How Do You Get Work Done?

I would recommend some exercise by Delphix · 2003-07-27 04:22 · Score: 5, Insightful

Exercise would be my first recommendation. It will keep your sleep habits in line pretty well. Physical activity seems to be what's missing from most of our lives today. If I don't make it to the gym, my schedule will slip quickly to 1AM, 2AM, 4AM...which isn't good since I left college years ago ;-) The other thing I would recommend is finding a buddy to go do exercise with you. It helps if you're both accountable to each other for showing up. And just having someone to do it with you doesn't hurt. This carries over to work as well. I'd imagine you sit there thinking about a million things, but you can't concentrate on what you need to do because it seems like you can put it off. The later, you wind up with many things to do and little time. You get a bunch of work done at this point, but there's so much you have trouble keeping up with it. I had the very same problem in college. Another thing that might help you is getting a job a couple hours a week. As long as I've had something constant to do, it's kept me going. Just don't get something that follows you home...go there, do your work and then head to class or do some homework. Honestly, part of it is just sheer will as well. You have to resist the urge to just read a page and put stuff down. Set a bedtime for yourself and a wake up time for yourself and follow them. That's about the best advice I can give you. If you do have some mental disorder such as ADHD only a psychologist can diagnose it. Although many times it's over diagnosed.

Re:I would recommend some exercise by atempleton · 2003-07-27 05:08 · Score: 5, Insightful

I have had similar experiences and I focus on two solutions:

1) Regular exercise (even 20 minutes of brisk walking each day can help) and keep the coffee consumption fairly low (it tends to make you scatter brained)
2) Break projects down into smaller chunks. For example, if you have 100 pages to read, break it down into 10 10-page chunks and do them one at a time with breaks in between. Or if it's a complicated project, break it into steps and follow a similar pattern.

The only other thing is to JUST GET STARTED. Sometimes the first chunk/step is the hardest step. Just do it, as they say....
Re:I would recommend some exercise by enthused+i+swear · 2003-07-27 05:10 · Score: 5, Insightful

I would NOT recommend caffeine of any kind. In fact, stop drinking it all together. I used to have the same problem you did, and nothing seemed to be able to change it. There have been many threads on ./ about the effects of caffeine, and for more information I suggest looking there. Basically, when you need sleep and take caffeine, the caffeine blocks your body from feeling tired, while still having all of the effects of drowsiness. You're brain is asleep, but your body is awake and you lose cognitive functions.

I used to be very addicted to caffeine, but quit because if i missed drinking coffee or a coke, I started to get horrible headaches, and it just scared me too much. As an added bonus, my productivity shot up quite a bit. It really is all about regulating sleep for maximum concentration. I highly recommend a normal sleep schedule and stay away from caffeine. (IANAD)
Re:I would recommend some exercise by blueskies · 2003-07-27 05:13 · Score: 5, Informative

Uh, I have heard quotes that the lethal dose is anywhere from 4-8 grams of caffeine.

The LD-50 is 10 grams:
The LD-50 (lethal dosage that would kill approximately 50% of the population) is 10 grams of oral administration. This is equivalent to approximately 100 cups of coffee, or 50 Vivarin pills. One exceptional case documented survival after ingesting 24 grams of caffeine. The minimum lethal dose of caffeine given intravenously was 3.2 grams.
While coffee drinkers often have caffeine blood concentration of about 1-10 mg/L, a concentration of 80 mg/L is considered lethal.

And like the poster before me said, that would be 100oz.
Re:I would recommend some exercise by oscarcar · 2003-07-27 05:43 · Score: 5, Interesting

Heavily agree with above posts.

In addition, to get your circadian cycle in sync (which gives you more energy) you can do these things:

1. It's more important to wake up at the same time. You can't always force yourself to sleep, but your body will entrain if you force yourself to get up at the same time each morning. That means NO sleeping in on weekends.

2. Expose yourself to light first thing in the morning. Preferably, I would suggest going outside but you can also get specific lights that simulate sunlight.

3. When you excerise, the best time to do that is several hours before going to bed.

Programmers tend to have delayed-phase sleep syndrome (which means we like to stay up late).
People who are delayed-phase, tend to migrate toward those jobs they can do at late hours and don't have to wake up at a specific time to do them.
Re:I would recommend some exercise by fafaforza · 2003-07-27 05:48 · Score: 5, Interesting

I don't think the problem here is lack of energy, but rather procrastination. People procrastinate for various reasons. Whether you absolutely hate what you have to do, or whether you are sure that whatever you come up with will not be acceptable in quality, at which point you blow it off til 1AM the night before, and blame subpar results on not giving it much effort in the first place.

A better approach would be trying to analyze why exactly the author of this Ask Slashdot is pushing work off til the last possible moment.

This book might help him get a firmer grip on understanding the exact reason. It has a chapter on procrastination and seems to address exactly what he described.

Good luck.
Re:I would recommend some exercise by Lemmy+Caution · 2003-07-27 06:38 · Score: 5, Insightful

There's a split here between those who look for moral explanations, and those who look for explanations in substrata.

I'd try changing diet and habits like caffiene first. Attentive mechanisms in the brain are neurochemical, like everything else in the brain. I know it's a horrifying idea for some, but the fact is that we are physical, material beings, and our minds and personalities are products of that physicality. If those basic changes don't help, then it's appropriate to look at self-help or personality-based issues. But all the self-help in the world won't do a bit of good if you're going against hardware.

Some friendly advice... by eaglebtc · 2003-07-27 04:23 · Score: 5, Informative

You may not have ADHD (Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder), but you may have ADD, which is basically an inability to concentrate or stick to one thing for long periods of time. I have it myself, and I know how frustrating that is. I in fact have pulled many all-nighters and that's when I produce my best work; unfortunately my body does not like that too well.

At the very least you should visit a professional therapist and have them give you a psychiatric evaluation. He/she can diagnose your problem--maybe you're just a really bad procrastinator--and perhaps prescribe some medication, if necessary.

Read this for more information about A.D.D. : ADD Foundation

And go buy this book, if you're interested: Driven to Distraction

--
Homestarrunner.net -- It's Dot Com!

Re:Some friendly advice... by Anonymous Coward · 2003-07-27 04:42 · Score: 5, Interesting

I saw my school psychiatrist about the same sort of behavior, thinking I had ADD, and the guy told me I was probably just depressed.

This was a shock to me, because I had never thought that I could be "depressed", but the more I thought about what he said the more it made sense.

Imagine that we have a certain threshold of happiness, emotional comfort, whatever, that we try to maintain. Any time that we engage in some behavior that isn't rewarding, we (as simple dumb animals) quickly go back to more rewarding behavior. This is the problem. When you're borderline depressed, you're just barely
staying happy, and you do whatever you can in a very short-term-thinking kind of way to maintain that happiness.

After I started with the meds, I found it easier to get into doing things that were frustrating or boring long enough to finish them. Finishing those things became a reward.

So, Canuck may need meds that will allow him to feel comfortable experimenting with new behavioral patterns long enough to find ones that will work better for him.

my spew by mandalayx · 2003-07-27 04:24 · Score: 5, Interesting

canuck-

I'm a university student as well and as you can see (I'm sitting on slashdot) I have some of the same issues. However there have been some shining examples of good behavior on my part, and here are what I think are some of the apparent factors/causes:

a. social proof, i.e. studying with a bunch of people
b. meaning, a meaningful purpose
c. distractions, lack thereof, i.e. lack of other things to think about

Examples with causes:
-studying in the basement of the library (a, c)
-studying for imminent test or other grade-altering material (b, and possibly a)
-studying for something that will be applicable to some upcoming event i.e. work (b, and possibly a)
-studying for something that is less dreadful than what I should *really* be studying (b, c)
-studying at a coffeehouse, with ambient-type music like classical or trance (a, c)

*****
Other notes:

Speaking of coffee, I highly recommend coffee for the few hours that I seem to get out of it, really studying.

Something else I've found useful to keep my mind focused is to bring a notepad which I designate as a "worry pad." When I think of something, like, gee, I should do laundry or pay bills, I just write it on the pad so that I can focus on studying.

I find it helpful to like what I am studying. If I currently don't like it, I try to find a way to like it. If I can't find a way to like it, I begin to consider studying something else....

Or maybe this problem of not being able to study is not a problem as a gift. Perhaps studying as much as some others at your school is not your idea of fun and you can try pursuing something that seems more fun to you (without studying).

Re:my spew by harvardian · 2003-07-27 04:46 · Score: 5, Insightful

I'd like to emphasize the importance of meaningfulness to help combat procrastination.

When I started college, I was a psychology major. Whenever I sat down to do work, I could never bring myself to do it before midnight, just like you. In fact, I'd often procrastinate by doing work on the school newspaper's website.

After a year and a half of procrastination hell every night I suddenly realized that if I procrastinate by writing code (alright, it was ASP, and VBScript doesn't really count), maybe I should make CS what I do ALL the time. I became a CS major and have been happier ever since.

As a side note, even though I'm much happier I still don't start work early (usually around 10 PM). Do yourself a favor and don't put unreasonable expectations on yourself -- don't sit down at 3 PM and say "okay, let's get cracking!" if you know you won't. Relax until after dinner, and then start up work. It'll save you a lot of frustration and you'll probably get started on your work sooner.

And PLEASE don't take ritalin or something else like that. 60% of the students I know procrastinate their asses off. It's not because all of us have ADD, it's because sometimes studying sucks. To underscore this point, whenever I've worked a real job (two internships doing CS stuff) I've never procrastinated simply because I find significantly more motivation to do the work. So it's not like my rampant procrastination was a mental defect.
Re:my spew by JanneM · 2003-07-27 05:07 · Score: 5, Insightful

A workable strategy is acceptance.

Accept that you are a procrastinator, and that you will not get anything done until the last minute. Then plan accordingly.

Say you have a paper due in a month. Great. Talk to the professor and set up a meeting a week from now where you will show your outline, thesis and detailed plan on how to defend it.

In another week, set up a new meeting with the same or different authority figure to go over your list of references and help clear whether you are quoting the right stuff or not, and whether those people in the references really can be interpreted the way you do it.

And the next week, have another prearranged meeting to go over your language and style.

Suddenly you have hard deadlines for every aspect of that paper, which means you will actually be quite comfortably done when the real deadline appears. True, you will still be stressed and feeling behind, but on the positive side you do see that the work is actually progressing nicely. And with this predisposition, you will never _not_ feel stressed in any case, so just make it work for you.

the trick is to make these deadlines _real_ - arranging for a friend to take a look at the paper won't do it; such a "meeting" is too easy to blow off, and a friend will be forgiving if you haven't done the work. It needs to be with people that will cause real, negative, consequences if you mess it up.

--
Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.

I use a reward system by Beowulf_Boy · 2003-07-27 04:25 · Score: 5, Interesting

I use rewards for my self, as stupid as it sounds.

Like today, I have to write some thankyou cards, and fill out some rebate forms. So, I promised my self that after I do that, I'm gonna go to walmart and spend 20$ on something fun and/or stupid!

I had the same problem. by ender-iii · 2003-07-27 04:25 · Score: 5, Informative

It turns out I was depressed. I used to just aimlessly drag boxes across my desktop, lost in my imagination. Maybe not getting work done is just a symptom of a bigger problem. Just a though.

--
ender-iii

Re:Stop Reading Slashdot! by nomadic · 2003-07-27 04:28 · Score: 5, Insightful

My record is 55 hours of straight coding.

Followed, no doubt, by six weeks of debugging.

Exercise by fredrikj · 2003-07-27 04:28 · Score: 5, Insightful

I am very familiar with your problem, and the thing I'd recommend is getting a decent amount of physical exercise. I always find it easier to concentrate on schoolwork (or any other work) after 30-45 minutes of running and a shower.

The biggest problem is motivation. Often when I don't feel like working, I definitely don't feel like exercising either :)

My personal experience... by JohnGrahamCumming · 2003-07-27 04:30 · Score: 5, Insightful

I'd start with not setting aside an entire day for work, that's just overwhelming
for anyone. When you start by telling yourself "I'm going to work all day" you
are probably going to fail because just the sheer length of the day and magnitude
of what you have to get done can become overwhelming.

The key to fixing your problem is probably to make the tasks in front of you not
seem so overwhelming through a number of techniques. I sympathize with your plight
because as a student myself I had a hard time initially, but it's worth knowing
that over time your ability to work hard for longer will improve... like so many
other things it's a question of practice.

Music may or may not help you, that seems to be a very personal thing. I can't
stand to have music while I work (because I want to listen to it and not work)
but have a colleague who has music on (low volume) all the time. Personally I
have found that the quiet droning voices on NPR help keep my mind on the job and
if something I really do care about comes on it's a little welcome break from
what I am doing.

You might also find that some other non-work activities actually bring more focus
when you are working. If you go to a gym, run or do some other physical exercise
I've found that it has a great effect on concentrating the mind. If you are
drinking a lot of caffeine laden drinks while working you might find that cutting
back enables you to concentrate more because you are not overstimulated by caffeine.

But specifically...

1. Prioritize the work

Sit down and make a list of all the tasks that you have to get done. I use a
real paper notebook for that sort of thing because it's satisfying to cross them
off as you go.

Once you've made the list order them (1, 2, 3, ...) in terms of how much of the
job you'll get done, or how hard they are to do. If you knock off a few hard
tasks at the start when you are more focused you'll start to feel better and the
smaller tasks coming later will seem less overwhelming. (I think in the Seven
Habits book this is "Put first things first"---but really it's commonsense, if
you get out of the way the stuff you are dreading doing you'll feel better and
get more done).

For example, right now I am working on the test suite for my open source project
and it's *boring*, *long* and *hard*. But I've got a list and slowly by slowly
I'm seeing progress.

One reason that lists can be problematic is if you write down all the tasks and
realize that you haven't got enough time... hence the next topic...

2. Set yourself some goals

It's important to take your list and set some goals. "I'm going to finish
task X by lunch". Then try to stick to them. If you find yourself unable to
stick to the goals and timings then go back and replan. You'll have a better
idea of how long the task is going to take and that will motivate you more...
Thinks "If I finish Y tonight, then tomorrow I'll just need to do A, B and C"

3. Reward yourself

I've found that stopping my main tasks and doing a little other task that I
find interesting is a good way to keep the motivation up. For example, I'll
have a goal "finish X" and when I've done it I'll stop and do something unrelated
which I enjoy.

For example on my open source project I have this long boring test suite to write,
each time I complete a task I work on a fun task associated with the performance
of the project. You can do something similar which means you actually praise
yourself through a reward for going something done.

4. Eat well

Nothing like being hungry to screw things up. Eat good food, stop for meals and
eat them.

Good luck,
John.

overcoming this problem by Poletown · 2003-07-27 04:36 · Score: 5, Insightful

I used to suffer from this problem REAL BAD. Like you, I could not get anything done, even if I locked myself in my office for the whole day. The Internet, MP3's, TV, whatever was available served as a distraction. I purchased countless books on procrastination, all of the "PUMP YOURSELF UP" motivator books, asked other people for advice, etc. Nothing worked. Then one day, I don't even remember how, I came up with a system that worked. Each time I had a project to work on, I would sit down the night before and develop a plan. 1) I break down each of the major tasks needed to be completed. 2) Under each task, I break down all of the subsections that needed to be completed 3) Under each subsection, I fill in the details that needed to be done (sometimes in paragraph form). 4) After everything is listed, I go back through and assign time guidlines. When I follow this, it works out great. I think the whole problem is that sometimes a big project like writing a term paper is just overwhelming. Rather than trying to figure out where to begin and what to do, it's easier just to click onto your browser of choice and say "I'll do it later". When everything is listed and broken down into little sections, the project isn't as overwhelming. Just a bunch of 'little projects' that need to be done. I'm not if this will work for you, but it makes things MUCH easier for me. Good Luck

Perhaps this will help by jaaron · 2003-07-27 04:38 · Score: 5, Informative

Read less slashdot. :)

Okay, I'm sure that will get posted a hundred times, but here are some other ideas:

Start Small: If it's a serious issue, trying to change your entire lifestyle at once can be difficult. Not impossible, but a better approach might be to start with something small and work your way up. Perhaps starting with exercise (as someone mentioned) or managing your sleep schedule, or just some random chore. Do that regularly and you'll start to have more and more control.
Eliminate Distractions: If it's homework, then leave the apartment and go to the library. Find somewhere where you simply don't have any other distractions -- no computers, radios, TV's, people to bug you, etc. Changing your environment will help.
Accountability: Explain to a close friend your problem. Have them check up on you and encourage you. Knowing you'll have to face up to someone who cares (and not your professor or boss) can give you some motivation.
Rewards: Have the integrity not to give yourself rewards until after you've accomplished something. But a reward system can help. Promise to go watch a movie or buy something special or go on a vacation once you've accomplished a particular goal. Again, having someone make sure you don't cheat helps.
Journal: By far what's helped me is keeping a regular journal. This may not help everyone, but it helps me be honest with myself. I can better gauge change that occurs over months and years by keeping a written record. I can work out goals, anxieties and plans. It works for me.

At least those are some of my ideas. Also, finding some way or time to calm down and reflect on life helps to. This can be when you exercise, or do your journal, or go to church (if you're into that sort of thing). Point it, every now and then you'll need to stop and remember why it is you want to be productive.

While you will probably get a lot of trolls responding to this, a good work ethic is important and not easily gained. It's something a lot of us could use improvement on.

--
Who said Freedom was Fair?

Gumption traps by RobotWisdom · 2003-07-27 04:52 · Score: 5, Interesting

Some of the best advice I've seen in print is in Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". But the details are hazy, so I'll give you my persoanl take:

- if you're struggling within yourself, you're lost. Learn to recognise this mental state (of internal struggle) and drop it immediately.

- instead, look with detachment at the 'lazy' half of the struggle. The more clearly you see it, the less power it will have.

- once the laziness is clearly seen, visualise yourself beginning the task, in detail. You can do this lying in bed or anywhere, but the important thing is to get over the initial hump, and sort out a clear picture of the first steps you need to take.

It's this startup-barrier that's the real problem, but reducing it to a manageable size is just a question of thinking it out clearly (not sweating, exercising, or promising rewards or threats).

Re:Gumption traps by Lucidus · 2003-07-27 07:32 · Score: 5, Interesting

The ideas from "Zen..." are superb advice; the problem is that it's very hard to state them clearly and succinctly.

For me, guilt was always a reliable indicator--if I was feeling bad about something (whether it was something I was supposed to be doing, or something I had already done), then I knew I couldn't function effectively. As long as you are beating yourself up, there is no way you can do your best work.

I think this may be happening to you, because you state that you have stopped playing games and watching TV, which suggests that you are punishing yourself in an attempt to improve your behavior. This simply won't work, as you have observed.

Instead, when you find yourself struggling with these feelings, just stop it. Recognize that it is counter-productive to think bad things about yourself. Once you can dissociate your thinking from your emotional baggage, you really can see things much more clearly.

At that point, you can calmly decide to start whatever task is before you. Once you are over the initial hump, the momentum of what you are doing should carry you forward.

And do give yourself a break once in awhile. If you are not enjoying life, then what's the point of getting on with it? Good luck.

Underwear and the Command Line by Snafoo · 2003-07-27 05:00 · Score: 5, Insightful

I've been diagnosed with ADD and I have two suggestions for dealing with procrastination and focusing problems. Note that I don't to either of these much anymore, as I'm medicated, but they worked well enough at the time.

Suggestion #1:

I have a little theory to the effect that, for a certain percentage of the population, GUIs have made focusing a lot more difficult: Sure, your taskbar, icons, buttons and menus make it easier to switch rapidly between many different tasks and contexts, but they also _make_it_easier_to_switch_between_many_different_t asks_and_contexts_. One minute you're studying faithfully --- at your mental office, so to speak --- and the next, you're in your mental rec room, playing FreeCiv; or in your mental coffee shop, chatting on /. And, Oh God, the futzing that one can do with a GUI! Desktop icon arrangement. Wallpaper. Themepacks, for heaven's sake. It's a temple of distraction in here.

So here's what I recommend: Ditch it. Ditch the GUI. Install Linux, if you haven't already, and configure /etc/inittab to boot to initlevel 4. Learn to love vi or nano or emacs: They work great for comp sci projects, and if you have an essay or a paper to write, do it in vi first, import it to word_processor_of_your_choice (for formatting) only when you're about to print it.

If you can't ditch the GUI for whatever reason (i.e. you need a proprietary Windoze app, or you can't bear to install Linux) then I recommend setting up a new account (linux) or user profile ('doze) that will only allow you to run only those applications which you need to get the job done. If that doesn't work, you should seriously consider getting yourself a (second-hand?) laptop upon which you will place only work-related programs --- preferably, one without WiFi or some other way of exposing it to the Lethean floodwaters of the 'net.

Suggestion #2. This next one is a little weird, but it works well for me. Note that it might work less well if you don't have any roomates, as it depends greatly on your desire to avoid embarrassment. It also requires that you have an extra room in your house.

Make yourself a home office in a well-heated room, and keep only work-related things in it. When you go to study, take in all the food, caffeine, and books that you'll need for a stint of about five hours. Set an alarm clock to go off in five hours. Now, close the door, and take off your pants. Yes, you heard me, take off your pants. If necessary, take off your shirt as well. Put them in a plastic bag, and tie the bag shut. Put the bag away (the further away the better.). This way, you can't leave the room suddenly without raising eyebrows: If, say, you have a sudden impulse to jump up and watch TV, or phone a friend, it'll take you a good five minutes to dress, which should be plenty to reconsider and sit back down.

After a couple of months of this, you get in the habit of staying in the room until the alarm sounds, you don't have to take off your pants anymore.

--
- undoware.ca

Re:We call this discipline by idlethought · 2003-07-27 05:22 · Score: 5, Insightful

All this takes is discipline. There is no real secret to this.

This is of course circular reasoning.. You need the discipline to develop the discipline etc..

It's true of course, like most circular reasoning, without being helpful.. Already there have been some very sensible and practical suggestions for getting that initial focus. If once you start you can keep going then it's finding that initial focus that counts. Excercise is one good suggestion- excess energy can express it self in lack of concentration. The other very good suggestion was the visualising the initial steps in the task. Very often with a big bit of work of any sort knowing where to start is the tricky part.

I often find when writing a document for work I can't make a start on it until I have the initial structure and more importantly most of the first paragraph planned. The first paragraph is usually utter crap and needs to be dumped, but it creates the crack in the wall to start on.
Another idea might be to just start- if you're about to write a report for college but can't get started try writing anything to get yourself into the right frame of mind- a stream of invective about the tutor, a complaint about how the RIAA's tendency to sue everyone for listening to music makes you too angry to concentrate. A stream-of-conciousness about nothing at all.

If it's a coding project I find writing the comments at the head of the file, even if they contain nothing but in-jokes and bad puns to be removed later, get me into the right frame of mind to get started.

Or just reconfigure your machine so it can't see the network anymore to remove that (and email) as a temptation.

Avoiding Distractions by Alan+Cox · 2003-07-27 05:26 · Score: 5, Insightful

You can put all your "distracting" applications into a group that your "work" login doesn't allow access to. You can remove the network cable except in specific pre-planned periods.

Nowdays I have to get a lot done, and there are a few things I've found very helpful (and believe me I used to do my homework in the lesson it was being handed in for 8))

- If I think of something else that needs doing I write it down, I don't start doing it disrupting the current task
- If I think of stuff late in the evening I write it down so I dont spent the night trying not to forget it
- Split big tasks quickly into a list of little subtasks, cross them off as you finish them
- Don't sit on irc , its the ultimate productivity killer and distraction bar none (some people seem to swear by putting all their non "work" stuff on a seperate desktop so its not in their vision except when they take a break)
- Remember you can read your email just once or twice a day. Ditto web news sites/slashdot
- Don't look at a pile of things and think I really ought to be doing something. Do *something* even if its pick the easiest looking task to knock off the list.
- When you build up a pile of tasks that can't be done in the required time (wait for final year university 8)) prioritize them and cross of stuff you have to discard, don't sit around doing nothing because you can't do them all.
- Get into a routine (I'm dire at this but when it works it helps). Get up read email, go do work the same pattern every day.

Ultimately though its about willpower., someone suggested exercise, one good exercise way to learn about relaxation and willpower is martial arts. Not all of them are about beating the crap out of people (although if you like that sort of competitive thing there are plenty to choose from), others like Aikido are much more about self control and at the extreme soft end they verge into deeply internal things like T'ai Chi .

Re:One word: Discipline by JimBobJoe · 2003-07-27 05:48 · Score: 5, Insightful

**Worst advice ever**

Him: "Can slashdot tell me what I need to get myself boostrapped and productive?"

You: "You know what you need punk? To bootstrap yourself and get to work!"

He knows what his problem is, that's why he's asking the /. community. He's seeking out different ways at becoming productive. Your response was delightfully unhelpful.

Some people are blessed with the talent to just be effortlessly productive. Others need to put effort into it, some will not become productive until a crisis hits them, and a few will never be productive at all (which costs everyone time and money.) If you're in the first group, then congratulations, if you're in the second group, then congratulations that you found your system, if you're in the third group then I'm sorry for whatever may have happened (that also seem to have added a new crutch to you that you're not entirely aware of.)

Re:Do you like what you do? by aussersterne · 2003-07-27 05:49 · Score: 5, Insightful

I think the crux of the issue here (and what you are getting at) is that work and study are much easier to accomplish if you are passionate about them; if you have a personal point of view, something unique to contribute, an unfailing interest in the subject matter, or some other conscious driving force behind it.

Unfortunately, in the modern world, this is very difficult.

Very few types of work leave room for individuality or craftsmanship any longer. Nearly any type of work you do is likely to relegate you in some way, metaphorical or otherwise, to a position of "cog in a wheel in the giant machine."
Nearly all of modern industry also requires a dedicated, detailed skill set that tends to take years to master, often descends into minutiae at the expense of the "bigger picture" and that tends to compartmentalize one within the field (i.e. you have studied to be this kind of cog in the wheel, and after you put in your decades to master it, you will be stuck as that cog forever, because it will take far too long to train to become another kind of cog).
Because of the nature of the modern marketplace, there is very little room for individuality, passion, or points of view. Whether in academics or business, if your work and even your general demeanor are not well-suited to maximize profit, you will quickly find yourself out of work. Thus, in the interest of staying active (i.e. employed, in school, funded by grants, etc.) in a field, people generally try to sublimate themselves to the greatest extent possible, becoming the most colorless, generic cog they can be.
As a kind of corollary, work or study in any field these days also generally involves a large percentage of time coping with business-oriented and political issues, rather than the issues at hand. A successful photographer is first and foremost a successful businessman. A successful systems analyst is first and foremost a successful businessman. A successful lawyer is first and foremost a successful businessman. A successful doctor is first and foremost a successful businessman. Ad infinitum.

None of this breeds any kind of productivity ethic. Even if you are very interested in a field, and approach its study with enthusiasm, you are likely to run out of steam before you reach the end of your study, gradually disillusioned by the degree to which you must endlessly specialize, sublimate your own identity, avoid creativity, sacrifice future freedoms and learn the ins and outs of petty business, all in order to simply build a career doing something you thought you liked.

I personally feel that most men (and women) given a chance would prefer to be craftsmen (and women) of some kind, in whatever their chosen field, bringing a quality and uniquely personal product to the people of their own community. Instead, because of the nature of the modern marketplace, many essentially become clerks and civil servants in one field or another order to be able to draw a wage.

As a result, and lacking enthusiasm, we end up sitting around browsing the Web and dreaming of something better... but those who develop the fortitude to switch inevitably find that their new field is, on balance, not all that different from their last one... still all business, anonymity and colorless, impersonal nonsense.

--
STOP . AMERICA . NOW

Disconnect from the net by Glonoinha · 2003-07-27 05:53 · Score: 5, Insightful

Actually he is right, moreso if he tweaks it just a bit by making it difficult but not impossible to access.

Want to get serious work done? Walk across the room and disconnect the network cable from the wall. Really need access (like to submit your homework, as you suggested) walk over and plug it in, submit your work, and then unplug it again.

For someone that is easily distracted, removing the ease of distraction (ie, a direct connect to the net) is better than Ritalin.

--
Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer

Re:Disconnect from the net by dekashizl · 2003-07-27 12:15 · Score: 5, Funny

Want to get serious work done? Walk across the room and disconnect the network cable from the wall. Really need access (like to submit your homework, as you suggested) walk over and plug it in, submit your work, and then unplug it again.
This is exactly what I do. A small improvement on this is to get an X-10 computer interface, and connect the network cable to a 12V X-10 controlled motor (Lutron, Makita, etc.), so that instead of having to get up to plug/unplug it, you just press a key on your keyboard and it remotely and physically does it for you. Taking it further, you can set it up so that when your cursor hovers over Mozilla, it automatically plugs in the cable for you. It works really well, and as soon as I finish writing this, I'll get right back to that paper I'm supposed to turn in tomorrow morning!

Set smaller goals by Gudlyf · 2003-07-27 06:56 · Score: 5, Insightful

"... reducing it to a manageable size..."

My wife has worked with ADHD kids and tells me this is the best thing she's seen to focus and motivate them to produce (other than intrisic motivation, which is of course the best motivator, but this technique does lead to intrisic motivation).

Think about what you should be able to accomplish in 15 minutes. Set an egg-timer for 15 minutes, and do that task you visualized. You can eventually work up to larger increments. You'll probably find yourself beating the timer in some cases.

I know it sounds simplistic, but knowing that pressure seems to be a large motivator for you, the motivation of knowing that bell is going to go off sounds like it might do the trick. This stuff works on adults as well as children. In my wife's experience, it's never failed her (with her students).

--
Trolls lurk everywhere. Mod them down.

Re:Set smaller goals by customizedmischief · 2003-07-27 08:38 · Score: 5, Interesting

I have severe ADD and a job that requires me to work independantly and get stuff done. I have been using an egg-timer that I have modified (busted) so that it is too quiet for my coworkers to hear outside of my cube. This keeps the lynch mobs at bay.

I keep a list right next to the timer and when something comes up that needs doing but isn't what is at the top of my list (a distraction), I write it down on the list. Since the egg timer interrupts me every few minutes, I don't find myself pissing away as much time when I do get distrsacted.

Another reason my mind wanders is boredom. I always make sure I switch tasks when the timer rings if I can switch and come back later without losing my place in what I was doing. That way, I am always doing something new and I don't just give up and go read slashdot.

This also helps with procrastination. I find it easier to start on even the most odious tasks if I know that in 10 minutes, I can put it down for a bit and catch up on my email.

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Oops.
Re:Set smaller goals by some+damn+guy · 2003-07-27 12:57 · Score: 5, Insightful

Since I've ADD, I think I've gotten to be an expert on motivation without really trying. I'd obsess over it. But so often I'd feel bad because it was so easy to forget all my plans and just do whatever.

The right motivation definitely made all the difference for me. It was about my values when it worked . I just had to decide the value of the kinds of things i found myself doing. When I started realizing all the missed oportunities I was creating by bouncing from thing to thing it straightened me out a bit. It was too easy to spend all afternoon playing quake (I didnt have the attention span for command and conquer :) )or whatever instead of doing homework... but when I realized what those activities were costing me in terms of missed opportunity it stuck with me more, not just with school but also with 'fun' stuff. It was much more rewarding for me to have a hobby than a tv or computer game habit.

That being said, medication helps. You might be hesitant to use amphetamines but I feel far more focused than if i had a cup of coffee. In fact, the coffee sometimes hurts more than it helps. There's two parts to it, which im sure healthy people feel to a lesser degree too- part one is getting excited enough to do anything other than space out(caffine helps) but part two is actually getting something done efficiently- i.e. reading a book and not having my eye bounce from paragraph to paragraph or skip around like crazy (caffine doesn't help much at all.) When i read for fun I'd almost never be able to read a book from begining to end. I'd hop around until the whole thing got read. Needless to say, I didnt read much fiction.

To the guy asking the question, theres only one guaranteed way to focus on college that I know of, and I've tried a lot of different things. Quit right now and get a job (probably a lousy one, but not for a lack of trying). Pay all of your own bills. Work 40 a week and try to be independant. Don't take any help from your parents. Just try it. Work retail or landscaping or something entry level. Try to picture your future. It will suck. If you were having problems deciding what you wanted to go into, you'll have less. You'll get the old-man-now-what-the-hell-did-i-do-with-my-life-sy ndrome at 19. It's priceless. You'll want out of such a crappy life and you'll learn whats important- you'll think a lot less of playing quake instead of studying.

It will light a fire under you. Look around in class and look whos always there, sitting in the front, arriving early and taking immaculate notes. You'll see a lot of thirty somethings and first-generation students, at least if you go to the right kind of school. You might have lived a comfortable middle-class existence up till now and you want to keep living it. Nothing wrong with that, but you can't forever, and some people never get a chance at all. The only risk is you'll never go back to school if you quit. Just make sure you have a plan for going back...loans whatever, savings. When you pay for it yourself you'll do better too.

Basically, life doesn't suck enough, or you haven't found a passion. It makes all the difference in the world. No mind tricks, just a nice reality check. You don't get a second chance at life so you better start deciding how to live it.

It's the only real thing that ever worked for me (my life sucking).

when all else fails, switch tactics by gronkulator · 2003-07-27 08:04 · Score: 5, Interesting

i know the feeling. it's sort of frustrating to be able to do something, have the knowlege of your capacity, yet still when the time comes, there's always that next website to check up on or that last level to conquer. I can only offer a few general tactics:

set aside time for work. this can be on the order of hours per day, or days per week, depending on your comfort level. do not be overly ambbitious with setting aside too much time, you may procrastinate to fill the time available.
separate work areas from relaxation/play areas. this is critical for creating a setting conducive to working. if at all possible, make it somewhere you do not sleep/eat/watch tv(porn)/game/etc.
if possible, use separate computers for work/play. an old 120mhz beater is enough to run office 95 and netscape 3.0 or something equivalent.
disconnect everything (tv, cell, internet, etc) while working whenever possible.
If you find yourself avoiding work because it is giving you anxiety/you feel overwhelmed/can't concentrate because you are constantly worrying about stuff, and it doesn't let up, seek the help of a physician or psychiatrist. that could be depression or an anxiety disorder.
following from above, if the depression or anxiety is significantly impacting your ability to function, you may want to consider meds or psychotherapy. it may seem like an extreme solution, but that's just not true. it's a highly effective solution that may allow you to shelve your concentration/focus problems and actually get work done without creating other problems in the form of extended deadlines/late nite cram sessions/etc. it also allows you do do a little introspection in to the underlying issues that create these situations. it may even enable an ah-ha moment.
following from above - i know this might be flame bait, but stay away from paxil. withdrawal is a bitch.

hth

--
'yields false when preceded by its quotation' yields false when preceded by its quotation.

Re:Do you like what you do? by betelgeuse68 · 2003-07-27 08:09 · Score: 5, Interesting

No offense Paradox but I'm reading lots of platitudes - "Quick learner", "less training", "practice learning." Not sure this translates into anything solid given my 20 years of coding in various ways.

I had a recent experience that I found amusing (kind of). I kept reading how employers were looking at "soft skills" now a lot more than the past and how "pure tech" wasn't going to cut it. Recently I wound up hooking up with some head hunter whose client insisted that any potential candidate take exams on Brainbench.com. Fine. I went along. I took an exam they set me up with. I scored 79% on the C++ exam. Not bad since it had been YEARS since I had actively coded in C++ (real stuff like class design, not simple subclasses to handle GUI events).

In my day I would keep up with the ANSI committee and enjoy reading what Scott Meyers et al had to say. (Aside: I just dumped my entire collection of "C++ Report" into the recycle bin)

That was then, this is now.

Turns out, the head hunter's client (who I might work for) had REALLY wanted me to take the Visual C++ Brainbench exam. I thought to myself, "Wow, so much for soft skills if all they are interested in is a number on some exam." Despite having Microsoft on my resume and having a capacity of "Lead Architect" in my last employer it seemed they were looking for some "magic number". I told the head hunter "No thanks" (much to his chagrin) and sent a polite letter to the HR person who sent me the URL for taking the test stating that I didn't think it was a "fit."

Truth is, today I WOULD in fact like to leverage my soft skills more than in the past. These people were looking for a grunt coder. Plain and simple. Been there, done that.

Fed up with the idiotic HR people and the dearth of anything interesting, today I'm selling cars by choice. Hondas specifically.

Let me make things clear, my biggest frustration in tech is the idiotic HR people in various organizations that are the gate keepers. Next come the moronic head hunters. But it's just the nature of the business and a necessary evil, particulary with the limited opportunities nowadays.

When I look at all I've done and what I know... then to have to deal with people who haven't the slightest clue and are simply matching buzzwords, well, it's all quite frustrating, really. Never mind that I transitioned from my last employer in a major way from Windows to the LINUX platform, never mind that I worked at Microsoft and have shrink wrapped software to my credit, never mind that I worked on a source level debugger at one point in time for Motorola... HR people don't understand any of the latter. Nothing.

To all tech people let me just say this, something I am passing along from a high level manager I once heard - "I know you love all that technical minutiae but don't forget about the soft skills." More importantly, since we're in a down time, if you go try something utterly non-tech it may spark surprising changes in how you view the world and yourself.

To give you some food for thought, how many CEOs do you know that were prime time developers? Yeah, Bill Gates might have coded in his day but I can assure you he hasn't done shyt for the last 15+ years. He was a businessman first and that's what succeeds in our society (the social element of the equation). Always has, always will.

Something I've had to learn the hard way...

-M

PS: Oh yeah, I'm the one selling cars that SPAZOID12 up above eludes to.

An easier solution by commodoresloat · 2003-07-27 08:18 · Score: 5, Funny

Stop posting to slashdot asking why you aren't getting work done.

Re:a MUSICAL exercise and a question about ADHD by Viv · 2003-07-27 08:37 · Score: 5, Informative

My question is (and this is REALLY going to piss off some people), does ADD/ADHD REALLY EXIST? Is it an officially recognized disorder by the CDC or some other government body, or well-respected independent body? Or is this a massive bullshit campaign?

It's simple -- check the DSM IV. The DSM-IV is the fouth edition of the criteria professional psychologists use to diagnose mental disorders. It is essentially the bible of psychology. And according to the DSM-IV, ADHD does exist. The DSM-IV definition is apparently:

Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

* Persisting for at least 6 months to a degree that is maladaptive and immature, the patient has either inattention or hyperactivity-impulsivity (or both) as shown by:
Inattention. At least 6 of the following often apply:
-Fails to pay close attention to details or makes careless errors in schoolwork, work or other activities
-Has trouble keeping attention on tasks or play
-Doesn't appear to listen when being told something
-Neither follows through on instructions nor completes chores, schoolwork, or jobs (not due to oppositional behavior or failure to understand)
-Has trouble organizing activities and tasks
-Dislikes or avoids tasks that involve sustained mental effort (homework, schoolwork)
Loses materials needed for activities (assignments, books, pencils, tools, toys)
Easily distracted by extraneous stimuli
Forgetful
Hyperactivity-Impulsivity. At least 6 of the following often apply:
HYPERACTIVITY
-Squirms in seat or fidgets
-Inappropriately leaves seat
-Inappropriately runs or climbs (in adolescents or adults, the may be only a subjective feeling of restlessness)
-Has trouble quietly playing or engaging in leisure activity
-Appears driven or "on the go"
-Talks excessively
IMPULSIVITY
-Answers questions before they have been completely asked
-Has trouble or awaiting turn
-Interrupts or intrudes on others

* Begins before age 7.

* Symptoms must be present in at least 2 types of situations, such as school, work, home.

* The disorder impairs school, social or occupational functioning.

* The symptoms do not occur solely during a Pervasive Developmental Disorder or any psychotic disorder including Schizophrenia.

* The symptoms are not explained better by a Mood, Anxiety, Dissociative or Personality Disorder.

Code Number is based on the symptoms during the past 6 months:

314.00 Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Predominantly Inattentive Type. The patient has recently met the criteria for inattention but not for hyperactivity-impulsivity.

314.01 Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type. The patient has recently met the criteria for hyperactivity-impulsivity but not for inattention.

314.01 Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Combined Type. The patient has recently met the criteria for both inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity. (Most ADHD children have symptoms of the Combined Type.)

Specify "In Partial Remission" for patients (especially adults or adolescents) whose current symptoms do not fulfill the criteria.

Re:a MUSICAL exercise and a question about ADHD by Sixty4Bit · 2003-07-27 08:49 · Score: 5, Insightful

I felt the same way as you regarding ADD. It doesn't really exist. As a matter of fact, I had the exact same argument: How can you not be able to accomplish something at school or work, yet play games into the middle of the night with unbreakable concentration?

Games are short term goals. The longest games last an hour or two at most. And even then, there are even shorter term goals within a single game. One could argue that FPS games have the shortest term goals of any game out there. Every second that you haven't been killed, you have reached a goal. If you happen to kill a person AND not get killed, you get two goals in one second! But I digress.

Work, on the other hand, often requires longer term goals. You have to spend many hours dedicated to one task to achieve a goal. One trick is to break that long term goal into several short term goals. Another trick is to take goals off of your task list. This is the one that I needed to do. I was getting so upset with myself for not working, when I thought I should be that it caused many internal problems. You have to know when to play and when to work. You must make it OK to enjoy life a little. I would always feel guilty about playing until I decided that it was OK to play online for a couple of hours.

The problem is not just one little thing that can be fixed with a pill. It takes training and self discipline... and a pill. For over 20 years I tried to convince myself that I did not have ADD, that I was just lazy. I joined the U.S. Navy to prove it to myself. Guess what? I have ADD. I need a pill to help my brain concentrate on one thing at a time. I sought help from a counselor, who then sent me to see a psychiatrist for one reason, and one reason only; to get a prescription for my ADD. You see, I am a smart guy, I have drive and determination, I am good at video games, but no matter how much I wanted it, or how much I tried, I could not stay focused on a single task for any length of time. I walked into the psychiatrist's office and we started chatting. Within 10 minutes she tells me that she knows what my problem is and has only one question to ask. She asked me, "So, how much coffee do you drink a day?" "Well, I don't drink coffee, I drink Dr. Pepper. And I drink about 3 liters a day."

Come to find out, caffeine has the same effect on the brain as Ritalin. There are actually about 7 different types of ADD, each with a different symptoms and treatments. The severe cases require Ritalin. Mild cases require exercise and counseling. I fall somewhere in the middle and take a different kind of medication. I am down to 1 liter of Dr. Pepper and two pills a day :) I will be on the two pills for the rest of my life. Which really stinks, but I am up for promotion, so I guess it doesn't stink to bad.

My advice, don't waste your life fighting a losing battle. Go see a counselor and find out how to fight your particular problem. I didn't want to admit to myself that I had ADD and it cost me some of the best years of my life.

--
This is not the sig you are looking for...

Re:We call this discipline by tedrlord · 2003-07-27 10:35 · Score: 5, Interesting

There's a big difference between ADD (or ADHD or whatever) and a general lack of discipline. I've been having problems for my whole life with it, and have just recently been diagnosed. For a long time I figured I just wasn't trying hard enough, or approaching things from the right direction, but after thinking a lot and talking to people, I realized that my problems were rather unusual compared to others.

When talking about a lack of discipline, the problem is getting work done when you're not interested in it. You have to write a program or do a term paper, then you think of going onto the web or playing a game, and you wander off and do that instead. A lot of my friends described having problems with this in college when I would talk about my difficulties.

What I've been experiencing is a little different than this, though. I just couldn't focus on things in general. I'd avoid watching movies because of the effort it would take to keep track of a story for an hour and a half. I'd try to read an article and trail off halfway into it, realizing a few minutes later that I've been sitting there with a magazine, going through the motions of reading, but not absorbing any of it. Lord knows reading an actual book was incredibly difficult. It wasn't that I found other things to do. It was more like I'd sit there trying to focus and blanking out until I either forgot what I was doing completely or got so frustrated I gave myself a migraine. And when I could do focus on something, if someone were to distract me at all, I'd get so startled I'm jump into the air, and get very angry. Sometimes I'd be able to sit down and write a really good term paper, but get an F for it because I wasn't able to read the one page of text that gave the instructions on how it was to be written.

There were other, less specific problems, too. I couldn't clean my room, practically ever, not because I was lazy, but because when I'd try I couldn't pay attention to any specific item apart from the general mess well enough to figure out how to clean it. I'd literally sit there for five or ten minutes looking around trying to figure out what it was that made my room so messy. I couldn't separate the clothes from the soda bottles or the computer equipment in my mind.

Also, as a kid I was really socially awkward. I just couldn't deal with people at all. I had a couple of friends that I would hang out with pretty comfortably, but when I got into a group I would get completely overwhelmed. Looking back on it, I realized that I couldn't process all the sound of different people talking at once. After a certain point, I'd hear them but not really understand anything they were saying. That would definitely make it hard to make friends at parties.

When I got on Wellbutrin (initially for depression) and, more recently, Adderall (I hate the stuff, but it helps), I started noticing large changes. With the Wellbutrin I still had trouble focusing on specific things, but I noticed my confusion went way down. I could deal easily with people, and could pay attention to what was going on around me. That helps a lot when driving. When I started taking the Adderall, I suddenly found it very easy to pay attention to one thing separate from others. I could remember to get my mail or take out the trash. I could separate my clothes and actually do my laundry. I could organize the tasks involved in getting my dishes washed, rather than not eating because I couldn't find a clean plate. I found myself starting to draw more (which I've always loved but never really practiced) because I could actually visualize in my head what I wanted to draw, rather than scribble around until I either had something or I didn't. I actually even sat down and started reading a few of the many books that I've gathered through the years, meaning to read. It's not particularly easy to sit down and write out an organised essay, design a program, or reorganize all the crap in my room, but I can actually sit and think of how I would go about doing it, and even remember

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[insert witty quote here]

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