Simple solution for me was to do a dopamine detox. This requires getting rid of things you enjoy, but that's somewhat the point. Instead of doing things you want, you are wasting time on things you don't.
After giving up video games, programming was fun. Reading nonfiction was insanely fun. So much so, it became a new addiction.
Maybe giving up things you enjoy is easier said than done.
With gaming, I've started to allow myself play only during Friday evenings and Saturdays. It's like a reward after whole week. Also I play only on the computer, got rid of mobile games completely because of ads and in app purchases and a bad habit of playing in the bed. And interestingly, for a month I haven't played at all, although I could.
Yeah, that's one way to do it. My co-founder is currently doing an extended dopamine detox to focus on writing better. Our last 2 blog posts were about that - see here: https://www.deprocrastination.co/blog/topic/distraction
It's not about getting rid of what you like : It's getting rid of things designed to be addictive.
Modern gaming is incredibly addictive and I found myself addicted to dumb games in recent years. I deleted everything and play only old school games once in a while (rtype etc ).
The thing about those addictive behaviours is (for me), like most addictions, you have a tenuous association with enjoyment and the behaviour but mostly it leaves you very dissatisfied.
Scrolling through feeds or watching videos actually causes me to become pretty sad, but sometimes I find myself feeling quite a compulsion to do it. It's usually when I'm stressed out or anxious, and the behaviour aligns perfectly with escapism. So there's very little enjoying involved.
I think it's important to consider what enjoyable means, and how we frame it. Instant gratification is only a small sliver of what could be considered enjoyable, in the scheme of things.
> like most addictions, you have a tenuous association with enjoyment and the behaviour but mostly it leaves you very dissatisfied
There's a whole bunch of research and writing lately about "wanting versus liking", describing these two emotions related to experiences and behaviors as distinct.
When people encounter that distinction, most of us can think of things that we like much more than we want, or that we want much more than we like.
I listened to an interesting podcast the other day by Andrew Huberman in which he talks about dopamine being a motivating chemical (motivates you to do whatever triggered it again) rather than a pleasure chemical, which it’s often thought to be.
It’s apparently very much a want over a like situation, which seems to explain the potential lack of enjoyment. I’m not a neuroscientist so I’ll butcher this if I say more, but in terms of want vs like I found it really fascinating.
Trust - Yes, I've collected some testimonials from other products (book, extension, Deschool program), but none about the course yet, since it's brand new. I'll work on this.
Video - Thank you. I'll plan on improving the course continuously. I'm more animated in some videos, but I'll re-record others.
This is the 1st version of the product. My background is programming, so I plan to update this as if it were a software product (it partially is).
I had the same thought about trust. For me even if you are not an expert in the scientific sense, some reasons why I should believe in this course would be good. Maybe you’ve tested it on X people and they have reported success, and have stories themselves that are convincing.
I didn’t find the voice monotonous and I like the clear instructions and advice.
For me the only thing that works. The only hack that works is having a contract with a third party.
You don't procrastinate on paying your mortgage right. You do it every month.
You don't not show up for work right. Or for meetings right.
You don't procrastinate on paying your cellphone bill/internet bill/paying rent etc.
Why? Because you have contracts with another party and there are consequences if you miss them.
Losing weight? No consequences! That novel you've been meaning to write.. no consequences! Want to learn a new language/do a passion project etc.. there are no consequences to not doing it.
For me I resolved this issue by going into a contract with a third party with consequences if I miss my obligations.
Inspired by a "lock-in" productivity based ted talk which was banned so I can't link it here.
To a point, but you can also create a negative stigma associated with the activity through conditioning using this sort of consequential-based motivation unfortunately.
Sometimes when you do something out of fear of a negative consequence it ends up becoming an activity that, while you might become more proficient at it, you might also grow to dislike the activity. (How many children were forced to learn a musical instrument by their parents and as a result hate it)
This was my exact initial fear in theory but it doesn't work out that way in practice. Children are forced to learn a musical instrument and it takes away their sense of agency. They will hate both the instrument and the parent. This makes sense.
Here. In this case the situation is different. Both the parent and the child is the same person.
In my case I was pretty excited because finally I found something that worked and resolved my issues. Once the feeling of accomplishment sets in you will feel pretty happy.
Once your mind knows that there is no way out it starts adapting and starts assisting you. That's why the contract should be irreversible.
Creating accountability is definitely a solid strategy, but I've got to point out that I absolutely procrastinate all of the things you mentioned in your first several paragraphs.
This strategy doesn't eliminate procrastination. You still pay the price but it evens out the peaks and valleys of productivity/unproductivity.
For ex: You need to spend 3 hours and write a 5 page report that is due on Monday at 9:00 AM.
You spend the whole week not working but feeling guilty about not making progress. Then suddenly in the last minute i.e a few hours before the deadline i.e around 5:00 AM to 8:00 AM you start panicking and make progress. You turn in less than stellar report.
With a contract based strategy you still procrastinate. But the end result is much better. i.e You need to finish 2 pages by the middle of the week or you pay $25 per missed page. Another 2 pages in the second half of the week. This way you still procrastinate and occasionally you pay the penalty but still you would be done with the essay/ report 2 days in advance rather than the last minute where the consequences are way higher in terms of getting a bad grade/losing scholarship/not graduating/ not getting into a better career etc.
For me the monetary based strategy loses its luster because the introduction of money causes you to see the consequences in terms of finances. As in, you start to think that you can just pay the 25 dollars as a subscription fee to skip doing the work for that week, and so long as you don't raise the amount of money you lose, this continues indefinitely. And of course, without a third party, there is nothing obligating you to raise the price for failure. In the end, because the system eventually fails in its purpose of getting you to work, you start to wonder why you're paying a 25 dollar subscription to skip work instead of skipping work free of charge, so you simply cancel the obligation.
That's the major problem with setting up timers or schedules or other obligation mechanisms yourself. If they're in your control, you're given as much freedom to remove them as you have to set them up in the first place.
If no amount of self-restraint or anti-postcrastination systems can get me to do something I tell myself I want to do, then maybe I either need to have someone force me to do it or realize that what I say I want in life is wrong. Maybe this is because I've been trained so that about the only thing left that's 100% effective for getting intrinsically boring work done is someone else forcing me to do something.
In this guy's case he was able to run a successful startup and his brother was able to get into and graduate from Harvard despite being terrible procrastinators. (because of the strategy.) He was not using a monetary based strategy. Basically he placed a hit on himself via his brother and viceversa to become successful.
Another thing he did was to write a letter to his ex and told his brother to mail it if he did not finish a certain task.
Again.. these are terrible examples. I would not advocate violence or stunts like this. In my own case, I used money but for others it could be anything. Any consequence they would like to avoid.
> You don't procrastinate on paying your mortgage right. You do it every month. You don't procrastinate on paying your cellphone bill/internet bill/paying rent etc.
Yes, because it is effortless and auto-pay does it for me. What you're really saying is that I don't procrastinate earning money to pay for those things, which is not the same thing as just paying for them.
> You don't not show up for work right. Or for meetings right.
Showing up for work and procrastinating on some tasks at work is not the same thing. You're doing your point a disservice by painting it in black and white.
> Why? Because you have contracts with another party and there are consequences if you miss them.
I've had tenants whose stay was conditional on fulfilling certain obligations specified in the rent agreement, aside from paying rent. Even though there were consequences for not doing so, none of them did it and 1 ended up being evicted.
> For me I resolved this issue by going into a contract with a third party with consequences if I miss my obligations.
This only works because you're already a high-consciety individual. Sure, consequences help in general, but only if you know exactly what the problem is AND if you actually have the flexibility and energy to complete the things you have been procrastinating on.
Doesn’t work for me. As evidenced by past parking tickets, uncollected rubbish bins and other such things.
OTOH my bills are automatically paid for the most part. Has nothing to do with procrastination.
Also if you want to focus on some creative work from 9-10 before the stand up, who is going to check you did it “to the contract”? And how do they check?
Uh, I procrastinate on or just miss all those deadlines very frequently. The consequences just don't exist or pile up. Sometimes consequences don't impact your(general) likelihood of successfully doing something on time.
I had to create another account just to reply. I had nocprocrast turned on for hacker news (the irony!)
Practical:
1. I lost 30 lbs from 200 lbs to 170 lbs
How I did it.
Step#1. Made an irreversible decision.
I pay $100 every week if I miss losing 2 lbs that week.
The deal was for 12 weeks.
I started Monday and the deal is every Monday. I have to stand on the scale and take a pic and send it.
2. I solved 200+ Leetcodes over a span of a year
Deal. I had to solve 10 problems a day on random days. Each missed problem costed me $25 per miss.
Here is another guy who became ripped i.e 6 packed within 6 months
See. The deal is this. The answer to procrastination is not more information. There is no magic info online that will change your brain and you stop procrastinating. You already know procrastinating is bad. You already know that you need to small chunk the work. You already know you need to be disciplined. You know you need to "just get started" or "just need to do it NOW!" that life is made up of choices and you need to make a choice.. You know this and yet...
YOU WON'T DO IT!
There is this movie called "Memento" where all these concepts are already discussed.
Here is the gist.
You are not ONE person. That's why nothing has worked so far and nothing will work in the future too. (likely)
You are a multitude of people living inside of you. The you that is going to nod your head or is going to be "inspired" is not the same person who is going to wake up tomorrow. You listen to a video and have an "aha" moment but the you two days from now will not follow through on your grand plan. This is like a relay race between different versions of YOU and the problem is that there is a version of YOU that is definitely going to drop the baton.
Now. You can hit rock bottom or want success as bad as you want to breathe air and then you will get what you want. This is what everyone already knows.
But what if you kind of want to be ripped or kind of want to be done writing a book or just not sufficiently determined. Is there a mechanism by which you can still do the things you don't normally have enough motivation to do?
The answer is a contract.
Beeminder is one such but the biggest flaw is that you are still in charge so you can easily renege on it.
Likewise for Stickk etc.
Instead do this:
1. Make an irreversible decision where you are not the one to call off the deal. Just like a mortgage, internet bills, rent, cell phone bills etc.
Watch yourself automatically, automagically achieve ridiculous stuff that previously you would Never have been able To do.
This is a 100% anti self help approach.
Note: I did lose a solid 30 lbs from 200 lbs to 170 lbs. But the problem is that once the contract expires I will likely go back to 185 lbs.. eventually.
Likewise, you will never develop natural self discipline with this approach but hey.. it works..
You got me interested as well on "a multitude of people living inside of you". A model which works suitably for me is just the adult and the big child.
The adult is writing this text. (Hey, after all he's the only one able to write or read!)
The big child, is literally me as a child plus the sexuality that came later.
(There's also an animal, but it is only noticeable in the most extreme circumstances. You know, table tennis and the like.)
With this model it all boils up to the child being tricked by the adult. Yes, it is tempting to assume that the adult is "raising" the child, but no. Internally it feels more like the child needs to be tricked into compliance, then all gets well (i.e. the child is seemingly happy after it is shown its place).
But, a multitude?...
I have trouble imagining any more personas. I'm curious how does that feel like? Multiple "adults" at the same time? Sequentially?
From the movie "Memento": This explains it better.
Here's the truth: People, even regular people, are never just any one
person with one set of attributes. It's not that simple. We're all at
the mercy of the limbic system, clouds of electricity drifting through
the brain. Every man is broken into twenty-four-hour fractions, and
then again within those twenty-four hours. It's a daily pantomime, one
man yielding control to the next: a backstage crowded with old hacks
clamoring for their turn in the spotlight. Every week, every day. The
angry man hands the baton over to the sulking man, and in turn to the
sex addict, the introvert, the conversationalist. Every man is a mob, a
chain gang of idiots.
This is the tragedy of life. Because for a few minutes of every day,
every man becomes a genius. Moments of clarity, insight, whatever you
want to call them. The clouds part, the planets get in a neat little
line, and everything becomes obvious. I should quit smoking, maybe, or
here's how I could make a fast million, or such and such is the key to
eternal happiness. That's the miserable truth. For a few moments, the
secrets of the universe are opened to us. Life is a cheap parlor trick.
But then the genius, the savant, has to hand over the controls to the
next guy down the pike, most likely the guy who just wants to eat
potato chips, and insight and brilliance and salvation are all
entrusted to a moron or a hedonist or a narcoleptic.
The only way out of this mess, of course, is to take steps to ensure
that you control the idiots that you become. To take your chain gang,
hand in hand, and lead them.
It's interesting to me that you mention the "not one person" viewpoint. I am forced through traumatic past experiences to live my life consciously aware of these other "me"s and them of "me", as a result of dissociation. We have to actively communicate with each other internally and work together. Things don't happen if we don't agree on them, or other "me"s will go off and do their own thing and we have to get on the same page to keep that from happening. Lots and lots of therapy.
Want to lose weight? I have to have every part of me on board, if one of me doesn't want to and instead wants to eat crap, they can and will and we lose our progress.
I can't count the number of times the dev-minded parts of myself resolve to work on X project or leetcode/day only to wake up the next day switched to a different personality that doesn't remember making that resolution, or even know how to work on code. There are parts of me that cannot even comprehend code another part of me has written, but when the part that wrote it comes back it's crystal clear. It has to be communicated among everyone inside that we have the goal to work on X and time has to be given to the parts that want to and can, consciously (if we're even able at the time).
There are still other parts with the internal authority to say that X thing will happen and they will show up every day to enforce their expectations. This doesn't happen often, usually in very stressful periods.
Any time a part of me wants to make a long term change in my habits, appearance, or behavior it must be put to a quorum majority vote. If there is not a quorum or majority we cannot make the change, or the formation of the habit or new behavior will fail. If we have a quorum but a conflict in what we want to do any given moment, we end up procrastinating. Parts of me can try to make their own routines and habits, or do their own activities if they have time alone, but inevitably if it's against collective will it gets put to an end quickly.
We have to have a contract with ourselves to be functional in day to day life. There is no reneging on the contract when we are forced to share a single life in this way.
When we agree? It's powerful. Lost 100lbs in 2018, saved up and moved across country in the middle of the pandemic last year, got a new job, a new car, and started moving forward in our career.
Also we get to use We/They/Them pronouns which is fun (I like to joke that technically any pronoun could be used for us.)
Very interesting idea. If you had to pay, who did you pay? My thought is the money would go to charity, but since that is (usually) a good thing then I don't know if paying money for failing is a good enough incentive.
I hired a contractor and I paid him when I failed. You should be hell bent on not paying a dime. Otherwise you are doing it wrong. If it goes for charity then your mind will sniff out an escape route. Instead give it to causes you don't believe in. The goal is to be afraid of failing. You should be kicking yourself and feel the pinch when your hard earned money is going out of pocket. Otherwise you are doing it wrong.
Here's the deal. Even when you fail you still will win in the end and that the beauty of this approach.
I lost 30 lbs over the course of 4 to 6 months. I lost around $200 - $300 and it definitely stung. But it was worth it for now I have a strong and fit body.
Once you create or sign a deal its a done deal. You can't renege on that. You sign an agreement with the other person and they will hold the money hostage till either the deal is completed or not.
Not to dismiss this course since I never tried it, but my personal experience is that I procrastinate a lot when I don’t enjoy my work, have a lot of FUD around the project, or simply not passionate about the profession.
On the contrary, when I got motivated by my work and feel excited, I just naturally stop procrastination. In fact, it becomes difficult to pay attention to things beyond work at that state.
My advice to people who suffer from procrastination: first think about the root cause, that is whether pivoting from current job is what you really need to do.
Agreed, but for me there have been a few more reasons than boredom. Broadly I see 3 reasons I’ve procrastinated in the past.
1. I’m bored, and not learning anything new, just doing the same thing over and over.
2. I don’t see where this is going, or the point of doing it. Felt this a lot with university assignments in particular.
3. I’m afraid. This is the only one where I think it’s worth persisting. Sometimes something is new and scary, like public speaking or deploying to production for the first time. In this case, what I’ve found to work really well is to just sit with the fear, observe the sensations it produces in the body, and then it naturally just sort of weakens.
For 1 and 2, I think the procrastination is actually telling you something important.
There's a view out there (partially promoted by Taleb) that procrastination is good - it indicates that you shouldn't pursue something, that it's not natural for you.
The problem is that while sometimes that applies, sometimes it doesn't, and it's worth overcoming (I fall more on this side of the issue). In any case, I'm a big advocate for reflecting on why people procrastinate. There are many different reasons.
Completely with you on 3. This is the most dangerous one - its like not wanting to hear bad news or give bad news. I have found myself doing this with health issues.
1 and 2 can be helped with a bit of discipline and perseverance.
4. I am exhausted or did not sleep enough. Sometimes it is difficult to realise / accept that I simply need some downtime. In that case cut yourself some slack.
5. I start day-dreaming about the root cause of a problem and how there are better ways to solve it. Often leading to some frustration about why there does not exist a better solution for. A good reason to start googling around or have a look at some HN for possible interesting solutions or approaches.
Yep, not enjoying the work in general is definitely one cause, but there are other ones. In our materials, we divide the causes into: behavioral, temporary, and deeper causes. Then we deal with them more specifically.
From personal experience I know that the same work can be daunting or motivating, depending on the personal habits/behaviors and systems. In other words, they are temporary. That's what the course focuses on (not looking for a new job).
In any case, your advice about figuring out the root cause is spot on (and also in the course).
Good advice. Also one thing that has very often worked for me which I learned from a run-of-the-mill Youtube video is just countdown from 5-4-3-2-1 and then do it for 5 minutes. So many times I've ended up working the whole day after that and often enjoyed myself too.
For a lot of people it's like the static friction vs kinetic friction kinda deal.
I like the friction analogy but would have it on an inclined plane to account for the energy produced/consumed once it's started. For example a task which provides its own motivation (once started) would be downhill and may only need an initial push to overcome static friction, then might be self-sustaining. On the other hand, an unrelentingly unpleasant task would be "uphill" and require constant willpower (cf. mechanical power) to finish.
Unless you just think of it like you are the person applying the "force" (to get something done), then the analogy is that you have to keep applying it but less once you get into motion.
Yes and no. I usually procrastinate also when the project or even ticket is too big or I'm not that familiar with the topic and I get a form of "writer's block". In that case, pairing with someone else or try to split the task in smaller chunks helps me. But not always, unfortunately.
1. Doing something else instead. But something that's also valuable. Not just scrolling on your phone, but learning something, building something, training, etc.
2. Put yourself out there. If you do good work and get positive feedback regularly, it is easier to keep going.
Oh man, I feel exactly the same way. Even if it is something I actually like, just getting started can be so hard.
My only real trick is to try and do something for ten minutes and then I can continue or not as I want. Often I want to continue, sometimes so much I get irrationally angry on the timer because it interrupts my work.
The catalyst should also be specific. A smartphone is a very broad-spectrum catalyst that accelerates all kinds of side reactions, depleting your free energy.
You want to have specific catalysts (think enzymes), clean feedstocks, and a good supply of free energy. Also the pressure (physical/mental confinement within one area) and temperature (level of stress/energy/chaos) need to be managed.
I find that I procrastinate the most when I have to write something “required.”
I basically never procrastinate on writing code.
I also don’t procrastinate when I’m writing things for intrinsic reasons, like I want to describe a neat thing I discovered.
But anything that’s required is hard. Writing conference papers for my PhD was horrid. I’d stare at a blank screen for days. I really wish I knew how to get past that, but I never figured it out.
This assumes that procrastination is some sort of a problem. I'd like start from scratch. What is the purpose of doing anything? What is the point of productivity? Is this subjective and materials like these are for people that see it as a problem or is there some generality to it?
Sometimes you don't always have a choice with the task. Eg filing your taxes. You can pay someone to do your taxes but my point is there are plenty of procrastinating triggering tasks in life you can't escape
I agree with your points, having experienced both sides. One other thing that I've noticed helps a lot is to have a starter template. It's a lot easier to not procrastinate when you have a structure to think with even if the structure is bad and you end up changing it completely. I tend to procrastinate more when I have to do something from scratch
I feel like I'm one of the worst procrastinators in the world. Today I spent an hour doing some focused, concentrated work with zero problems, but then I had to reply to a "difficult" email that I've been putting off. The instant I opened my mail client I felt overwhelmed and started procrastinating. What would you recommend I do in this situation?
What helped me overcome the dreadful empty mail window was using a brainstorming / editing approach:
1. Using a different editor to write the draft, to prevent the immediate negative reaction to the mail client.
2. Brainstorming my draft. That is, I wrote down the first thing that came to mind, no matter how ridiculous or nonsensical. It doesn't even have to be related to the message at hand. It only needs to remove the daunting empty page and get my brain into "write something" mode.
3. Edit and repeat. Read what you've written and select anything that actually makes sense. Use that as a starting point and start again.
I think an important aspect of this is to freely allow my brain to write silly things. It's not a fun task to write serious emails, but writing a silly outline and filling it in with more serious wording makes it possible, for me at least.
1. Take it gradually. Perhaps first jot down some thoughts in a notes app or on paper. Also, think about your reply in terms of drafts - you don't have to send the 1st draft anywhere. Write the 1st draft down somewhere just to get the main ideas out of your head, and then perhaps do a round or 2 of revision. But the 1st draft is just for you, to clarify your thoughts.
2. Take a walk to figure out what you want to say. 20 min walk in nature (or a park) boosts concentration, and helps you figure out what you want to say. A walk before a difficult task clarifies your thinking, so that when you sit down, you know what to do or say.
Cool project with a clean layout and neat little illustrations.
If you were taking suggestions:
* First video should be somewhat interesting and relevant to the topic, I felt that for a video named "Introduction" it was mostly promotions for other products/the "premium" versions/etc.
* Having three animating progress bars on desktop for each step is a little distracting. There's one in the video embed, one green progress bar below the video, and another green loading bar on the left.
The introduction is about the course, the Internal Triggers 1 lesson is meant as a preview of the course. I'll work on the first mile experience (term from Scott Belsky) more.
I’m surprised that nobody has mentioned possibly seeking help from a doctor. Prevalence of ADHD in the adult population is estimated to be much higher than the rate at which it is diagnosed.
If you have the inattentive subtype of ADHD, medication is 90% effective at alleviating symptoms such as procrastination.
Many people here have commented about doing a “dopamine detox,” but what if your brain isn’t producing enough dopamine on its own? A detox is unlikely to help.
Got tested a few years back and was told I don't have it, although I check pretty much every box on the inattentive type. I need to be better about attempting other ways to address the issues, but it feels like I can never catch up to give myself enough time to make a real game plan, and when I do try things (like Pomodoro) they fall apart within hours.
Pomodoro is only one method, and it's best for repetitive work. For creative work 60 or 90 min intervals often work better since we operate in 90 min ultradian cycles.
See if you can find anything useful on our blog (or in the course).
There's definitely a link between ADHD and procrastination. However, our project is more focused on the behavioral side of the issue, not the pharmacological side.
ADHD is a neurological disorder, much like short-sightedness is a vision system disorder. If you are a serial procrastinator and always have been, it might be worth looking into ADHD in addition to trying out tools like this course and many other things. Trying to fix actual ADHD with some self-help is like trying to fix your eyesight through meditation. It won’t work.
I am just suggesting that people with extreme procrastination consider seeking out an ADHD assessment at least to rule that out.
There is no good treatment for ADHD other than drugs. That’s just the science of it.
Not passionate enough. Not payed adequately for the effort.
To much information and possibilities. Fear of missing out.
Solution:
Limit your daily information flow, make a choice what is really exciting for you with reasonable reward and make it a habit. Proceed without doubt and overthinking.
The problem with actionable anti-procrastination content is that they have too many steps and to little immediate action. As procrastinators, we've marinated our anxious brains to develop sophisticated techniques to ignore any and all remedies.
The ultimate anti-procrastination app? It just has one "Stop procrastination" button.
I'd argue that the ultimate scenario is that you prevent procrastination before it arises.
I do get what you're saying about too many steps. I tried to avoid that pitfall. For instance, the Deprocrastinator 7000 feature is about getting the right lesson in a short amount of time. You pick a problem, you get a lesson that contains a specific technique, you apply it with the worksheet. Information --> action.
You're probably right about preventing procrastination. The pomodoro technique is often recommended because it prevents procrastination from happening within small time boxes.
But then again, how would I as a procrastinator reach this pretty profound insight? Any information targeting me has to be skillfully crafted to guide me in the right direction while avoiding all the issues that cause me to procrastinate in the first place.
Well, yes, that's an issue. We hope to reach people via blog and Twitter - we post about all the various issues, so that people get exposed to them, and click or read when they encounter something relevant to them.
I like talking about this so I hope you indulge me, did you base your design on any specific research or works on procrastination? It would be interesting what the state of the art has to say about the causes of procrastination and potential solutions.
Our sources are diverse. To name a couple:
Procrastinator's Digest by Timothy Pychyl,
The Now Habit by Neil Fiore,
Procrastination by Jane Burka (lengthy),
Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg,
...
There's more - a technique from here, an insight from there...
I came here to comment, but reading the comments with exactly the kind of humor I was aiming for, saved me some time to check some cute cat videos, thanks!
I'd love to see the extension in Safari as well, not just Chrome and Firefox. Great work.
Edit: Also, the create password page has a bug where once you set your password, it then leaves the name/email/password/confirm fields blank instead of redirecting you to login. Could confuse a small number of users.
Thank you for catching the bug, I'll take a look at it.
As for Safari, unfortunately, some critical APIs (used for timers or distraction-catching notifications) don't seem to work at all, so it'll take some time to port the extension.
I just wanted to say that your deprocrastination.co Chrome extension is quite good and very helpful (I am just using the free version). Your blog posts are also quite nice. Quite exciting to see these course materials, excited to delve into it!
I think you've got the right idea here. Worksheets are key! I have something similar at bizworklife.com, but not focused on procrastination specifically (although it's covered in one of the lessons).
Weird sales tactic to use on a psychologically vulnerable population. I notice that nothing on your site is actually sold at regular price so I'm not too concerned with this once in a lifetime offer.
> However, we realize that not everyone likes to read or add more calls to their calendar, so we've put together a video course that takes the most useful techniques, and presents them in an easy-to-use format: video.
Video is IMO the worst format, as it takes much longer to consume than written text. Since many such "time management pro tip" courses suffer from being a waste of time, and you only know after you've wasted your time, this is not good.
I get that. It often comes down to personal preference. Some people read, some don't. Either way, the course bundle contains both the book, audiobook, and the videos - that should cover all preferences + offer more learning modalities. You can watch the video, and then read, or vice versa.
In this general area of focus/productivity etc, I'm not sure procrastination is a big problem for me these days. But I'm by nature a procrastinator, and in the past I've found occasional small tweaks so unreasonably useful in this sort of area that I'll definitely have a look at the free stuff (tonight! no really). The picture with the frowns turning into numbered points made me smile.
Fantastic product! I'm glad to see another team here on HN tackling the problem of procrastination. Your product and mine take totally different approaches, so I'll be keeping an eye on your progress. Best of luck!
I started reading The Now Habit, which was recommended on Hn a day or 2 ago, as it also talks about procrastination. Havent finished it, but really good so far.
Procrastination is generally understood to be “not doing something you know you should be doing”, i.e. putting something off for later, not “not wanting to push yourself”.
Well, hopefully not pretending!
But yeah, I'm aware of the potential paradox. As far as procrastination goes, a 5 min (finite) video that gives you some practical tips is better than any infinite scrolling platform.
And pay $70 for the privilege of having access to 35 videos, of which only 15 exist at the moment. OP is going to make 35 videos about procrastination? Alllllrightythen.
Something something suckers, money, parted, soon, etc.
OP has provided zero information in their post or even on their site about who they are and what their qualifications are. Which means they don't have any qualifications.
Is there literally any moderation of the front page, or can any rando submit "ShowHN" posts that are basically spam for a scam?
OP is going to make those videos, because OP (+ co-founder) spent the past few years scouring procrastination books, studies, etc to find something that could be helpful in everyday life.
I found what helped me, started talking to others 1-on-1, found out what helped them, and put it into a book, and then a course (videos + code). That's the qualification. It's not like I have a degree in procrastination, though some people claim to have such a thing.
Not sure where the scam part is. By all means, don't buy anything, or read any of the 50 articles on various procrastination causes on our blog. Probably not for you.
This looks great! People interested in generally cutting out distractions that lead to procrastination should also check out “indistractable” by Nir Eyal. I found it both entertaining and useful for cutting down on unwanted distractions (like too much HN browsing)
Yep, it's a good book. We've integrated the main parts of it in the course—like the preview lesson about internal triggers leading us to seek out distractions. That distinction is great.
There’s your solution to procrastination right there, no course needed. Instead of spending ten minutes each day watching videos which will make you feel productive, use them to advance whatever you need to do.
Chronic procrastinators tend to realise starting is the hard part. How many of us have consumed book after blog post after video, getting the jolt of “this time I’m going to do it” which never sticks?
Procrastination is an emotional problem. Get yourself to start! Commit to ten minutes—and only ten minutes—of whatever you have to do. Give yourself permission to stop once the time is up. Chances are you’ll continue.
Starting: often true (or at least a big part of it).
But how to change your ways so you do start, more reliably? I think there are ideas that are more effective than the message "just do it" (sorry if that mischaracterizes your position -- in fact I agree "commit to 10 minutes" is not a bad place to start, but not the only useful idea to be had by a long way).
Committing for 10 minutes is what we call the 10 Minute Rule, and yes, it's super effective. But like you say, sometimes there are different mental blocks that need to be tackled before one is ready to commit, even if for 10 min. That's what the rest of the course is about.
