "focus on what you have to do, until you can focus on it" which is circular.
I'm not buying in. Maybe I'm getting old but "failure to start" is starting to sound like a meme to me perpetuated by vultures trying to exploit creative personalities, hackers included.
I think what we need to do, is to step back and appreciate ourselves for the effort we continually expect from ourselves. As hackers in one way or another, we are constantly putting up our ego as collateral in order to take on challenges that threaten to knock us down a peg or two if we fail. For many of us, failure is a threat to the core of our identity, yet we dive on in anyway. Exhaustion from that sort of loop is to be expected.
Most people don't live like this. Most people reduce the flux in their lives instead of seeking to increase it. Why? Because most people cherish their egos to the point where they cannot commit to a goal with an uncertain outcome. They would rather work a 9-5, which is fine, but it doesn't describe our community. We are addicted to risk if it means building something new and that we can call our own.
So appreciate yourselves more.
And get better sleep.
As for this seeming like cheap advice, keep in mind that A) many people have not heard it yet, and B) sometimes a new twist on an older concept drives the point home.
And you don't have to buy anything. Most of the stuff we create is free on our blog or Twitter. We're not "vultures," we're 2 guys helping people to stop scrolling and go do stuff, driven by our own past struggles. Fin.
Thank you for the comment.
Generally philosophical visions of the world are a product of emotions and neurological and physical conditions that are sometimes as mundane as bad digestion.
We have an article that might have a useful tidbit or two for you: https://www.deprocrastination.co/blog/stages-of-self-develop...
I don't want to get into a thing with this but please don't tell this to anyone. It's neither medical nor scientific.
is it possible to fix this with a few weeks of consistently sleeping at the same time somehow? will I eventually sleep at the same time naturally? or will this take months of "forcing" myself to sleep (as ridiculous as that sounds)?
I can work around this by moderating the length of my sleep, ie, allowing myself to go for at least 7.5 hours no matter when I fall, but sometimes IRL obligations get in the way. For most folks working more strict office hours (or god, retail) this is not a workable suggestion. Even then, eventually I'll drift too far, one of the sleep cycles gets shorted, then there's this weird recovery period with some short naps, and surprise now we're waking up at dawn again.
- waking up at a consistent hour, every day, even the weekends
- no caffeine after noon, ideally not after 11, but I like coffee (individual tolerance will vary, I'm apparently on the sensitive side)
- make sure you're comfortable at night. It's baffling that I didn't realize this sooner, but the trick to falling asleep for me is to just get comfortable enough that I don't really want to move. When you hit that point where you're so comfortable and don't feel the need to move, then drifting off is easy.
- have a planning method to make sure you are organized and offload any thoughts about what needs to happen. I read Getting Things Done and implemented some of the stuff there and that helped a lot in freeing up my mind from worrying - remind yourself, routinely, that whatever you are doing, you'll be able to do it better in the morning
> I can work around this by moderating the length of my sleep, ie, allowing myself to go for at least 7.5 hours no matter when I fall, but sometimes IRL obligations get in the way. For most folks working more strict office hours (or god, retail) this is not a workable suggestion. Even then, eventually I'll drift too far, one of the sleep cycles gets shorted, then there's this weird recovery period with some short naps, and surprise now we're waking up at dawn again.
That is pretty much where I was. I'd go to sleep at varying hours from 10PM to 5AM, always somehow later each night. Sometimes it would take me very long to fall asleep (ie 2 hrs +) unless I felt very tired. Looking back, it is like I needed to be truly exhausted -- not just sleepy, but exhausted -- to fall asleep and that pushed back my sleep schedule every night a little bit.
It wasn't until I got brutal headaches and brain fog everyday that I made it my top priority and began to take an inventory of everything that got in my way. I still go to bed late (between midnight and 1) though, in part because it lets me do regular social things and still, usually, go to bed on time.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-24-hour_sleep%E2%80%93wake...
The only way I have found to moderate it at all is using a moderate stimulant in the morning (pseudoephidrine) and a moderate sleep aid (allergy pill, diphenhydramine) at night, plus being very disciplined (no caffeine after noon, go to bed at a certain time with no video screens/close my book).
b) if you ignored a) and now you're not sleepy, take a melatonin, and then don't fight a) again
c) Get some exercise. Try to get some sunlight when you wake up. Use a SAD light if you can't get natural light.
d) Don't stress about your sleep unless it's actually causing a problem.
The only thing I read that was humorous and slightly wrong was the interesting take on meditation: getting bored more often.
I enjoy quiet, so I’d be a “zen master” according to the post, at least for some minutes each day. But those who know me would not confuse me with a zen master.
Funny but I thought the exact opposite. People believe something much more easily when they want it to be true, so the typical sales approach is to tell people what they want to hear. Ridding your life of whatever seems most fun doesn't seem like cheap advice in that regard.
On the other hand, I think you're spot on with creative types too often getting exploited, and the involvement of ego being such a key factor in why/how we hackers get burned out.
I think people don’t just like hearing what is good or easy. Sometimes we want to have an incredible cross to bear. It’s the mentality that causes people to commit to overbearing self-regulation, like using pomodoro for the entire day or going on an impossible diet. Self-transformation sells just as much from the mouth of the stern father as it does from the caring mother.
I believe the concept of the shadow stems from Jung's work, and I admittedly don't know precisely in which context Jung applied it. But ostensibly, being mindful of the dangerous paths one can be lead down if you don't take care to stay in balance seems like a reasonable thing to teach people, without it instantly degenerating into a "you are a sinner and need to atone"-routine (as you seem to see it).
"Sometimes the women are portrayed as exploited victims. At other times as sadistic monsters.
The truth is more horrifying. They were not extraordinary monsters, but rather ordinary women, who ended up doing monstrous things."
When a cheap sales pitch uses the "you're flawed" format, it's usually telling people "we are all flawed, but here's how you can be morally superior to your peers" or "do this thing and you'll receive a divine reward/achieve enlightenment." The promised reward or feeling of superiority is what makes people want to hear the message.
It's cheap to tell an aging church congregation about the dangers of video games and internet pornography, because it let's people pat themselves on the back without making a sacrifice. It's a little harder to tell an audience of young professionals that they need to limit high dopamine activities to find low dopamine activities appealing, and given that it's a real call to action based on a reasonable, falsifiable claim, I don't think it's cheap advice.
Many of these goals are quite beneficial, like working out everyday.
I've never really heard this feeling described this way, but it totally resonates with me. What a beautiful way to put it. Thanks.
And honestly, I will gladly sacrifice some CPU power just to keep myself away from gaming.
I picked up new things by making an habit out of it, such as reading at least a few pages of a book every day. It's cliché, but setting medium to long-term goals also clarified what I wanted my days to be made of, so now I'm very focused on a personal startup project.
Bonus advice that may not apply to you at all: don't be surprised if relatives tries to keep you from changing your habits, or if you find yourself distancing away from friends, it's a feature of improvement not a bug.
The U series are "low power CPUs". They can do a lot more than they could in the past, but the H series are the actual successors to the M series. It's why the 10980HK is still the top performing of Intel's CPUs in a lot of workloads (quite significantly in some cases, we're talking 60% reductions in compile times for large C++ projects, like Chrome): https://youtu.be/pdO4u87UCYI?t=346 , and for that workload even an older 9300H handily wins against their current efficiency flagship in the 1185G7.
You are trading off a lot of power for improvements in power efficiency.
This of course has two huge caveats:
1. I didn't have a gaming addiction in the first place, evidenced by the fact that I have a Nintendo Switch that gets played in short bursts, rather than constantly.
2. I work with embedded systems/hardware, so I need to have an actual workstation area to keep the tools (debugger probes, power supply, oscilloscope, etc) on. The embedded systems curse of always needing more ports has been a pretty effective anchor for keeping my workspace in the same place as my PC, and if it wasn't, then I'd probably get more "I should spend all day today playing games" desires
It could also be worth talking first to a clinical psychologist. They're less about the drugs and more about the analysis, and sometimes that's able to get you working with just a 'software patch.' Sometimes, though, when you've tried everything and your brain still isn't doing the thing, medication can be absolutely lifechanging.
As the saying goes, if you can't make your own neurotransmitters, store bought is fine.
Stimulant therapy, on the other hand, is effective to a degree that every other mental health intervention wishes it could be. I am a relatively conscientious high performing software developer with medication, and borderline unemployable without it. Night and day difference.
Therapy and education is more appropriate for the people around the ADHD patient. Getting a sense of empathy for their situation and learning how to generate an effective context for them to operate in is incredibly valuable.
I've also developed a kind of higher standard for the games that I allow to take some of my time.
Praise be to Valve, as Proton has freed me from the tyranny of Windows.
I cannot emphasize enough how powerful this is. If you're struggling to focus on your work/projects, try living a bland existence like a monk for a while. You won't be able to stop thinking about working.
It is not about having or not having fun, but being removed from the usual “i could work but also choose not to” environment.
On the beach I cannot work even if I wanted to, and it kind of make me want to work.
If that is not "forcing yourself" I don't know what "forcing yourself" means
It's not about pushing yourself harder, but making you do what you think is important rather than have your brain seeks short term pleasure at the expense of long term well being.
The author almost makes a really good point. The best way to entice yourself back into a more dynamic rhythm of life where you look forward to something is 1) to deprive yourself of it, and 2) not to seek it too soon.
Deprivation and anticipation are essential to maintaining a dynamic interesting lifestyle. Without the self-discipline to redirect your attention toward serving more mundane daily needs, you become a hedonist and focus only on getting high and staying there. You become a junkie.
If the solution to being productive is to rid yourself of joys, then screw it, I'll take an unproductive happy life.
Another "environment setup" example would be buying an analog alarm clock instead of using your phone (and doom scrolling for 30 minutes every morning.
Simple changes, profound effects.
I’m working on my first project involving a DB and a CRUD Java program that will talk to a website, potentially. I am too concerned about “am I doing this the right way”? Things like how I’m setting up my db table, or “is one is enough or I should use more”, if people will look into it and say “wow this guy is dumb” or whatever.
They all prevent me from just pushing forward and improving later. I’m too scared of someone telling me to fix shit even though I actually enjoy learning so much I’d probably like that.
I wish I could just go in my brain and turn that off, I’d be living in the future.
For me, I feel excited when doing performance tuning work, front-end stuff etc. However, I would quickly become bored after working on work that take more than 5 days or so, even if I love the subject. Although I'm not really into TDD, but I think sometimes using TDD could help you get some more feedback when you work on some abstract stuff. (Although writing the tests could be boring for the beginning...)
I would argue that having no expectation on the first-draft may not be the best way to be more productive. Having some concrete goals or metrics could be beneficial if you can get the feedback-loop working. Under-defined, subjective goals could be bad as achieving the goal may seem never-ending if you want perfection. (at least for me)
Coming from a background like that, I find that the days/weeks feedback loop time in tech makes me positively giddy with joy. It's hard for me to imagine thinking of 5 days as a long time to work on a problem.
Working in ML for a large company has really tested my liking for programming. The amount of plumbing/testing/code reviewing needed just to get a tiny feature usable for a ML model is absurd. Taking 6 months to push one model improvement is really draining.
The pay's nice though.
1) I ran on habits for most of my day
2) I could change about 1% of my day every month
Doing small changes continuously results in a big change within a few years and most of your day is completely different. You can learn to do uninteresting, uninspiring chores if you just put small progressions towards it.
So even if it sounds like a small goal, getting better by any amount could suffice.
Presumably from all of us using HN to get a dog procrastination fix.
>Edit to clarify fix in the junkie sense, not as in fixing the issue.
There are some good books like The Now Habit by Neil Fiore or The Procrastinator's Digest by Tim Pychil, and good articles like the one on waitbutwhy, but information on procrastination is mostly scattered about. There aren't many projects focusing solely on it.
The first point is literally do less fun things so you get used to doing more boring things.
I'm genuinely shocked this article is being received so well. What happened to, work to live, not live to work?
The overall idea is to recalibrate your idea of fun towards higher effort rewards, which will often result in better work, which will then allow you to financially reach a position where you can work to live, instead of always having to worry about work.
Between workaholic and master procrastinator, there is a large gray area of healthy relationship to work. This line resonates with my experience : if I do a lot of hyper stimulating things, I struggle to get to work.
Happy for you if procrastination is not a part of your life but it can be a struggle for a lot of people.
/s Sacrificing a huge part of what makes life meaningful isn't "without forcing yourself".
And ads are annoying.
Ironically, when I was hiking 15 days without internet and coudn't sleep at night, I began scribbling down a similar essay: points 1 and 2 are the same, stop having fun and experience true boredom. I'm very glad someone got my same idea.
I've had really productive periods in my life. I really enjoy them, but they generally do not happen accidentally. What seems to work for me is to identify all the things I'm doing wrong, and replace them with doing the right things. (Surprising, right?)
Part of what helps is the cumulative effect of replacing bad habits with good habits. Things like having a few drinks at night, staying up late, not exercising enough, and eating foods your body doesn't handle well all add up to a state of mental fogginess, lethargy, distraction-seeking, as well as the cycle of going back to those same bad habits to get over it.
I've done things like the Whole30 diet, where I avoid any likely trigger foods for 30 days so I can experience a healthy digestion system, and (ideally) phase bad foods back into my diet so I can identify the worst offenders. I'll set a "this is my personal universal law" work out schedules that I prioritize above anything else. I've gone without drinking for months at a time. I'll cut out things like Facebook, Instagram, addicting computer games, binging of TV shows, etc. and replace them with educational books, programming tutorials, writing down ideas, making projects (woodworking, code, etc.)
The cumulative effects cannot be overstated. I'll spend my days with a clear head, with the energy to keep doing the things that benefit me, the interest in the projects that I value and consider productive, often a repulsion to sugary foods, a much lower appetite for frequent snacking/grazing, a somewhat natural urge to go to bed when I'm tired and repeat the process the next day.
So those periods are excellent, and I miss them when they are past. But I also eventually miss my bad habits as well, and inevitably let them trickle back in, reversing the cycle in the opposite direction. I have not found a perfect long-term solution, but I know that when I miss productivity enough or feel depressed enough about being so inactive, I'll probably be motivated enough to sit up and take action and get back into the upward cycle.
I suspect the most successful people tend to avoid the trickle of bad habits, or just have a better handle on keeping it at a trickle while they stay in a more optimal state. (And otherwise have factors like luck and good connections on their side!) But I'm content (most of the time) with a life that is sometimes really productive, and sometimes much less so. And I come to accept letting go of those golden ages and embracing the less productive consumption ages as something I can enjoy without overshadowing them with guilt. Your values may vary!
1. Avoid facile things.
Things that aren’t facile involve difficulty which in turn can involve learning, challenge, mistakes, or other things your brain finds painful. To know more tomorrow than you knew yesterday, you may have to remember why it seemed fun to touch the stove.
Have a hard look at what you do rather than work and whether each is genuinely fun. If it’s genuine fun, you likely don’t regret the time spent. More often, the things done instead of work, when looked back on, were not meaningfully rewarding. You’re not the better for having spent time on them.
This also helps you decide among “fun” things. For instance, between these two guilty pleasures: binge Netflix, or binge an airport novel?
The second one subconsciously reminds you that reading can be fun, and rehabilitates your ability to focus on reading at length, so primes you to be able to read and learn rapidly as needed to maintain mastery in your profession.
Anecdata suggests that for coming back from burnout on activities, facility-based alternatives are better than abject avoidance.
The most effective way I've found to improve productivity is to shift focus onto tasks that bring in more money per unit time spent performing them.
Since my daughter was born 7 months ago, I've really only been able to work about 2-3 "full" 8-hour days a week without crashing, and my wife might be able to spend 8-10 hours a week working on the business. However, because we've simply stopped doing tasks that are "work" but don't add greatly to the business's bottom line (for example, we no longer respond to dumb requests from customers, standardise products into a single SKU where possible and shifted our marketing towards eBay's promoted listings rather than building an organic following on social media), we've actually grown slightly.
Diligence and drive are definitely important parts of what makes you productive, but it's not the be all and end all.
To me, turning yourself into an efficiency robot is a recipe for disaster. I think instilling this need to always reach a higher level of output is going to have an opposite effect that makes people more stressed, especially with this idea that fun=bad.
Also I don’t think people can work solely using external motivation as the author seems to suggest.
“When something is boring, ask yourself: Why do I need to do this? Find and reinforce the why behind the work.”
If you consistently don’t enjoy doing something, it might be a sign you should be doing something else.
On a more positive note, the effectiveness of reducing addictive activities cannot be overstated. Essentially, you have to remind yourself that you can access a more pleasant neurological state if you first start by getting some of your daily activities under control.
EDIT: What worked for me was to divide my work day (that's when I work) in 15 minutes chunks on a paper. Luckily I have reMarkable with graph paper made of 36 cells vertically. This nicely makes each cell 15 minutes making upto 9 hours.
Wow. Thanks, I guess.
It's funny how I want to believe it but the sales pitch after makes me skeptical.