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Comment by 123pie123 | Hacker News Reader

I hadn't realized there was a name for this! (i thought it's just procrastinating)

This what I do 90+% of the time, I work with my ADHD and put off doing as much as I can until the last minute. Then do weeks worth of work in hours.

To note: If you're thinking of doing this, be careful, it can be extremely stressful

Only do it on stuff you're good at or understand the implications if it goes wrong, because this method doesn't allow much time to change your mistakes.

If its something new i will not do this (or i'll break it down in chunks)

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No, this is not that.

The Napoleon approach is intentional, borne out of belief that a lot of communication is actually meaningless waffle produced by people whose first instict, when faced with an issue, is to talk about it with someone, rather than putting some thought into it; and a lot of it is just people being impatient.

Your thing is just procrastination. Although it can result in similar behaviour, in practice, it's a different thing.

thanks for clarifying,

my excessive procrastinating definitely overlaps with this (as I call it in project) meaningless bollocks. and I intentionally let people go on and on, until things stabilize. Endless meetings going around and around, discussing loads but coming up with nothing much

Mostly I put it down to education/ understanding - eg people need around 5-10 repetitions to understand stuff.

To combat this, I modify my documents and diagrams to show how simple things are, make sure all acronyms are explained properly (over and over again) and make 'solutions' into a "story" eg beginning, middle and end explaining how/ why / decisions.

Meaningless bollocks still exist, I let other people run around like headless chickens - I think people like the chaos and fun (well I try and make it fun)

That's how I got through my engineering degree. Would not recommend.

yep, the same - I got shit marks, but I was very efficient at getting my shit marks

People who pass an engineering degree with only the minimum mark should get some kind of special cum laude.

Anyone can build a bridge that stands, but it takes an engineer to build a bridge that _barely_ stands.

An engineer in and of oneself.

(Always enjoy when that construction is actually valid, people often miss the reflexive part)

It's that old joke:

"What do you call a student who passed their medical exam with the lowest grade in their year?"

"A doctor"

Actually I had some good luck with hiring people that have the minimum marks and huge amount of outside adjacent skills. One example is someone who was running a manufacturing operation on second shift and completing an engineering degree at the same time.

Not specifically the same but there's an adage, "C's get degrees". (I guess it's about how even if you got C's, you're still good enough to have a sheet of paper that even your class topper had?)

I always went with C is for cookie and that's good enough for me. Along with D for diploma.

But note, some schools require a C in prereqs to take further courses. And some schools may put you on academic probation/kick you out if your GPA falls below a C. So D for diploma is a sometimes grade.

C for competent (a higher level than 'degree')

In times past in Australia it was 3s get degrees, 4s open doors.

These days a 3 is no longer a conceded pass, it's a failure that entitles you to re-attempt your final exam.

Cum Shite seems appropriate.

I agree. Not wiping is one of the most efficient ways to get shit marks.

> I hadn't realized there was a name for this! (i thought it's just procrastinating)

https://structuredprocrastination.com

This is something I learned from one of my (frankly fairly effective and powerful) parents. My wife, who is super conscientious just thinks its procrastinating, or worse, doing nothing until she does something. From experience in my own family acting like this can seem very selfish because usually if someone brings a problem to your attention they want you to show you are also concerned by acting and solving. Doing nothing can look bad.

But it can be smart! It's not just that problems solve themselves, it's also that the best course of action becomes clear with time. The optics of inaction can be terrible, which is why junior people managing upward nearly always start trying to tackle a problem immediately. For senior people, you need to acknowledge you are aware of a problem and will do something. I think this is one of the reasons managers implement process that seems kind of useless. Like meetings to discuss a decision without making the decision. To participants it can be frustrating but it is a way for the person in charge to show they know a problem exists that also lets them put off doing anything.

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