September 18, 2007

• I've been contemplating clicking that link for the past thirty minutes. I voo do vwell vunder zee pressure. Terminal procrastinating is zee game!
• #1 - shut down MonkeyFilter.
• HW FTW. I've used the five-minute thing. Also the mantra. THe partner is useful - you have someone other than yourself to be accountable to.
• Yeah i realize posting "how to get motivated" here is like . . . something . . crazy. *refreshes* *curses lack of quidnunc posts*
• I spent two hours yesterday figuring out how to circumvent our work filters so I can get on #mofirc from my office. Works beautifully. Then I did some other stuff.
• I was going to post something, but I'm feeling kinda apathetic at the moment. Oh yes, wait, now I remember. Orders and threats screamed at gunpoint work for me, every time.
• Like W.C. Fields, everytime I get the urge to work, I just lie down until it goes away.
• I turn on some old school technorave music. Parsing thru 10 spreadsheets at a time while jamming to LA styles- "james brown is dead" worked...until i logged on here.. spreadsheet data mining to techno in the morning. updating my itunes album artwork this afternoon. Its all a delicate balance.
• I've used the five-minute thing. It is amazing how just getting started can give you the momentum to check to-do boxes that a moment before seemed impossibly daunting to face. I have a friend who is absolutely tearing his hair out about this kind of thing. (Yes, I have the problem too, but not to this extent -- in this case by "friend" I don't mean myself.) He's a successful doctor, tons of friends, active intellectual life and athletic life, travels regularly, thoughtful and funny and handsome, multiple very attractive women after him ... but he's absolutely fucking miserable because he keeps having to pay late fees on his bills, takes a year to decide on which computer to buy, takes 9 months to sell his old car after buying a new one, and so on. First instinct might be to look at everything positive he has going on and say "cry me a river," but his inability to act on personal paperwork and suchlike makes him so upset that you've just gotta feel for him. (Actually, I think part of getting past this kind of behavior is stopping hating yourself so much for it.) Side note: As a result of an recommendation in a Ask MeFi thread, a coupla years ago I bought one of those overcome-procrastination books. It's been in the to-read-someday pile ever since, of course.
• I notice they didn't mention the reward system: Instead of doing something you want to do (like play guitar, sleep, eat, create a sock monster) procrastinate your ____-time until you get a chunk of work done, and then limit it until you get the next chunk done, and so on until you are He-Man, She-Ra or one of those other Masters of the Universe. After all, you gotta procrastinate something, yeah? I've recently found that looking at the big picture helps, like they mention, too.
• motivation is overrated.
• I've tried looking at the big picture. It's a poster of Mad King Ludwig's castle, and it's really big. Doesn't help. Perhaps I'd do better to look at the small picture instead; it's a still from Buster Keaton's "The General." Yes, that's much better.
• What . . kind of sock monster? Would it wear underpants?
• Clients pleading on the phone, charred deadlines, the promise of vacation/trip money, those usually do manage to get me off my arse. Not to mention bills on the mail. That acursed mailwoman, she has it in for me. Music... yeah, at allnighters, I use(d) music to zone out and Get Things Done. Net outage, also. Which can be hard when you're waiting for a client email or file, though. Having someone around can be a mixed blessing. Either a big motivator or a big time drain and yes, calling someone a 'time drain' can help in later finding yourself with lots of free, productive time for yourself, kids, so don't try it at home... mhh. To summarize: the big motivator is the near and long range goal. What I'll be able to accomplish out of this: tangible assets, a trip, quality time with someone I like? Got to keep the carrot on the stick.
• /act of defiance
• Not going home. Seriously. If I can get something done right after work, I'm gold. Go home, and the chair sucks my butt down, and I can't leave it. I could do an exercise class if I just didn't go home, but there's none offered at that time. Go home, won't leave the house to do one at 6:30. Especially in winter. Oh, yeah. Eliminate winter. I get much more done in the summer. *begins to shred paper for nest to hibernate
• One of those overcome procrastination books: The Now Habit What? Of course *I've* read it! I resent the insinuation sir!
• Yeah, that's the one, SB. Any good?
• It's good. A quick read too. Some key ideas: - we procrastinate because we are rewarded in some way for doing it. Find out what those rewards are and remove or reduce them. - log your time and what you're doing with it. Then after a week you can see the avoidance patterns and it's easier to figure out how to fix it. Also when you see how much time is wasted it's a much more motivating to change. - The most useful idea for me was this advice: don't confuse "doing the job" with "testing your worth". I know I procrastinate from fear of failure. So working in a mindset of "this needs doing" is much better than "is this any good?" - replace the judgemental inner voice, the "i should" or "i have to do x" with "I choose to do x" I procrastinate less than I used to a few years ago. I realized I do better in structured learning/doing environments. Deadlines help me. I love taking classes and doing assignments, so I try to get myself into those environments. Unfortunately, I'm still not where I would like to be. I was at a book launch yesterday for a local author (Frances Itani). She turns out a book every 2-3years. She writes seven hours a day. I would like to do that but somehow it's eluded me.
• Aha! I've read at least some of that book! Re: the reward thing, yes, it's certainly more rewarding to look at funny websites than to write checks to bill collectors. At least in the short term. I think somebody above talked about having clear goals; I think that's essential for making it easier to do the less enjoyable short term grunt work. Re: fear of failure: That's clearly why many people procrastinate when it comes to the big stuff. By not attempting what you most what to do, you avoid the possibility of failure in the stuff that matters most to you. But eventually, you start to consider yourself a failure in any case, for failing to even try to do what you want. Again, procrastination works in the short term, but not in the long.
• Look, it's easy - 1. Do a bit of work 2. Mong on the internet Repeat. That way, you've always just done a task and you've always just checked the Mofi, should anyone from either non-compatible worlds ask. Now I'm off to pointlessly update a spreadsheet or something.
• kitfisto = Mong the Merciless.
• procrastination works in the short term, but not in the long. Right on. And the author also says that procrastination is hard work. So given the choice between real hard work and procrastination hard work, the real work pays better.
• Here’s one that worked for me, although I don’t much recommend it: get a detached retina; put off the emergency vitrectomy/gas bubble-in-the-eye-surgery until previously contracted (and procrastinated!) airbrushed art work is suddenly finished...
• Ack! Hope both the art and surgery went well!
• Boy, DK, karma really poked you in the eye for procrastinating this time.
• Let that be a lesson to the children in the audience.
• 'You'll put your eye out with that airbrush gun!'
• Thanks to all. I'm able to drive again now, and glad to be an example to not follow. I love Monkey Filter!
• DAN!! Take care of yourself. You're the only Folkus we have.
• Eep! Glad you're ok again, DF. Can we see the artwork anywhere?
• Yes, yes!!
• I'll post a picture of it at www.graphicsroom.com/visualsyntax/, in a week or two, hopefully. Looks good in the flesh, so to speak, I think. With humility, thanks for the interest!
• Naw, not at all. That's what this very long thread was created for.
• When the still, small voice is ignored, good company keeps us motivated to do better.