Comments for Structured Procrastination Blog

Comment on To-Do Lists by Stef

Stef — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 05:08:51 +0000

I was actually laughing out loud as I read this! It reminded me of a friend getting ahold of my to-do list and finding it hilarious that I had written ‘eat breakfast’ at the top of it. We still laugh about it. I slept in today….now it’s 1am….and after reading this post I realize perhaps I have to go even further than placing ‘eating breakfast’ at the top of the list and start with ‘don’t go back to sleep’. I read your ‘Structured Procrastination’ years ago (while procrastinating by googling ‘procrastination’) and I’m delighted that this time I went a little further and found your blog. Thanks!

Comment on To-Do Lists by Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 05:13:33 +0000

To do lists can be a great form of breaking procrastination if used properly. Another important thing is that the items on the list should be discreet. Eg one of your items was “Dummett Review”. I would have broken it up into “Create Overview of Review”, “First Draft of Review” etc so that you have definite items you know when you’ve finished. Otherwise it is easy to do a lot of work but not quite be able to tick items off yet and that can be a real hit to motivation.

Comment on To-Do Lists by fd

fd — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:29:50 +0000

thank you for writing these blogs every now and then. I read them when the structure has gone from my procrastination. They’re the only self-help tool that doesn’t make me feel like I’m reading advice from aliens. I’m going to try out your get up in the morning to-do list.

The only hitch in my structured procrastinator life has been that the guilt that I used to deal with so well one day turned into an anxiety disorder, but I’ve learned that despite that I cannot become anything other than a procrastinator. I just have to work my pyramids a bit better…

Comment on …..Structured procrastination…..I find it annoying! by JJ

JJ — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:21:00 +0000

I am a structured procrastinator. Get alot of work done, always busy, but am always late. I have come to hate my life so much that I constantly think about letting everything go and just not doing anything. Of course right now I am procrastinating by not doing my overdue work and instead reading about my problem.

I appreciate John Perry’s essay because it a least gives me the idea of what is really happening and how I can avoid it. I would always say “why am I always working, but I am always late? All these important stuff I need to do.” I did realize that it wasn’t procrastination because I wasnt sitting around. The first step in solving a problem is understanding the problem. I think John Perry gave me the understanding to my problem. Now its on me to solve it.

Comment on …..Structured procrastination…..I find it annoying! by Wendy

Wendy — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:21:00 +0000

Loved the essay on structured procrastination!

This is the best!

I am definitely one and had being using the structured approach in an ad hoc way.

Well get at it for today’s proposal…after I put the turkey in!

Thanks so much!

Comment on Email by Home Elliptical

Home Elliptical — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:54:34 +0000

Strongly suggest adding a “google+” button for the blog!

[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ’0 which is not a hashcash value.

Comment on I Hate Young People by John Perry

John Perry — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:27:46 +0000

Will be out next Fall. Watch this site for an announcement. Ig-Nobel was just for the essay. jp

Comment on …..Structured procrastination…..I find it annoying! by Guest

Guest — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:55:54 +0000

Yeah, but, Janice, you should really clean your bathroom more often!
(This comes from somebody with one of the cleanest bathrooms around, because, you know, I like to clean in order to, well, avoid writing the next article and/or my dissertation…)

Prof. Perry, I will certainly try your “structured procrastination” approach and as a matter of fact, having lived and “worked” based on similar thoughts for the past years is probably what earned me my reputation as somebody who’s in control of all her tasks and projects. (When really I’ve been struggling getting this goddamn dissertation done for 6 years now…)

Comment on A Short History of Typing: A Tribute to Steve Jobs by Lee Blankenship-Brown

Lee Blankenship-Brown — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:48:42 +0000

>>>My typewriter “never let me down; never crashed; never interrupted me in the middle of an essay to tell me I needed to update software; never became obsolete because software didn’t work on its operating system, never had any mechanical problems at all.”

Here’s an analogous situation from the world of instructional technology.

I began teaching high school math in the 80s using a chalkboard. The board never gave me an error message, never wanted to be updated, and didn’t even quit working in a power failure. The board I used had been installed in 1959 and was still working after a quarter century. Chalk and erasers were cheap and plentiful.

Now I teach by writing on a digital input device connected to a computer which sends the image through a projector. Technological problems that hinder instruction abound. If the computer freezes up and has to be restarted, class slows down. If I accidentally turn off the projector and need to turn it back on, a significant wait is required while the projector goes through cooling down and warming up. I could buy a lifetime supply of chalk for the price of a replacement bulb for the projector. I could buy the whole school a lifetime supply of chalk for the price of a replacement laptop.

Technology does have its advantages. For example, notes can be saved in electronic format to be printed or posted to a web site. Nevertheless, the high tech approach to delivering instruction has a huge cost-to-benefits ratio which few seem to recognize as we continue to pour our resources into more and more electronics devices and the staff to maintain them.

Comment on …..Structured procrastination…..I find it annoying! by Janice

Janice — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 14:33:12 +0000

I am not an academic and I procrastinate. It’s rather a family trait, as my father (he is a retired aero-space engineer) before me is a procrastinator. Well, let me re-phrase…. those around us call us procrastinators but dad and I feel more that we just have our own criteria for prioritization and we each tend to re-order those priorities on our way to the next one. It’s why I’m 10-15 minutes late to work everyday, neglect my blog, don’t get the bills paid on time, haven’t written that next book and am amazed that weeks can go by and I haven’t cleaned the bathroom, yet. But…. I’m okay with that and so is dad.