Hey there,
For another week, this letter has flowed into Sunday. And it’s not by design. I have been… procrastinating (and seeing a general reduction in drive in this last month or so).
So I thought this is a good time to do what I have been procrastinating on for a while—diving into procrastination itself.
This topic has obviously been covered a lot; there a lot of resources out there. Most I find to be mediocre, shallow. But there are also a lot of amazing well-thought out resources.
We will use some of them to answer two main questions:
Why do we procrastinate?
What can we do about it?
Each of the “things of note” below actually cover both these questions to varying extents. So in that sense, each is self-contained. But there are subtle differences in the ways and depth they address these. So I think it’s worth going through them all. Or perhaps, check them out and stick with whichever speaks to you best.
Inside the mind of a master procrastinator
Tim Urban | 14 mins
Tim’s posts on Why Procrastinators Procrastinate and How to Beat Procrastination were the first ones that made me really think about procrastination.
As with a lot of his creations, Tim introduces some very useful metaphors to think about the topic.
Specifically, the underlying reason for why we procrastinate is that we are wired to value immediate gratification and reward over future rewards. We have an instant-gratification monkey in our brains.
The deadline for the essay we have to write is two weeks away. So why bother now? Why not indulge in something immediately gratifying?
Tim also introduces the Panic Monster, the one we face when the deadline is suddenly so close we have to act. We find ourselves able to do things we hadn’t found the energy or ability to do before. (Aside: It’s exactly what I am doing right now :| ).
The future thing has come into the present.
However, this reliance on the Panic Monster is not only sub-optimal, it can be downright dangerous. Because for a lot of things we can or may want to do in life, there are no set, exact deadlines. You don’t have a set deadline for that story you have always been meaning to write. So you don’t.
We can end up procrastinating on life.
A Brief Guide on How to Stop Procrastinating
James Clear | 15 mins
As mentioned above, the underlying reason for procrastination is “time inconsistency”: we value immediate rewards more highly than future rewards. When we make plans we are thinking what would be good for our Future Self.
However, while the Future Self can set goals, only the Present Self can take action. When the time comes to make a decision, you are no longer making a choice for your Future Self. Now you are in the present moment, and your brain is thinking about the Present Self. Researchers have discovered that the Present Self really likes instant gratification, not long-term payoff.
James also goes describes the Procrastination action line. Basically, it can be equally or more painful to procrastinate than to actually do the work. It’s not doing the work that is really the thing putting us off. It’s getting started.
He then goes on to give some great ways to tackle procrastination.
Related:
Temporal Discounting: the battle between Present and Future Self: A concise note about the phenomenon by Anne-Laure Le Cunff where she also details ways to reconcile the two.
Working Hurts Less than Procrastinating, we fear the twinge of starting: A fascinating read from Eliezer about how temporal discounting even factors in at a scale we wouldn’t quite expect it to: seconds vs minutes. For instance, if you are watching a video on Youtube when you should be doing something else, you’d probably feel pretty good (in a more wholesome sense) 10 minutes into whatever it is you need to be doing. And yet, it is still hard to close the tab and get started. The battle is not just between you vs next year’s you or even tomorrow’s you. It’s you right now vs you in 10 minutes.
The Science Behind Why You Procrastinate
Thomas Frank | 14 mins
In this video, Tom goes over some of the common body of research on procrastination.
Specifically he starts with the Temporal Motivation Theory (we’ll come back to this) which encapsulates a lot of the common causes and setup for procrastination.
He also briefly goes over research showing how procrastination has its root in the inability to self-regulate moods and emotions.
Later videos cover how to tackle procrastination in the now and how to make it more lasting.
My thoughts:
The inability to self-regulate as a cause seems to counter what we established before—temporal discounting as the primary driver. But I think they are in agreement. We are wired to value instant gratification by evolution. And an ability to not regulate our moods and emotions makes us more susceptible to that primal urge. On a more general note, it is fascinating to see how the “we progressed so fast our brain’s evolution couldn’t keep up” comes up time and again. We are wired for a very different life than what we live today. And that is a source of a lot of our troubles. But I guess, it’s also a testament to how far we have come :)
How To Generally Reduce Procrastination
Alex Vermeer | 16 mins
Alex bases this guide on one of the most general yet perhaps practical theory of procrastination: Temporal Motivation Theory.
It is best encapsulated in the following equation:
It posits that our motivation to do a task (and conversely to not procrastinate on it) is determined by four factors:
Expectancy: Perceived odd of getting the reward. How much we expect to succeed. If a task seems daunting or we expect to fail, we won’t get to it.
Value: Pleasantness of doing the task and the benefit of its after-effects (the size of the reward). If the task gives us pleasure and meaning (e.g. we might get into flow) or if it can reward us in a big way, we are more likely to do it.
Impulsiveness: Tendency to get distracted by other more interesting things. If there are other more seemingly (in the moment) interesting stuff, we won’t do what we ought to. This is especially problematic in today’s world with all the distraction mechanisms tuned for this exact thing around us all the time.
Delay: Time between the present and the task's reward. If the reward we’ll get from the task is far in the future, we are unlikely to do it now.
So to reduce our odds of procrastinating, we should either increase the Expectancy or Value of the task or decrease Impulsiveness and Delay.
He then goes into quite a long list of ways we could do that. (In fact, he also created a handy chart for it).
I won’t list them all out here but just some examples (also derived from other resources above):
To increase Expectancy, you could break down the task into smaller chunks that don’t seem intimidating. Also, things like the Ivy Lee Method could help you plan out the day better so that it’s easier to get started.
To increase Value, you could try to regularly get into flow doing the activity. Also, reward yourself for it.
To decrease Impulsiveness, you could eliminate distractions, create routines and habits, etc.
Reducing Delay may be the hardest because deadlines may not be that changeable. But commitment devices and creating your own deadlines (which would still be painful to miss) may help.
My Thoughts
I feel procrastination is tied in with so many other things—our physical and mental well-being, emotional regulation, environment, work, and so on.
The equation detailed above doesn’t cover all that but it does provide a good framework to go about designing systems and ways of thinking for ourselves to tackle procrastination.
Some of the tips above are obvious but thinking within this framework lets us know exactly what part of the equation we are targeting. We can also determine which part we struggle with the most and experiment with ways to tackle it.
Above all, it seems like we have to start by forgiving ourselves. Procrastination isn’t a moral failing. Our machinery is tuned to fall prey to it. That doesn’t excuse us when we do it but it does mean when we do overcome it, we should pat ourselves on the back for a job well-done.
Personally, I am gonna just pick up a few action ideas from the resources above, try them out and see what works.
Good and Bad Procrastination
Paul Graham | 8 mins
We have been talking about eliminating procrastination but could some kind of procrastination actually be good?
In this essay, Paul argues that there are good and bad procrastination:
There are three variants of procrastination, depending on what you do instead of working on something: you could work on (a) nothing, (b) something less important, or (c) something more important. That last type, I'd argue, is good procrastination.
Not only that, the Type-C procrastination is actually important to do great work.
Type-C procrastinators put off working on small stuff to work on big stuff. Here “small stuff” refers to errands or "roughly, work that has zero chance of being mentioned in your obituary."
And why is it worth putting off those errands?
The reason it pays to put off even those errands is that real work needs two things errands don't: big chunks of time, and the right mood.
The can prevent us from doing Deep Work.
Paul then goes on to build off Richard Hamming’s illuminating question: “What's the best thing you could be working on, and why aren't you?”, diving into why it’s intimidating to work on big problems, to Type-B procrastinate, ticking things off a to-do list yet not doing meaningful work, which is a dangerous way to work, to live.
I think the way to "solve" the problem of procrastination is to let delight pull you instead of making a to-do list push you. Work on an ambitious project you really enjoy, and sail as close to the wind as you can, and you'll leave the right things undone.
// Other Videos
How Pixar uses Music to make you Cry
Sideways | 10 mins
Interesting video with the main note being how sad music over sad scene isn’t quite the formula one needs to go for.
(Though I would have cried in Up without the music).
A Magical Sound Made By The Earth - Singing Ice
Jonna Jinton | 4 mins
This is so amazing! Sounds from the ice cracking and moving. Never would imagine it would be like under-ice whales or Star Wars laser showdown or whatever you fancy you hear. (Also made through skating… on thin ice… yikes). [A two-hour track you can leave in the background :) ]
// Could-be-Useful [Tech]
Leveling Up | Series by Chelsea Troy
In this ongoing series, Chelsea touches on various ways we can level up as programmers. More details in the introductory post.
Most of them are more general skills—like goal-setting, active reading—but I think that makes them even more transferable and meta. And hence really valuable.
// Stories and Poems
The Last Night Of The World
Ray Bradbury | 7 mins | Short Story
Simple. Yet also deeply unnerving and profound.
Tonight I Can Write The Saddest Lines
Pablo Neruda | 3 mins
“Love is so short, Forgetting is so long”
// Music
I stumbled on Eva’s songs this week and then was heartbroken to find she passed away from cancer in 1996.
It’s a pleasure to hear that voice. Beautiful.
Chilled out vibes x10
// Wholesome
Other Updates
I started Intermittent Fasting this week which is a fancy way of saying I have been skipping a meal. Specifically, I don’t eat dinner (though I have a cup of green tea) and only eat between 8:30 A.M to 4:30 P.M.
It has been pretty good. Lost 2 kgs in 7 days. Haven’t felt super different but it’s nice not feeling bloated all the time which was how I had been feeling for a couple of months now.Guitar progress is still very slow. Practicing transitioning between D and A. Have also integrated some finger exercises now. Let’s see.
Anyway, that’s it for this week!
Hope you have a great week ahead! :)
With Love,
Bijay