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Comment by Y_Y | Hacker News Reader

I like this idea in theory. It seems to be empirically a good observation. I do take issue with the solution though.

Maybe it comes down to how you model the minds of those around you, but I notice a pattern in articles like this, that the solution seems to be presented as universal. In my experience, deadlines, especially self-imposed ones, are very effective for some (say 40%) of people, but they're not a panacea.

Wouldn't it be nice if there was some more general theory that explained Parkinson's law, and suggested various solutions that will work for various people?

> I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by. - Douglas Adams

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One of the things I learnt about ADHD from my recent diagnosis is how it disrupts your perception of time compared to people without it. To me it doesn’t matter if there’s a deadline, my brain just does not perceive time in a way that makes it matter.

Of course I have strategies to manage this, and medication helps somewhat. But if I set a deadline for myself I’m never going to keep it.

Could you share some of your strategies?

My girlfriend has ADHD and she mostly only can get things done when there are deadlines outside of her control (e.g. cleaning up when we have visitors). When she wants to do something just for her it can take ages, if it gets done at all.

I would like to help her with this but I don't really know where to start.

For 'time blindness' my personal solution is that I have a miband that vibrates periodically. I think most smartwatches have such a function.

I am an inattentive type who skated thru behavioral checks by being the quiet kid who never causes problems. What this really means is I am doing ranked competitive daydreaming and sometimes need to be reminded to exist.

Never felt so seen by something so succinct. Ranked competitive daydreaming indeed.

I've heard this referred to as "time blindness", which may help if you're looking for more information.

I'd also be grateful if you could share some of your strategies.

Do external deadlines help you?

In some cases, time pressure can focus me and get me to a solution faster, but I then need downtime to recharge. I don't think I've worked in that sort of environment since working in food service or at a movie theater.

Deadlines often just stress me because I can't effectively reason about the intervening time.

Partly because in practice, there's one group of people _setting_ deadlines and a completely different set of people responsible for them. I don't know how one moves into the deadline-setting ruling class, but it definitely isn't diligent work, careful attention to detail and achieving demonstrable results.

And even if you’re the one setting deadlines, if the powers that be are punishing people over any missed deadlines you’ll quickly learn to set deadlines to at least 3x the amount of time you think something will take.

Doesn't matter who sets deadlines if they are actually well thought out, rather than set on a whim, arbitrarily impossible to meet.

The first help me not get bogged down in details and prevent endless polishing, the second are demotivating and unnecessarily stressful.

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