Work In Progress

Micro Procrastination

These are the small overlooked decisions where you decide to wait or push off doing something nearly insignificant.

Introduction

Let me try to describe the situation as best I can.

I spend a decent amount of time thinking about the way that I do things. Be it how I write, think or my routines.

I have most recently hit a 'breakpoint' in my routine. A point where I practically stop and examine how I am approaching an activity, or reflect on my actions.

I was debugging a section of code and was able to successfully determine where the bug was. I put a little note down and then stared at it for a few moments.

Then I could feel this urge, this default of needing to get up and walk away. I had barely even made process or really considered how to fix it. Right when I was at the beginning of my focus, I had left.

Now, this isn't a huge deal, but when you expound on this approach it can make a large difference. I had only spent a few minutes really think about the problem. I wasn't tired or fatigued. But for whatever reason, my mind and body unanimously agreed that I should walk away.

Sometimes this is the right move. Walking away can be really helpful when you don't know the next move, or when your waist deep into a problem. The only problem was, that I haven't even dipped my toe in yet. I haven't even considered the problem.

The reason I'm writing this down now, is because I think that I spend too much time 'thinking' about doing, rather than actually doing. I know what needs to be done. With a little time, I could figure out how to solve it. The bug wasn't that difficult. But my default is to leave, and ponder. Often for way longer than necessary. I bet I spend the majority of my day thinking about doing the things that take me a few moments.

Breaks as a form of Procrastination

I have been using the Pomodoro technique and other related techniques for a few years now. I've read about and learned about them in a number of books, and have found that they definitely can have there benefits at times when I don't want to get started on a problem.

But... if I were to be completely honest with myself. I find that the breaks I allow myself, more often than not, turn into a procrastination breeding ground. A 5 minute break that I reward myself with quickly becomes a 20 minute break when I can't bring myself to get back into the problem at hand.

This doesn't mean that the whole system is ineffective. It just means that there are a few quirks that can arise from it.

For example, there are times where I set a 45 minute timer to focus on a problem, then I get really into working on that problem, but then the time is up and I take a break. I could keep working, but I think that I am either worried of burning myself out again, or that it will help me maintain a greater sense of focus over the course of the day.

I've also grown used to taking a break helps be make difficult design decisions, or come up with ideas on how to approach a problem.

Research

Your greatest weakness in programming is procrastinating when you should just break through the wall with your head. You know exactly what to do but doing it would be uncomfortable. - That's a skill. [1]

At some point after learning about how to do something, the most difficult part is just doing that thing. Over and over again. Not over thinking it, or trying to find a 'better' way to do it, so that you don't have to actually do it.

I fall prey to this very frequently. I spend a lot of time researching and pondering on faster or more efficient ways to do things, in part, to avoid having to do the actual thing. I still believe that some level of optimization is beneficial, I find that I spend more time unnecessarily optimizing, when I should be getting it done.

Maybe at some point it just comes down to a level of confidence in doing what you know to do, rather than researching and verifying that it really is the best thing you could be doing.

So much in life is hard. And so much requires you to push beyond what feels comfortable and even beyond what feels uncomfortable. [1]

There is this weird balance to hit with hustle culture type of quotable. At some point, while the statement is correct, there is a hesitation that can arise from trying to prematurely avoid burnout.

In the context of micro-procrastinations, I agree that this is probably the best way to deal with the uncomfortable feeling of being stuck knowing what you need to do, but not wanting to actually do it.

I want to do more research on the approaches to this micro-procrastination problem, because there are some problems which require you to step away. That probably shouldn't be brute forced. The question then becomes, how do you distinguish between problems that you should just push through and problems that you should step back and regroup to ponder optimizations, and approaches.

God, grant me the insight to discover the optimal, diligence to work on the feasible, and wisdom to know the difference. [2]

What I remember from a conversation:

The sentiment behind the 'cheap tricks' remark is you have to still put in the hours to get better, not that techniques don't work
The bias of the hustler programmer culture, the context of the Olympian programmer
Sometimes programming is just a job
Sometimes programming is a passion
People try and avoid their own problems - sentiment from Justin. Ask more questions about this perspective.
Mix between good enough reason to put in the work, some are dedicated, some are not, good programmers and inclined to optimize systems and thinking

Problem Definition

Before I try to solve this 'problem', I think that it would be best for me to better define it.

Micro-procrastination (noun) ~ the self-inflicted delay of a task, when one already knows what the next most important thing to do is.

Micro-procrastination appears most commonly in these situations:

Transitioning from one task to another
When decisions need to be made
When a task feels large
When working on a task feels uncomfortable

Observation/Hypotheses

{ Note: } It looks as if I may have jumped the gun to trying to solve the problem before I had a clear picture of it. I think its time for some more scientific method approach.

Solutions

Here are some approaches that I have found helpful to either cut down on distractions, or jump back into solving a problem.

Lock Yourself Out

Removing or blocking access to your favorite doom scrolling apps only tackles the method of procrastination, and not the root of the problem. Yet, it can be an effective way to cut down on your distracted time, and offer some friction to getting distracted.

5 More Minutes

When you hit a point where you want to take a break, or don't want to keep going, just do 5 more minutes. It's about building up your focus muscle, and that extra 5 minutes will over time help you focus for longer.

This is similar to when trying to recall something, and you are having difficultly, don't just research it and find the answer, instead spend a few more minutes in that uncomfortable place of not knowing, which will help keep the information longer when you do figure it out.

Todo:

More Research, and quotes
Problem Definition
Solutions
Do research behind solutions, not just word of mouth
Edit, Revise wording

What does it mean to be 'finished' this page:

Clear definition of the micro-procrastination problem
List of scientifically backed solutions, that have been personally tested.
When the writing has been cleaned, spelling checked, and grammar corrected.