What I'm Reading...

Paul Graham on per-project procrastination

Paul Graham, writing about How to Do Great Work:

Since there are two senses of starting work — per day and per project — there are also two forms of procrastination. Per-project procrastination is far the more dangerous. You put off starting that ambitious project from year to year because the time isn’t quite right. When you’re procrastinating in units of years, you can get a lot not done.

One reason per-project procrastination is so dangerous is that it usually camouflages itself as work. You’re not just sitting around doing nothing; you’re working industriously on something else. So per-project procrastination doesn’t set off the alarms that per-day procrastination does. You’re too busy to notice it.

The way to beat it is to stop occasionally and ask yourself: Am I working on what I most want to work on?" When you’re young it’s ok if the answer is sometimes no, but this gets increasingly dangerous as you get older.

Paul Graham procrastination great work

Tim Ferriss on being busy

Tim Ferriss:

If you consistently feel the counterproductive need for volume and doing lots of stuff, put these on a Post-it note:

Being busy is a form of laziness—lazy thinking and indiscriminate action.

Being busy is most often used as a guise for avoiding the few critically important but uncomfortable actions.

Tim Ferriss procrastination

Easy Choices, Hard Life

David Heinemeier Hanson on Breaking the inertia of mediocrity:

The sad truth is that most of us are cowards whenever we can be. We usually know what needs to be done, but we shrink from the responsibility to do it. Unless occasion calls upon us without a choice, we’ll find a way around.

Whenever I find myself looking at a coward in the mirror, I remind myself: Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life. Make the hard choices. Even when it’s possible to punt. The inertia of mediocrity will not break unless you break it.

David Heinemeier Hanson DHH decision making Tim Ferriss difficult conversations

It’s not a priority if you don’t do it

From Shane Parrish on LinkedIn:

A lot of people say they want to do something, but they don’t actually want to do it.

Here’s a story.

I have a friend who has told me they wanted to get in shape. He talks about it almost every time I see him. When I ask him what he’s doing, it’s always something new. I’m researching this new Pilates class. I’m trying to find a gym. I’m exploring online options.

When I follow up, it’s there is always a reason that thing didn’t work out and there is a new thing to be excited about. Everyone was in shape at the Pilates place, and I felt like it wasn’t for me … but i found this new thing.

Finally, I just told him that if he doesn’t figure it out, I’m going to send a personal trainer to his house every morning at 5 am and send him the bill. That prompted him to finally get a gym membership. I asked him when he was planning to go, and he said soon, but work is busy. We both know he won’t go regularly. If at all.

There will always be an excuse. There will always be a reason. And so nothing changes, and our friendship is damaged because I pushed to have him do what he said he wanted to do.

There are a few lessons I take from this.

  1. People don’t actually want what they say they want. Wanting something feels better than grinding away to get it. You can’t solve for what other people say they want but don’t actually want.

  2. Fear is an anchor. The fear of looking like an idiot. The fear of looking out of place. The fear of trying to get healthy and not succeeding. The fear of succeeding.

  3. It doesn’t matter what you say; it’s not a priority if you don’t do it. Talking and doing are two different things. You can listen to someone talk. You can drop them off at the gym. But they have to walk through the door and do it.

goals Shane Parrish