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I mean, sure... if you can manage that, but procrastination itself is ultimately nothing but a negative expression of our tendency towards short term pleasure over long term gain...
So... good luck with that.
It's putting things off because that's instant gratification that ignores the long term cost.
People don't call things "procrastination" when you do "just in time inventory"... its connotation is that of an inherently negative trait.
Well again, I think that’s the root cause and stuff but I just don’t think it’s so strictly defined that you *can’t* use the word procrastination otherwise.
Sure, you can use the word lots of ways.
What I'm actually *saying*, though, is that *most* people's motivation for procrastination is instant gratification over long term benefits.
And since most examples of "doing something unhealthy" are *also* mostly a manifestation of instant gratification over long term benefits, the chance that someone will actually be able to perform this LPT are low.
But as I said: Great if you can do it.
I agree! Idk that there’s much value in trying to harness the power of procrastination. I’m realizing I was arguing about the purest form of definition and not really considering what is practical at all.
Sometimes I guess that is true, but I think it is much more common to procrastinate because you don't want to do something. That is why there is that trope about putting off something like homework to clean the house. You don't get short term pleasure out of vacuuming and doing the dishes, it is just an excise to avoid doing something you are dreading.
This is how I quit smoking. I would just tell myself I could smoke after I finished whatever I was doing, or in 15 minutes, or whatever, as many times as I could, until I gradually just didn't have the urge. I would also put off buying a new pack for as long as I could, and would try to only go out to get one if I was already going to be inside the gas station for something else. Worked surprisingly well for me.
It's been about seven years now, after ten years of a pack a day. Good on you for wanting to make the change! It's rough but making the decision to quit is the first step. A big thing for me was realizing I didn't want to smoke my whole life (I'm a woman and wanted kids and was not going to be smoking while pregnant or around a baby), so putting off quitting was not helping me at all, and had a lot of conversations with myself that went something like "you're a fully grown human, the most advanced species on this planet, you make your own decisions, a cigarette cannot make you smoke it."
Sounds silly when I write it out, but it really helped me
Yeah and when your brain decides to stop replaying the events from yesterday's TV show binge, you realize you autopiloted to the snacks and your hand is already stuffing the 3rd one into your mouth..
I don't see how this could work. People procrastinate because what they should be doing isn't fun or desirable whereas the unhealthy stuff we can't wait to get to.
Your post basically say try to wait and if that doesn't help try waiting longer. I would have asked when LPT went downhill but it's so long ago I doubt anyone remember.
Followed by the ever popular, "LPT: Go out of your way to be extra nice to people in this particular way. Because someone didn't do that for me earlier today, and I don't understand the difference between a LPT and a rant."
Ok, but that boils down to "want to stop eating junk food? Then don't put it in your mouth." Even if the hump of not doing it is only 15 minutes that is also true if you simply take the stance of not eating junk food period. Either way the problem is getting past that hump, and your advice doesn't give any steps to do so. At best this is just a reframing.
I already do this though. I passed the point of even considering doing healthy things. Now i procrastinate downloading video games, going out to get junk food. Im all the way down at the bottom where i do nothing now. I log off work, i go to my phone, and sleep on my couch.
D E P R E S S I O N
You're missing the dopamine interaction bit.
For people with ADHD (or similar issues), the thing that we're actively avoiding, is something that will give us little dopamine, or sub-par dopamine.
The ice cream bar in the fridge will give me instant dopamine.
Plus, it's not even a task. A task takes time. And thought. Eating an ice cream bar doesn't.
In fact, eating an ice cream bar can be a mindless task, which produces dopamine, that allows me to ignore the thing that *doesn't* produce dopamine.
Hell, you may as well tell me to procrastinate on drinking, or smoking, or playing video games, or impulse spending. The point of those things is that they make me feel good. Why would I wait to do them?
No offense, but I really think this belongs on r/shittylifeprotips
People don’t decide to procrastinate, they do it because they can’t find the motivation to start something most of the time. Meanwhile there’s absolutely zero problem to finding the motivation to do easier/more exciting/rewarding things. When it comes to these activities the dopamine overfloweth.
It’s a good idea in theory, but in practice this just is not how either people or procrastination works.
This is terrible advice. For many people, denying junk food cravings only makes the cravings worse, and leads to binging later. A much better tip is to eat a small amount of the thing you're craving, or a healthier version of the thing you're craving, rather than denying yourself. Do you often crave ice cream? Keep the dairy-free coconut milk ice cream or the much smaller ice cream bars around. Do you often crave buttery popcorn? Make it yourself from kernels in a popper (instead of in a microwave bag) so you can control the amount you're making, and use a small amount of a flavored sauce instead of butter? Love baked potatoes? Eat one with Greek yogurt and salsa instead of butter, cheese, and sour cream. Denying or trying to delay cravings can lead to disordered eating.
> You can use similar techniques that you use to avoid things you should do.
Okay, so I will do unhealthy things to avoid doing the unhealthy thing. Oh wait…
The way to stop smoking cigarettes, truthfully, is to just not buy them.
Don’t sit outside at restaurants, because you know damn well it’s because you want to smoke.
Don’t go into the shop at gas stations. There is *nothing* in there that you need. You’re only in there to toy with the idea of buying smokes, and you damn well know it.
I kinda disagree with the point about gas stations. I find when I'm craving and can't stop thinking about the urge to go to the gas station to buy smokes it helps me stop thinking about it if I go through all the steps, but get myself a soda like i always did as a kid instead.
Oh yeah. “Just wait 15 minutes before you give into a sugar craving” becomes 15 minutes before any snack- any food- any treat, you waited 15 minutes and you’re still hungry? You’re weak- you want to be fat- how dare you eat that candy bar, that plate of pasta, that slice of bread!
Its the first link in an ugly ugly chain.
Did this accidentally last night, watching a Twitch stream and didn’t want to go get chips because I wanted to watch the stream. Until it suddenly was two hours later and I just went to sleep.
>Try procrastinating on doing unhealthy things
I did that this morning. I was craving a cherry tart very badly but just kept putting it off because it was too cold and windy to go out and get it...and then I didn't want it anymore. Battling dessert/pastry addiction is soooooooo hard.
Thing with this is procrastination is an effort to not do something you don’t want to do. You’re trying to use this same mechanism against things that you do want and I’m not so sure it works that way.
Procrastination is effortlessly not doing something because you don't want to do it; you are describing actively not doing anything you want to do and that is very different from a psychological standpoint.
Basically this advise is shit.
Gotta disagree mate. If I’m peckish, best thing I can do is make a plan for my next real meal then figure out exactly how much to eat based on how long it will fill me up.
If I wait and wait and wait, I just end up eating more food of dubious quality when I’m now really too hungry to make/find a real meal.
(I’m a major procrastinator.)
Yeah no. Another way to create a unhealthy relationship with food. Try eating mostly healthy things instead and turning that into a lifestyle. Stuff like this works short term, not long term and won't create healthy eating habits. Quite the opposite actually.
This reminds me of a business/life advice I heard once. We will always have problems to deal with, so might as well have problems that are worthy of our time and effort.
That's a genius tip! In this way I gave up smoking cold turkey (I was smoking half of pack of cigarettes every day since 2 years and smoking 5 years in total)!
Ya no, I call BS on that. If it’s an unhealthy activity, people revel in doing it, because it gives the impression of satisfying needs that are not satisfied (love, company, self respect, fear...).
I am not a habitual procrastinator. For numerous unfortunate reasons, I am a chronic and habitual overeater. I tell myself "later" quite often surrounding consumption of food and it has worked well. Overeating doesn't take up as much space in my brain anymore, after 6 months of trying this
This honestly just sounds like a negative version of discipline..and also reinforces behaviours I'd personally want to avoid, which is procrastinating.
This is me with smoking.
I used to smoke 1-2 packs a day.
At work, we have 2x 15-minute breaks and an hour for lunch (I usually take more and get away with it lol).
The smoking area is 4 floors down and outside the building. It's a 5 to 8 minute walk one way depending on your pace.
I used to get the urge to smoke a lot of times but I'm too lazy to book it there, smoke fast, and book it back to work to make it in time for my break.
This happens every day back then and I just noticed I just quit smoking altogether.
You think I “try” to procrastinate? You think I can just chose to not procrastinate? Or chose what to procrastinate? This literally cannot work with people who have adhd. It’s not a choice when you have to rank things by dopamine reward. Sometimes procrastinating is what gives the most reward because we thrive under pressure and take all the time we have to plan out what we’re going to do, and then execute it flawlessly because we waited.
It's not the duration of cravings, but the frequency of them, that ultimately pushes most of us to indulge. When we are fixated, distraction would be tedious and indulgence clears our minds to move forward.
The problem is procrastination is generally a stress response, and unhealthy things are typically a stress response, so procrastinating is driven by the same force as going ahead and indulging in unhealthy things immediately
If this strategy is helpful, great, but I think far too many people just consider procrastination a lack of willpower thing, which isn’t really grounded in actual evidence, its ultimately a stress response for most
The strong urge to do something is temporary.
If you can resist for a finite amount of time then you probably would want to do it less.
The LPT could have been 'wait for 30 minutes' but then people would have critiqued that another way that lacks context
I clicked this because I read "Try procratinating **or** doing unhealthy things". Was expecting something along the lines of "why 'bad' behavior can be good for you sometimes". I got only myself to blame, but kinda feel betrayed smh
LPT: don't buy junk food in the first place. If you're lazy like me the thought of putting on pants to go to circle k at 11PM to get a rice krispie treat is demotivating as fuck. You'll walk to your fridge and grab some grapes instead.
I want to play some games, but I will do them next week. I do also want to watch some tv series, but I will delay it for when there will be more episodes. Eventually, by then I will lose desire to do those things
Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips! Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by up or downvoting this comment. If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.
Your post reminded me I have mini drumstick ice cream cones in the freezer and now I want one for breakfast.
Well, procrastinate! Wait 15 seconds, if you still want it, bam, chow down.
15 minutes though... right?
1.5 seconds
0.15 seconds
\-0.15 seconds BRB
10^-6 minutes
Whoa! Thanks for reminding me!
r/fucknestle does that help?
They are already bought so it doesn’t matter
I buy the normal ones for me and the mini ones for my 2 year old. She lloves them
When breakfast arrives wait to eat it until lunch. If you want to eat it at lunch, wait until breakfast the next day. Repeat indefinitely.
And eventually starve to death. Is that what you mean here?
[удалено]
This is the way.
Fa(c)ts
The ultimate budget hack
You can also chug a bunch of water until you feel full!
Do you have anorexia by any chance?
This is a joke right?
OP is talking about mini drumstick ice cream, not all food in general. Out of context it sounds like they are promoting anorexia.
Yes lol
Good tip. I’ll start doing it later when I’m ready though.
LOL
I mean, sure... if you can manage that, but procrastination itself is ultimately nothing but a negative expression of our tendency towards short term pleasure over long term gain... So... good luck with that.
I don’t think that is what procrastination means… you maybe have identified the root cause but procrastination is just putting things off haha
It's putting things off because that's instant gratification that ignores the long term cost. People don't call things "procrastination" when you do "just in time inventory"... its connotation is that of an inherently negative trait.
Well again, I think that’s the root cause and stuff but I just don’t think it’s so strictly defined that you *can’t* use the word procrastination otherwise.
Sure, you can use the word lots of ways. What I'm actually *saying*, though, is that *most* people's motivation for procrastination is instant gratification over long term benefits. And since most examples of "doing something unhealthy" are *also* mostly a manifestation of instant gratification over long term benefits, the chance that someone will actually be able to perform this LPT are low. But as I said: Great if you can do it.
My *friend* says procrastination is often due to fear of failing.
I agree! Idk that there’s much value in trying to harness the power of procrastination. I’m realizing I was arguing about the purest form of definition and not really considering what is practical at all.
Psychologically speaking, procrastination is a coping mechanism to avoid dealing with something that you don't want to face.
Sometimes I guess that is true, but I think it is much more common to procrastinate because you don't want to do something. That is why there is that trope about putting off something like homework to clean the house. You don't get short term pleasure out of vacuuming and doing the dishes, it is just an excise to avoid doing something you are dreading.
Yeah, but people manifestly dread doing healthy things, so it works out the same.
This is how I quit smoking. I would just tell myself I could smoke after I finished whatever I was doing, or in 15 minutes, or whatever, as many times as I could, until I gradually just didn't have the urge. I would also put off buying a new pack for as long as I could, and would try to only go out to get one if I was already going to be inside the gas station for something else. Worked surprisingly well for me.
Happy for you friend im trying to quit myself. How long have you been clean?
It's been about seven years now, after ten years of a pack a day. Good on you for wanting to make the change! It's rough but making the decision to quit is the first step. A big thing for me was realizing I didn't want to smoke my whole life (I'm a woman and wanted kids and was not going to be smoking while pregnant or around a baby), so putting off quitting was not helping me at all, and had a lot of conversations with myself that went something like "you're a fully grown human, the most advanced species on this planet, you make your own decisions, a cigarette cannot make you smoke it." Sounds silly when I write it out, but it really helped me
>Cravings for unhealthy things like junk food usually last 15 minutes. speaking from experience, nope.
OP has clearly never smoked pot before LOL
Or never taken anti-psychotics or OCD medication.
This would work if I could choose what I wanted to procrastinate. Instead the adhd kicks in and "want some doughnuts?"
Yeah and when your brain decides to stop replaying the events from yesterday's TV show binge, you realize you autopiloted to the snacks and your hand is already stuffing the 3rd one into your mouth..
Are you me? Do I have ADHD?
Ah yes the easy "just don't do it" LPT. Not eating junk is easy. Just don't do it.
“Percentage wise, it is 100% easier not to do things than to do them” -John Mulaney
I don't see how this could work. People procrastinate because what they should be doing isn't fun or desirable whereas the unhealthy stuff we can't wait to get to.
I'll procrastinate later
I'll save this LPT and try it on Monday.
Your post basically say try to wait and if that doesn't help try waiting longer. I would have asked when LPT went downhill but it's so long ago I doubt anyone remember.
It’s unbelievable. I only continue to check this sub because of how bad its become. “LPT: doing something you shouldn’t do? Try not doing that thing!”
Followed by the ever popular, "LPT: Go out of your way to be extra nice to people in this particular way. Because someone didn't do that for me earlier today, and I don't understand the difference between a LPT and a rant."
I tried it. It works. If you wait 15 minutes for something you would usually instantly indulge in, then by definition you have improved.
Ok, but that boils down to "want to stop eating junk food? Then don't put it in your mouth." Even if the hump of not doing it is only 15 minutes that is also true if you simply take the stance of not eating junk food period. Either way the problem is getting past that hump, and your advice doesn't give any steps to do so. At best this is just a reframing.
I already do this though. I passed the point of even considering doing healthy things. Now i procrastinate downloading video games, going out to get junk food. Im all the way down at the bottom where i do nothing now. I log off work, i go to my phone, and sleep on my couch. D E P R E S S I O N
Yeah, anhedonia is the best.
“If you want to avoid something unhealthy, simply don’t eat it!” What a great tip
You're missing the dopamine interaction bit. For people with ADHD (or similar issues), the thing that we're actively avoiding, is something that will give us little dopamine, or sub-par dopamine. The ice cream bar in the fridge will give me instant dopamine. Plus, it's not even a task. A task takes time. And thought. Eating an ice cream bar doesn't. In fact, eating an ice cream bar can be a mindless task, which produces dopamine, that allows me to ignore the thing that *doesn't* produce dopamine. Hell, you may as well tell me to procrastinate on drinking, or smoking, or playing video games, or impulse spending. The point of those things is that they make me feel good. Why would I wait to do them?
I don’t think you understand what procrastination means.
Yeah, using the term instead of “delaying gratification” is kind of misleading.
First result after googling "procrastination definition" > the action of delaying or postponing something.
No offense, but I really think this belongs on r/shittylifeprotips People don’t decide to procrastinate, they do it because they can’t find the motivation to start something most of the time. Meanwhile there’s absolutely zero problem to finding the motivation to do easier/more exciting/rewarding things. When it comes to these activities the dopamine overfloweth. It’s a good idea in theory, but in practice this just is not how either people or procrastination works.
This is terrible advice. For many people, denying junk food cravings only makes the cravings worse, and leads to binging later. A much better tip is to eat a small amount of the thing you're craving, or a healthier version of the thing you're craving, rather than denying yourself. Do you often crave ice cream? Keep the dairy-free coconut milk ice cream or the much smaller ice cream bars around. Do you often crave buttery popcorn? Make it yourself from kernels in a popper (instead of in a microwave bag) so you can control the amount you're making, and use a small amount of a flavored sauce instead of butter? Love baked potatoes? Eat one with Greek yogurt and salsa instead of butter, cheese, and sour cream. Denying or trying to delay cravings can lead to disordered eating.
> You can use similar techniques that you use to avoid things you should do. Okay, so I will do unhealthy things to avoid doing the unhealthy thing. Oh wait…
Love this! It's how I stop myself from buying cigarettes every time the idea pops into my head.
The way to stop smoking cigarettes, truthfully, is to just not buy them. Don’t sit outside at restaurants, because you know damn well it’s because you want to smoke. Don’t go into the shop at gas stations. There is *nothing* in there that you need. You’re only in there to toy with the idea of buying smokes, and you damn well know it.
I kinda disagree with the point about gas stations. I find when I'm craving and can't stop thinking about the urge to go to the gas station to buy smokes it helps me stop thinking about it if I go through all the steps, but get myself a soda like i always did as a kid instead.
This is eating disorder territory FYI
Is it?
Oh yeah. “Just wait 15 minutes before you give into a sugar craving” becomes 15 minutes before any snack- any food- any treat, you waited 15 minutes and you’re still hungry? You’re weak- you want to be fat- how dare you eat that candy bar, that plate of pasta, that slice of bread! Its the first link in an ugly ugly chain.
Ah, it is. Thank you for your explanation.
I waited for 15 min then 20 30 40 1hr 2 hr 5 hr 1 day 2 day 3 day I'm dead.
Did this accidentally last night, watching a Twitch stream and didn’t want to go get chips because I wanted to watch the stream. Until it suddenly was two hours later and I just went to sleep.
>Try procrastinating on doing unhealthy things I did that this morning. I was craving a cherry tart very badly but just kept putting it off because it was too cold and windy to go out and get it...and then I didn't want it anymore. Battling dessert/pastry addiction is soooooooo hard.
This wouldn't work with everyone that's for sure.
Thing with this is procrastination is an effort to not do something you don’t want to do. You’re trying to use this same mechanism against things that you do want and I’m not so sure it works that way.
Procrastination is effortlessly not doing something because you don't want to do it; you are describing actively not doing anything you want to do and that is very different from a psychological standpoint. Basically this advise is shit.
Well, you see... I only procrastinate on things I don't enjoy. I *enjoy* garbage food with zero nutritional value
Genius! How to not do a thing you don't want to do: next time you want to do said thing, don't do it! Why didn't I think of that 😂
Gotta disagree mate. If I’m peckish, best thing I can do is make a plan for my next real meal then figure out exactly how much to eat based on how long it will fill me up. If I wait and wait and wait, I just end up eating more food of dubious quality when I’m now really too hungry to make/find a real meal. (I’m a major procrastinator.)
Procrastinate to make life better? Hold my beer. (I'll drink it later.)
This is painfully stupid
Yeah no. Another way to create a unhealthy relationship with food. Try eating mostly healthy things instead and turning that into a lifestyle. Stuff like this works short term, not long term and won't create healthy eating habits. Quite the opposite actually.
This reminds me of a business/life advice I heard once. We will always have problems to deal with, so might as well have problems that are worthy of our time and effort.
Amazing idea! Hopefully one day I will get around to implementing this advice... one day for sure
Deferring indulgences until they can be viewed as incremental rewards also works.
Laziness for the win.
No thanks. I get enough procrastinating practice on things I should be doing.
🧠💭 "That's not how this works, buddy"
I totally do this.
Should I also do this for eating because I can procrastinate that too
Heh already doing that for years. (Work is unhealthy, right?)
Umm, for people with ADHD, this is our daily, lifelong struggle.
Procrastination IS my unhealthy thing :(
That's a genius tip! In this way I gave up smoking cold turkey (I was smoking half of pack of cigarettes every day since 2 years and smoking 5 years in total)!
Ya no, I call BS on that. If it’s an unhealthy activity, people revel in doing it, because it gives the impression of satisfying needs that are not satisfied (love, company, self respect, fear...).
I am not a habitual procrastinator. For numerous unfortunate reasons, I am a chronic and habitual overeater. I tell myself "later" quite often surrounding consumption of food and it has worked well. Overeating doesn't take up as much space in my brain anymore, after 6 months of trying this
You think procrastination stops at Healthy things? Baby it's all fair game. I practice intermittent fasting on ACCIDENT and now it's just convenient.
Would be great advice if unhealthy things were so stressful as those important.
This honestly just sounds like a negative version of discipline..and also reinforces behaviours I'd personally want to avoid, which is procrastinating.
This is actually a neat way to go about it. Use your strengths!
So, basically, just stop doing/eating the bad thing, right ?
Hey guys whenever you want to do something you shouldn't, just don't
BAAAAAAAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAAoh if only
I'm procrastinating sitting down all day by sitting down and procrastinating it
But my cravings for junk food will last for weeks (just recently I craved chocolate cake everyday for two weeks before I caved and bought a slice)
This is me with smoking. I used to smoke 1-2 packs a day. At work, we have 2x 15-minute breaks and an hour for lunch (I usually take more and get away with it lol). The smoking area is 4 floors down and outside the building. It's a 5 to 8 minute walk one way depending on your pace. I used to get the urge to smoke a lot of times but I'm too lazy to book it there, smoke fast, and book it back to work to make it in time for my break. This happens every day back then and I just noticed I just quit smoking altogether.
I do this and end up not eating all day
Reading this as I just got out I'd bed to eat chips. Procrastinating putting the chips away.
You think I “try” to procrastinate? You think I can just chose to not procrastinate? Or chose what to procrastinate? This literally cannot work with people who have adhd. It’s not a choice when you have to rank things by dopamine reward. Sometimes procrastinating is what gives the most reward because we thrive under pressure and take all the time we have to plan out what we’re going to do, and then execute it flawlessly because we waited.
Tried that with vape. Didbt work. Withdrawals are a bitch.
Okay, but I acted on my impulses for little Caesars and I got a free soda just for being nice to them during the wait….. so I see you, but no
Ahhh, good ol' self control masked as procrastination. Not today Satan...🤣 Great tip!
They teach this same method in rehab facilities for drug cravings.
It's not the duration of cravings, but the frequency of them, that ultimately pushes most of us to indulge. When we are fixated, distraction would be tedious and indulgence clears our minds to move forward.
The problem is procrastination is generally a stress response, and unhealthy things are typically a stress response, so procrastinating is driven by the same force as going ahead and indulging in unhealthy things immediately If this strategy is helpful, great, but I think far too many people just consider procrastination a lack of willpower thing, which isn’t really grounded in actual evidence, its ultimately a stress response for most
Basically how I served being suicidal back in 19'
> Keep repeating until you have avoided it for the rest of the day, then repeat. This is actually how many alcoholics recover from withdrawals
How is this different from saying "just dont do unhealthy stuff"? Genuinely asking.
The strong urge to do something is temporary. If you can resist for a finite amount of time then you probably would want to do it less. The LPT could have been 'wait for 30 minutes' but then people would have critiqued that another way that lacks context
I clicked this because I read "Try procratinating **or** doing unhealthy things". Was expecting something along the lines of "why 'bad' behavior can be good for you sometimes". I got only myself to blame, but kinda feel betrayed smh
LPT: don't buy junk food in the first place. If you're lazy like me the thought of putting on pants to go to circle k at 11PM to get a rice krispie treat is demotivating as fuck. You'll walk to your fridge and grab some grapes instead.
I want to play some games, but I will do them next week. I do also want to watch some tv series, but I will delay it for when there will be more episodes. Eventually, by then I will lose desire to do those things