Working hurts less than procrastinating, we fear the twinge of starting

And all this time I just thought I was lazy.<p>Actually, this article made think about what the relationship is between being lazy and being a procrastinator. Once I get going I enjoy working and it feels so good to get things done. Still, I have the hardest time getting started. So what are the best methods to get going? It seems avoiding HN may be one of them.

<i>Success and happiness cause you to regain willpower</i><p>I discovered this a while ago and found a good hack for it. I created a fake index, and within this index, I listed companies. Each company means something: progress in work, proficiency in English, learning, reading, self-improvement...<p>The day opens at 10 A.M, when I wake up. The trade begins. If I work or make money, the index rise (one of the company indexes or more). If I procrastinate, I lower the index. This makes me uncomfortable, because I'm looking to grow the index and not actually lower it. So, I get back to work to get the index up or reduce loses.<p>Sometimes I'm very productive; I don't even check it out. I don't rise it a lot after that. But other times, I procrastinate a lot, so I return back to the index and drop it dramatically. I feel like I'm obliged to safe the situation, so I work to reduce the loses.<p>This also keeps me with all my goals, as I care about the global index and also companies indexes.<p>hint: You need to make this index a part of your life. That's necessary if you want that it <i>forces</i> you to work.

The best hack I ever learned to avoid the "pain of getting started" problem:<p>Never finish.<p>I always leave something easy, even trivial, undone when I knock off each day. So no matter what else I'm doing the next day, it's easy to change a format, add another data element, or change a few variable names. Then once I get going, it's much easier to keep going.<p>Things that don't work well with this method: debugging a nasty problem, reworking architecture, scaling, or major additions. Those are best left for later in the day.

I learned a long time ago that I could cure the pain of procrastination by opening an editor and typing<p><pre><code> int main(int argc, char **argv) { </code></pre> I still do this... just opening the appropriate program -- emacs, MS Word, whatever -- and typing a line that looks like it might actually be useful is enough to get me started doing real work, even when I have no idea how to complete the project (which was what was stopping me from starting in the first place).

After a day of procrastinating, you usually feel like shit. You are worried and stressed because now you have even more work to do. So by taking the day to 'relax', you have actually worsened your mental state.<p>After a day of working, assuming it was a productive day where you actually solved problems, you usually feel pretty damn good.

Perhaps meditation is a good cure for this type of procrastination? It shouldn't take any effort to close your eyes for a few seconds, and "meditate" to regain your focus. Then, it's easier to decide what to do next.

The funny thing is, this isn't just a problem in the developer community, it's across all creative fields (OK, it's not funny, you know what I mean :P).<p>I've always found that just starting with something very small to get into it always helps tons. I know it's a simple point, but it really does work wonders. Once you start, you'll just naturally progress and want to continue for a while longer.

Interesting observation. I've observed many times it's just about opening the appropriate file/IDE and the rest takes care of itself.

A very interesting perspective. Now hurry up with HPMOR!

it's easier to pull yourself across activation costs than it is to push yourself across them.<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpS_cJP5nzs" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpS_cJP5nzs</a>

I found that having certain rituals, like ingestion of certain substances (caffeine for programming, e.g.) or listening to certain music, or visiting certain forums before doing an activity pretty much removed procrastination from my life. With substances, I found (by accident) that placebo works just as well.<p>Of course, now I have to battle different drug addictions but that's a completely different story :)

"Action precedes motivation."<p>Ludum Dare ( <a href="http://www.ludumdare.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.ludumdare.com</a> ) is a great way to free yourself from some procrastination chains for a weekend. I typically start with a menu screen if I haven't gotten into the mood, since it's easy, it should be necessary, and it lets me digest my planned game some before I start on the main bits.

I think there is more than this: e.g. it's easier to procrastinate when you're tired and this theory doesn't account for it.<p>I wonder if RescueTime data contain really important insights on productivity. They should try to mine them, probably Netflix-prize style would work well.

I also fear, that I start working on a problem, give it my best and still fail. It's easier to explain why I failed if I've procrastinated.<p>I don't think that the pain of context switching explains procrastination fully...

I'm considering making a morning playlist of songs that get me motivated for when I wake up.