It's weird how we don't want to admit we are overworked. Competition is such a horror show.
I really disagree with the whole "procrastination" thing. It's normal to feel depressed, it's part of nature of being tired, our brains are fragile and require a lot of energy and sleep.
I bet that I would generally would be much happier working at a moderate pace in a farm rather than using my brain to do some other complex thing.
I went to do some military training for 2 weeks, it was quite difficult and demanding, but in a way, it has the good stuff of a holiday: you're outside, you use your arms and legs, you have no time to use your brain which often demands more energy.
Do you really understand how stressful it is for a brain to perform programming? Our bodies are not made to sustain such mental effort. Brains are small but they consume a lot of energy to function.
Indeed. It’s amazing to me that in all the conversations about work/life balance, employers never consider the mind-blowingly innovative option of working less.
Instead we all get free subscriptions to meditation apps now. Thanks for the stopwatch. Can I go outside now?
I left the software industry for several years to do a job that required getting up and moving around, leaving the building, interacting with people... it was tiring, but in a much different way than programming. A much better way, if that makes any sense. It’s difficult to describe. But I’m convinced that office work is poison at the doses we take it.
In 2010 I went to prune trees in Australia. Immediately, my depression stopped. Almost as if using the full body made everything better than using only the brain and speaking to a computer all day.
>It's weird how we don't want to admit we are overworked.
Or that evolution works to make big changes in cycles of 1000s of years, and that 6 million years of hominin evolution out in nature in accordance with pre-electricity natural day cycles (and more malleable schedules), are not compatible with the mandatory:
(1) ass in the chair,
(2) looking at a screen,
(3) working with abstract information,
(4) 9 to 5, 5 days a week,
(5) inside an interior environment
(6) with technical lighting"
that's been "the norm" for a large part of the population since the 60s...
(or with factory-style work, that's been imposed on populations since the 18th century).
IMHO the problem with programming isn't the total stress on the brain, it's that there is very little observable output of all of that effort.
I spent some time working with commercial HVAC and some of the problems there were on par with the most difficult technical problems I've worked through in information systems. The difference is that, with HVAC, all of that effort results in an outcome that connects with the limbic system in a way that doubling throughput or halving latency doesn't.
Unpopular opinion: I'll continue to work hard and have an advantage over others (not literally with my coworkers, but generally in my profession). Competition drives me and it fuels everything I do. Without it, I don't want to live anymore. Working and solving problems is extremely fun for me.
Even if I am not writing code, fixing things in the house, personal projects, helping others, just doing something is fun and challenging.
Here's a sci-fi movie I'd like to see. A (space alien, mad scientist, corporation, imp) unleashes a (bomb, virus, force field, spell) that suddenly removes internal resistance from everyone. Whatever intention wins the internal vote gets full control of the rest of the psyche. Everyone immediately starts working full bore on their (world saving invention, romantic pursuit, profit plan, great novel, hare brained scheme) at once, and the (evil, well-intentioned-but-foolish) instigators watch as civilization implodes. Until (Hiro Protagonist) saves the day with a well timed (hack, antidote, counter spell). Making everyone boring again, but safe.
This is my biggest problem with all the people promoting entrepreneurship for everyone. If everyone took two years off to start a company there would be no one keeping the lights on.
This article first says that this phenomenon is not "something that’s wrong with us or our behaviour, something that needs to be controlled, eradicated, tamed, left behind or put in its place."
Then it immediately defines a new term "internal resistance" that's exactly defined as something that's "a part of us" and explains how to work around it or "tame it".
Maybe it isn't to clear, but the author tries to go in the direction of not fighting it.
> 1. Recognise that internal resistance is on your side. Part of what is so awful about the cycle-of-not-doing-the-thing is that it feels so self-destructive. But internal resistance does not want to destroy us; it literally wants the opposite! It only exists to protect us from pain.
also
> There’s another reason why I think we should treat internal resistance as a form of wisdom rather than a malevolent opponent. It holds a lot of knowledge about what we secretly believe we might be able to do.
I think it is very beneficial to see this 'Resistance' as a force inside you, mostly trying to keep the status quo, for your benefit, unfortunately sometimes to the point of halting you in all things possible.
Maybe I am reading to much into this article with my already set up view, but my view is to recognize this part in us, that does not want things done/changed and acknowledge its existence (which we often want to ignore, bypass), explore possible why's. This can be a really intimate experience, the a-ha moment. The first (and most important step) would be acknowledgment of its existence.
I couldn't be happier this came across the HN feed today, because it seems to accurately answer so many questions I've had about my performance on personal projects recently.
I spent months working on the next version of https://vo.codes, and I've only got about five hours of frontend work to do before launching it. I've sit on it for a month now.
What I think is happening is that I'm worried about my next project in virtual production (which I'm picking back up). I'm worried I've fallen too far behind, that the incumbent powers have already won and that I'll be wasting my energy. But I still think I have tremendous value to add, and that there is a discernable path to success, and that I'm holding myself back by worrying about vo.codes. It's caused a sort of deadlock.
This has helped me make sense of it and approach it a new way. Hopefully it's the nudge I needed to unblock myself.
Anxiety, ADHD, internal resistance. I shouldn't blame myself so much.
In other words, the article leaves aside the possibility that you might have ADHD, which is present in an estimated 7% of people in a clinically significant way, and likely far more to a degree that wouldn’t satisfy the DSM, but is still a handicap.
I think a lot of people don't do the thing they want to do for many reasons, but I found this helpful. If nothing else it's good advice to be curious about what's going on inside your head, and not to jump to condemnation. Who knows, maybe it is a simple lack of discipline, but I haven't found that such an assumption brings me closer to the goal, which means that even if it's "right" it's not useful.
No amount of metacognition or framing has ever gotten me out of a rut.
> Internal resistance is not immovable — it responds to reason, to alternative scenarios, to making space for the emotions that seem like such a threat
This has not been my experience. My own internal resistance responds to people being impressed with what I'm doing and expressing that to me, or a eureka moment (which typically come when I'm watching Star Trek or cooking a meal or doing some other activity instead of the thing I'm trying to accomplish). The eureka moment trigger is a special circumstance though; most of the time if there's a puzzle to solve I won't disengage from the problem. Usually I just have seemingly random bouts of productivity. I feel very fortunate to have a job that allows me to work when I'm mentally able.
> in my experience it is usually tied to some kind of predicted loss of love and connection
This seems like a creative explanation that probably makes an article such as this seem a bit more quirky and interesting or something. Otherwise it's not a bad piece, but I don't think potential loss of love or connection is necessary to explain not wanting to do some difficult/annoying/time consuming task.
I think the article is describing resistance not just in terms of ‘difficult’ creative processes but any excuse you could make for any action that would likely benefit you.
Hence that line is more for people who resist finding new connections to people because of past problems. Learned fear of action is just that - learned. And it can be unlearned given the time and practice.
Having written a doctoral thesis on particle physics, yes writing is hard. Sometimes extremely hard. (sleepless nights and depression inducing hard while you question your sanity and ability into you discover to trust your own judgement more than your peers, whilst taking on board their constructive input)
From experience its usually better to ask people currently struggling to write what their problem is. It's usually so personal and unique that a blanket "you can do it" isn't as helpful as it might sound. If very nicely intended and being supportive.
Aside, I don't feel the need to add the letters after my name for some reason, might be because I'm still engaged in research and find this off putting...
I might just being dense or, perhaps more generously, completely un-self-aware, but I genuinely don’t understand the premise of this argument.
Internal resistance is an attempt to avoid the pain we associate with successfully doing the thing.
We subconsciously believe that succeeding in doing something — that we’ve presumably never done before — will cause us some “emotional pain”, thus we go to lengths to avoid it? If what we’re attempting is novel, how could we possibly know that? Even if we were to assume that, why would this “pain” override the elation of success?
I can understand the argument that people procrastinate because of the fear of failure…but the fear of success? I don’t get it.
Back when I was in school, I was consistently punished for succeeding too much. Finished with my tasks? Here's extra. Knew more than the teacher about the subject? Shut up mister wise guy. Understood the subject and wanted to discuss it? There's no time for debate.
Made something amazing on the computer? Stop playing on the computer, go outside instead.
Let's say you had a parent who was very successful in their business field.
Let's also say that parent was either terrible at being a parent or a bad spouse. If they were a bad parent, that impacted you directly and if they were a bad spouse, that may have impacted someone you care about aka the other parent.
You may have at some point in your childhood created an emotional connection between:
- good at business
- bad at parenting/being spouse
You in turn might then equate "being successful" with "being a bad person". Let me stop here and say: yes, this is totally irrational but emotions are, by definition, not always rational.
Given the above, it wouldn't be surprising that you might develop a "fear of success". Particularly so if your goal is to be a better parent/spouse than the offending parent. In other words, "I don't want to be like them!" might affect both the parenting/spouse side of things and, because they are conflated, success in business.
Took a lot of words but it seems reasonable and resonates with my experience.
I guess "internal resistance" is a kind of bias towards inaction. Not a bad trait if you're in a resource constrained scarcity environment, but it's not a great strategy outside of that. If there's anything to overcome its probably a scarcity mindset when it's unfounded.
That's very interesting way of thinking about those things.
That success (defined as successfully completing required work) causes damage, causes pain, often not as a side effect of the work that needs to be put in to achieve success, but by the success itself.
That parts of us recognizes the harm of success and resists when the other part pushes blindly for what it thinks the end goal should be.
Also mitigation strategies seem novel. Discovering what you fear about successfully finishing your work and trying to lessen the strength of those fears. Or doing small steps like acknowledging that doing 30 minutes of work will not result in achieving success so you can do that amount of work safely.
One common fear might be of that the result of you successfully finishing your task won't live up to your imagination about it.
It's never that you can't, it's that you won't. The distinction means a lot. It takes some luck to realise that all the I-can'ts are actually you trying to escape an internal conflict by putting yourself down. The internal conflict is about you wanting it and not wanting it at the same time. E.g. you want to be a success, but trying is scary. I don't really know how not to be afraid. It's something I'm working on. But, knowing that you're choosing not to do something because you're afraid is so much better than thinking that you're not capable. It's literally the difference between apathy or depression and discomfort.
While this sounds good, and I think is a reasonable guide for many life choices, it's simply not true. If I want to lift that enormous boulder over there, then it's not that I won't, it's that I can't. (Maybe this needs caveats: if I want to lift that enormous boulder over there only using my hands, etc.)
I could believe something like "it's never that you can't try, but that you won't try", and that covers a lot of my procrastination; but I'm not sure if it's strong enough to cover the point you'd like to make.
For me, pertinent things seem to 'bubble up' and I will get them done regardless of resistance. Resistance doesn't mean the thing needs to be immediately done. The mind has a clever feature in that it surfaces subconscious goal-setting at the right time, and on an as-needed basis.
In a professional and career context, however, you would be required to get tasks done straight away. But for artists and even dedicated loafers or those who enjoy being idle, the important stuff rises to the top naturally and it gets done.
> The mind has a clever feature in that it surfaces subconscious goal-setting at the right time, and on an as-needed basis.
I've heard of a strategy where you think really hard about a problem, and then you go and do other unrelated things and your mind will come up with a solution. I have found that this does happen in practice. By stepping away from the problem, I'm basically forgetting all the context that made me approach the problem from the original angle and thus my mind tries a different approach. Often this new approach will also not work, but there might be things I discover when trying these approaches that lead to yet another approach.... I guess this process goes on until either a good enough solution is found or I give up.
Big difference between ‘someone who cuts corners’ and ‘someone who won’t do the task at all’ when it comes to the phrase ‘lazy person’.
The first person will do the task, they just deemed it not worthy of their focused effort. The second person will find any excuse not to do it at all, which is the ‘resistance’ the article talks about.
I think that, instead of saying "you're not lazy", we should take the stigma away from laziness and say "you are lazy, but don't feel bad". Laziness is a character trait present in all humans, some more than others, and we should acknowledge it and work to become less lazy, without punishing it or being ashamed of it.
You are "lazy" if you don't do something that would benefit you because it's too much effort. That sounds reasonable, right? Except according to this article, you're not lazy, you have "internal resistance." Or in similar articles, you're not lazy if you have depression or ADHD, because it's your mental illness.
But then, who is lazy? Where do we draw the line when someone is depressed vs. merely sad, or ADHD vs. merely inattentive? Moreover, since you can't always tell of someone has a mental illness and you definitely can't see "internal resistance", you technically can't state that anyone is lazy.
Now, I don't want to attack people with mental illnesses. If you have depression or ADHD or burnout or are overwhelmed, you're not a bad person. But you are lazy. Calling it something else is just beating around the bush.
Instead, we as a society need to change how we look at laziness. Just because you're lazy, doesn't mean you should punish yourself, or consider yourself "worse" than someone with more discipline. Don't even try to just "power through" the laziness. None of those things work, and often actually lead to more laziness. Honestly, the author does a good job explaining what you should do. But - if you're lazy, you're lazy, and calling it something else like "internal resistance" is just sugar-coating it.
I came around to the idea that procrastination or other form of akrasia is an emotional problem, not a discipline problem.
That said, it doesn't really give me new tools or tricks to deal with the problems?
It's still the same: podomoro or timeboxing, giving oneself a reward for completing an objective, trying to complete a given task every week, and so forth.
I supposed I could give mental health therapies a try, I guess?
I definitely see procrastination linked to emotional processing issues for me. Maybe it's possible that there are things which provide immediate benefits, but for me many things I tried evaporated and I was still left with this base note, so to speak, of myself. I went to therapy, I went to 12 step meetings, I read books, I journalled, I talked the hell out of my thoughts and feelings with certain friends, got divorced, took medication, found another amazing woman to marry, all along the way there was progress and regress, blind spots, lots of blind spots, lots of denial and resistance and fighting and turmoil and avoidance. The "answers" for me so far are absolutely nothing that haven't been said a thousand times in every place, but having met them myself in my own way at my own time. I'm not sure I could have gone any faster than I did, and I'm ok with that (now, at least).
Everyone’s different. You can read a hundred different ways to get around the resistance, but doing them 100% the way they’re described likely WON’T work for you. You have to find the things you do like about it, and discard the parts you don’t, and continue to refine your personal routine over the course of a lifetime.
The most important part of that process is continually (once a week or a couple times a month, in my opinion) taking a step back and assessing what is and isn’t working for you, then taking the time to find a way around it.
Any evidence that "[i]t holds a lot of knowledge about what we secretly believe we might be able to do", or that my "brain [is] so afraid of the costs of [me] doing the thing"? Any evidendence that it's on my side? How does internal resistance get operationalized anyway? Because it sounds suspiciously like "can't-do-it'-itis to me.
And by "it" I mean the important thing that you are resisting.
It's actually a bad thing. And you have convinced yourself that it's a good thing. But you aren't completely convinced.
Deep down you know that it really is a very bad thing. One more step on a march of doom that you have been trying to escape since forever. A special door that, once passed through, your waste and hell will truly and finally be LOCKED IN (relatively speaking).
I mean, nobody dreams as a child of sitting on their office-butt playing mental legos forever. But it's very easy to convince yourself that it is great. And the whole world will help you in that endeavor. It will tell you encouraging stories and feed you big paychecks. It will tell you that you are a rock star.
You will be helped at every turn to forget the life that you lost and to pretend that playing robot is a truly good and desirable thing.
Maybe this great procrastination is your gut trying to tell you something.
This is excellent! I’ve lived this experience with a graduate thesis project that has taken over a decade to complete. Stephen Pressfield’s books (especially Do The Work) felt very close to the mark, but I also couldn’t buy into the idea that the resistance should be thought of as something external (a malevolent force in the universe). I think this article solves the mystery of what the resistance actually is. This understanding of the resistance combined with Pressfield’s book Do The Work could help a lot of people that are “procrastinating”.
[+] [-] jokoon|4 years ago|reply
I really disagree with the whole "procrastination" thing. It's normal to feel depressed, it's part of nature of being tired, our brains are fragile and require a lot of energy and sleep.
I bet that I would generally would be much happier working at a moderate pace in a farm rather than using my brain to do some other complex thing.
I went to do some military training for 2 weeks, it was quite difficult and demanding, but in a way, it has the good stuff of a holiday: you're outside, you use your arms and legs, you have no time to use your brain which often demands more energy.
Do you really understand how stressful it is for a brain to perform programming? Our bodies are not made to sustain such mental effort. Brains are small but they consume a lot of energy to function.
[+] [-] _moof|4 years ago|reply
Instead we all get free subscriptions to meditation apps now. Thanks for the stopwatch. Can I go outside now?
I left the software industry for several years to do a job that required getting up and moving around, leaving the building, interacting with people... it was tiring, but in a much different way than programming. A much better way, if that makes any sense. It’s difficult to describe. But I’m convinced that office work is poison at the doses we take it.
[+] [-] laurent92|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] coldtea|4 years ago|reply
Or that evolution works to make big changes in cycles of 1000s of years, and that 6 million years of hominin evolution out in nature in accordance with pre-electricity natural day cycles (and more malleable schedules), are not compatible with the mandatory:
(1) ass in the chair,
(2) looking at a screen,
(3) working with abstract information,
(4) 9 to 5, 5 days a week,
(5) inside an interior environment
(6) with technical lighting"
that's been "the norm" for a large part of the population since the 60s...
(or with factory-style work, that's been imposed on populations since the 18th century).
[+] [-] jcims|4 years ago|reply
I spent some time working with commercial HVAC and some of the problems there were on par with the most difficult technical problems I've worked through in information systems. The difference is that, with HVAC, all of that effort results in an outcome that connects with the limbic system in a way that doubling throughput or halving latency doesn't.
[+] [-] nzmsv|4 years ago|reply
- You are weak
- Your grandparents had it worse
- Think of the people working for minimum wage
- Some of us actually love programming so much we will happily sacrifice our health; this choice is morally superior because we say so
- I haven't had a vacation in 20 years and neither should you
/sarcasm off
[+] [-] systemvoltage|4 years ago|reply
Even if I am not writing code, fixing things in the house, personal projects, helping others, just doing something is fun and challenging.
[+] [-] hirundo|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bob33212|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] avaldes|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hprotagonist|4 years ago|reply
Maybe Babel was the best thing that ever happened to us.
[+] [-] Andrex|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] spicyusername|4 years ago|reply
Then it immediately defines a new term "internal resistance" that's exactly defined as something that's "a part of us" and explains how to work around it or "tame it".
[+] [-] gala8y|4 years ago|reply
> 1. Recognise that internal resistance is on your side. Part of what is so awful about the cycle-of-not-doing-the-thing is that it feels so self-destructive. But internal resistance does not want to destroy us; it literally wants the opposite! It only exists to protect us from pain.
also
> There’s another reason why I think we should treat internal resistance as a form of wisdom rather than a malevolent opponent. It holds a lot of knowledge about what we secretly believe we might be able to do.
I think it is very beneficial to see this 'Resistance' as a force inside you, mostly trying to keep the status quo, for your benefit, unfortunately sometimes to the point of halting you in all things possible.
Maybe I am reading to much into this article with my already set up view, but my view is to recognize this part in us, that does not want things done/changed and acknowledge its existence (which we often want to ignore, bypass), explore possible why's. This can be a really intimate experience, the a-ha moment. The first (and most important step) would be acknowledgment of its existence.
[+] [-] kayodelycaon|4 years ago|reply
This isn’t a bad thing, it’s just important to point out there is a prerequisite condition that must be met before this advice becomes useful.
[+] [-] echelon|4 years ago|reply
I couldn't be happier this came across the HN feed today, because it seems to accurately answer so many questions I've had about my performance on personal projects recently.
I spent months working on the next version of https://vo.codes, and I've only got about five hours of frontend work to do before launching it. I've sit on it for a month now.
What I think is happening is that I'm worried about my next project in virtual production (which I'm picking back up). I'm worried I've fallen too far behind, that the incumbent powers have already won and that I'll be wasting my energy. But I still think I have tremendous value to add, and that there is a discernable path to success, and that I'm holding myself back by worrying about vo.codes. It's caused a sort of deadlock.
This has helped me make sense of it and approach it a new way. Hopefully it's the nudge I needed to unblock myself.
Anxiety, ADHD, internal resistance. I shouldn't blame myself so much.
[+] [-] ttul|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mjburgess|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] overthemoon|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] joombaga|4 years ago|reply
> Internal resistance is not immovable — it responds to reason, to alternative scenarios, to making space for the emotions that seem like such a threat
This has not been my experience. My own internal resistance responds to people being impressed with what I'm doing and expressing that to me, or a eureka moment (which typically come when I'm watching Star Trek or cooking a meal or doing some other activity instead of the thing I'm trying to accomplish). The eureka moment trigger is a special circumstance though; most of the time if there's a puzzle to solve I won't disengage from the problem. Usually I just have seemingly random bouts of productivity. I feel very fortunate to have a job that allows me to work when I'm mentally able.
[+] [-] jacksonkmarley|4 years ago|reply
This seems like a creative explanation that probably makes an article such as this seem a bit more quirky and interesting or something. Otherwise it's not a bad piece, but I don't think potential loss of love or connection is necessary to explain not wanting to do some difficult/annoying/time consuming task.
[+] [-] luckyandroid|4 years ago|reply
Hence that line is more for people who resist finding new connections to people because of past problems. Learned fear of action is just that - learned. And it can be unlearned given the time and practice.
[+] [-] rob_c|4 years ago|reply
From experience its usually better to ask people currently struggling to write what their problem is. It's usually so personal and unique that a blanket "you can do it" isn't as helpful as it might sound. If very nicely intended and being supportive.
Aside, I don't feel the need to add the letters after my name for some reason, might be because I'm still engaged in research and find this off putting...
[+] [-] Xophmeister|4 years ago|reply
I can understand the argument that people procrastinate because of the fear of failure…but the fear of success? I don’t get it.
[+] [-] hypertele-Xii|4 years ago|reply
Made something amazing on the computer? Stop playing on the computer, go outside instead.
Made a lot of money? Get robbed.
Etc.
[+] [-] alexpotato|4 years ago|reply
Let's also say that parent was either terrible at being a parent or a bad spouse. If they were a bad parent, that impacted you directly and if they were a bad spouse, that may have impacted someone you care about aka the other parent.
You may have at some point in your childhood created an emotional connection between:
- good at business
- bad at parenting/being spouse
You in turn might then equate "being successful" with "being a bad person". Let me stop here and say: yes, this is totally irrational but emotions are, by definition, not always rational.
Given the above, it wouldn't be surprising that you might develop a "fear of success". Particularly so if your goal is to be a better parent/spouse than the offending parent. In other words, "I don't want to be like them!" might affect both the parenting/spouse side of things and, because they are conflated, success in business.
[+] [-] infogulch|4 years ago|reply
I guess "internal resistance" is a kind of bias towards inaction. Not a bad trait if you're in a resource constrained scarcity environment, but it's not a great strategy outside of that. If there's anything to overcome its probably a scarcity mindset when it's unfounded.
[+] [-] scotty79|4 years ago|reply
That success (defined as successfully completing required work) causes damage, causes pain, often not as a side effect of the work that needs to be put in to achieve success, but by the success itself.
That parts of us recognizes the harm of success and resists when the other part pushes blindly for what it thinks the end goal should be.
Also mitigation strategies seem novel. Discovering what you fear about successfully finishing your work and trying to lessen the strength of those fears. Or doing small steps like acknowledging that doing 30 minutes of work will not result in achieving success so you can do that amount of work safely.
One common fear might be of that the result of you successfully finishing your task won't live up to your imagination about it.
[+] [-] dmos62|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] JadeNB|4 years ago|reply
While this sounds good, and I think is a reasonable guide for many life choices, it's simply not true. If I want to lift that enormous boulder over there, then it's not that I won't, it's that I can't. (Maybe this needs caveats: if I want to lift that enormous boulder over there only using my hands, etc.)
I could believe something like "it's never that you can't try, but that you won't try", and that covers a lot of my procrastination; but I'm not sure if it's strong enough to cover the point you'd like to make.
[+] [-] beauHD|4 years ago|reply
In a professional and career context, however, you would be required to get tasks done straight away. But for artists and even dedicated loafers or those who enjoy being idle, the important stuff rises to the top naturally and it gets done.
[+] [-] pm90|4 years ago|reply
I've heard of a strategy where you think really hard about a problem, and then you go and do other unrelated things and your mind will come up with a solution. I have found that this does happen in practice. By stepping away from the problem, I'm basically forgetting all the context that made me approach the problem from the original angle and thus my mind tries a different approach. Often this new approach will also not work, but there might be things I discover when trying these approaches that lead to yet another approach.... I guess this process goes on until either a good enough solution is found or I give up.
[+] [-] the_only_law|4 years ago|reply
Unfortunately, in my experience, I’m more likely to just determine the hard problem is not worth the effort to complete.
[+] [-] luckyandroid|4 years ago|reply
The first person will do the task, they just deemed it not worthy of their focused effort. The second person will find any excuse not to do it at all, which is the ‘resistance’ the article talks about.
[+] [-] armchairhacker|4 years ago|reply
You are "lazy" if you don't do something that would benefit you because it's too much effort. That sounds reasonable, right? Except according to this article, you're not lazy, you have "internal resistance." Or in similar articles, you're not lazy if you have depression or ADHD, because it's your mental illness.
But then, who is lazy? Where do we draw the line when someone is depressed vs. merely sad, or ADHD vs. merely inattentive? Moreover, since you can't always tell of someone has a mental illness and you definitely can't see "internal resistance", you technically can't state that anyone is lazy.
Now, I don't want to attack people with mental illnesses. If you have depression or ADHD or burnout or are overwhelmed, you're not a bad person. But you are lazy. Calling it something else is just beating around the bush.
Instead, we as a society need to change how we look at laziness. Just because you're lazy, doesn't mean you should punish yourself, or consider yourself "worse" than someone with more discipline. Don't even try to just "power through" the laziness. None of those things work, and often actually lead to more laziness. Honestly, the author does a good job explaining what you should do. But - if you're lazy, you're lazy, and calling it something else like "internal resistance" is just sugar-coating it.
[+] [-] hypertele-Xii|4 years ago|reply
But to laziness, work is punishment.
[+] [-] kiba|4 years ago|reply
That said, it doesn't really give me new tools or tricks to deal with the problems?
It's still the same: podomoro or timeboxing, giving oneself a reward for completing an objective, trying to complete a given task every week, and so forth.
I supposed I could give mental health therapies a try, I guess?
[+] [-] papandada|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] luckyandroid|4 years ago|reply
The most important part of that process is continually (once a week or a couple times a month, in my opinion) taking a step back and assessing what is and isn’t working for you, then taking the time to find a way around it.
[+] [-] tgv|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] swayvil|4 years ago|reply
And by "it" I mean the important thing that you are resisting.
It's actually a bad thing. And you have convinced yourself that it's a good thing. But you aren't completely convinced.
Deep down you know that it really is a very bad thing. One more step on a march of doom that you have been trying to escape since forever. A special door that, once passed through, your waste and hell will truly and finally be LOCKED IN (relatively speaking).
I mean, nobody dreams as a child of sitting on their office-butt playing mental legos forever. But it's very easy to convince yourself that it is great. And the whole world will help you in that endeavor. It will tell you encouraging stories and feed you big paychecks. It will tell you that you are a rock star.
You will be helped at every turn to forget the life that you lost and to pretend that playing robot is a truly good and desirable thing.
Maybe this great procrastination is your gut trying to tell you something.
[+] [-] balfirevic|4 years ago|reply
What life would that be?
[+] [-] jchook|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] onelastjob|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] asplake|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] robot_no_419|4 years ago|reply