# Do you procrastinate?



## easyrider (Oct 24, 2020)

I do....Man sometimes I find it really hard to get going...once going I can sink hours into creating music...but more often than not I procrastinate ....


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## d.healey (Oct 24, 2020)

That's why I'm here instead of doing something useful.


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## JonS (Oct 24, 2020)

easyrider said:


> I do....Man sometimes I find it really hard to get going...once going I can sink hours into creating music...but more often than not I procrastinate ....


When one is writing for film and tv there’s no time to procrastinate. There’s not even enough hours in a day.


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## Vonk (Oct 24, 2020)

Interesting question. Not sure what I think. I'll get back to you.


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## d.healey (Oct 24, 2020)




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## Locks (Oct 24, 2020)

easyrider said:


> I do....Man sometimes I find it really hard to get going...once going I can sink hours into creating music...but more often than not I procrastinate ....



Literally everyone posting on VI Control is procrastinating.


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## shponglefan (Oct 24, 2020)

Definitely guilty of procrastination. Though when I want a shot of motivation, I just read *The War of Art* or its shorter companion book *Do the Work*.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Oct 24, 2020)

I'll let you know later.


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## lumcas (Oct 24, 2020)

Yes, right now I do. Thanks for asking.


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## easyrider (Oct 25, 2020)

I’m glad I’m not alone


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## JonS (Oct 25, 2020)

d.healey said:


>



Realize when Tom talks about procrastination he is not procrastinating at all but actually working on the project mentally. That’s not procrastination, he’s doing the work. Procrastination is about not doing the work so this video doesn’t address it other than to say don’t procrastinate as there is never enough time, and in this regard he is completely right. There’s never enough hours in the day to get done what you want on a project so you just roll up your sleeves and do the best you can and be extremely efficient.


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## chocobitz825 (Oct 25, 2020)

Religiously


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## Bluemount Score (Oct 25, 2020)

Yes, right now


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## easyrider (Oct 25, 2020)

I’m procrastinating now too...


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## lumcas (Oct 25, 2020)

easyrider said:


> I’m procrastinating now too...


Welcome to the club! Such an interesting and fruitful thread, right?


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## Rodney Money (Oct 25, 2020)

I had work to do, brought my studio computer home Thursday to set it up that night, waited until Sunday afternoon just to realize I forgot the chord that connects to my monitor, so I can pack everything up Monday morning and take it back to work. Wow, I was so productive.


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## JonS (Oct 25, 2020)

Because writing for film and tv is so intensive, I think it's important for downtime between projects. Everyone needs to replenish their health and rejuvenate themselves for the next big push. I do not feel that this kind of healthy and necessary downtime is procrastination at all. Procrastination is putting off doing something necessary, and I feel rebuilding oneself for the next project as a necessary phase.


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## easyrider (Oct 25, 2020)

lumcas said:


> Welcome to the club! Such an interesting and fruitful thread, right?



its for sloths


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## NekujaK (Oct 25, 2020)

This delightful animation vividly and humorously illustrates my typical behavior pattern... for doing homework when I was in school, for practicing the piano when I was studying music, composing now, doing chores around the house, and even doing regular work for my job. I've honed procrastination to art!


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## nspaas (Oct 25, 2020)

Only when I get around to it....


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## Daniel James (Oct 25, 2020)

I'm here aren't I? 😂


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## Saxer (Oct 25, 2020)

I bet this forum web site was originally created while a scoring project was waiting.


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## MartinH. (Oct 25, 2020)

Who was that one person who clicked "no"??? Either stop lying or teach us! xD


I stumbled over this yesterday and thought maybe it speaks to someone here:







I don't have an ADHD diagnosis, but what she says sounds familiar.


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## Fredeke (Oct 26, 2020)

I am doing that right now.


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## Rob (Oct 26, 2020)

Tim Urban's Ted talk on procrastination is fun..


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## Mark Kouznetsov (Oct 26, 2020)

Yes, but I've found out for me, that the more often I write, the easier it is not to stop, so I do it every day. If I take a day off it's way too hard to return to work and it's far too tempting to take another day off. And then another. But if I do write every day, it's so much easier to do it non-stop.


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## ThomasNL (Oct 26, 2020)

A big step leap in productivity for me is the app "cold turkey". Will block every website or software in any way that you like. Also got a similar app for my phone. Of course there will always be ways to procrastinate but at least i don't waste complete days anymore


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## method1 (Oct 26, 2020)

When it comes to music, no. 
But there are several other areas in my life where procrastination is a problem!


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## Gauss (Oct 26, 2020)

Of course no. Never.
Oh look... Another Cracking the Cryptic video!


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## NekujaK (Oct 26, 2020)

In some situations, procrastination can be viewed in a positive light. Here's what I mean...

Whenever I'm under a deadline, I often procrastinate right up until the very last minute and then work like a madman to get the project done. I used to hate myself and be very self-critical every time I'd go through these procrastination/work cycles. Then I happened to mention this to a good friend who is a high-level people manager, and his response was simply that I needed the challenge. This really surprised me because I had always viewed procrastination as nothing more than lazy work avoidance, which is why I hated myself for it. But my friend's response opened my mind to a whole new viewpoint - one that's considerably more positive.

When I leave projects to the last minute, I end up putting myself in a position where I absolutely have no choice but to dig in and get the work done, and truth be told, I really love that feeling - I totally thrive on the urgency and completely throw myself into the work to the exclusion of all else - even sleep. And I don't mind. At that point, it doesn't feel like work. It feels like I'm on a mission, and all my faculties are focused and engaged on the task at hand.

I've been doing this all my life, but this new perspective lets me enjoy the procrastination without beating myself up over it, and I'm mentally prepared for the big last minute work crunch. Because apparently, I need the challenge.


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## pixel (Oct 26, 2020)

I procrastinate a lot. After I reached my 30s, procrastination became more and more 'intensive'. When I don't feel inspiration then I'm not even opening a DAW. 
Fortunately, I have that thing that I can procrastinate a lot and keep work for "the last minute" but then, when I start to work, I'm very fast and I never reached the deadline. 
I'm pretty sure that this is common for many of us. Some cat syndrome or what?


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## Living Fossil (Oct 26, 2020)

The most dangerous (and sometimes even career affecting) form of procrastination comes in form of working very hard, but with the wrong focus. Being busy can distract you from realizing that you're avoiding the most relevant things.

It can be a pop producer who instead of finishing a great song starts working on two other songs.
Or a composer who instead of writing a piece that puts him out of his comfort zone writes a lot of pieces, but irrelevant ones.
Or a sound engineer who instead of looking for clients looks for the best sounding cable. 
Etc. hyperactively procrastinating can be much worse than giving the brain some time to think about things.


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## Fredeke (Oct 26, 2020)

pixel said:


> I procrastinate a lot. After I reached my 30s, procrastination became more and more 'intensive'. When I don't feel inspiration then I'm not even opening a DAW.
> Fortunately, I have that thing that I can procrastinate a lot and keep work for "the last minute" but then, when I start to work, I'm very fast and I never reached the deadline.
> I'm pretty sure that this is common for many of us. Some cat syndrome or what?


Getting late on your work gets you an adrenaline rush which you can ride to accomplish miracles. But it only works when you have a deadline. On your own projects, without deadline, you can procrastinate all your life without ever accomplishing anything. Although I found videogames could get me that rush and I could then use it for work, now I am too old to get interested in those, and haven't found a substitute :-/ There's youtube and vi-control addiction, of course, but they give you dopamine instead of adrenaline, and that's no good for anything.


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## Loïc D (Oct 26, 2020)

I don’t really want to think about it now.
I’ll let you know when I’m in panic.


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## pixel (Oct 26, 2020)

Fredeke said:


> Getting late on your work gets you an adrenaline rush which you can ride to accomplish miracles. But it only works when you have a deadline. On your own projects, without deadline, you can procrastinate all your life without ever accomplishing anything. Although I found videogames could get me that rush and I could then use it for work, now I am too old to get interested in those, and haven't found a substitute :-/ There's youtube and vi-control addiction, of course, but they give you dopamine instead of adrenaline, and that's no good for anything.


Oh yes. Making my own music became very slow. Sometimes for months I'm not releasing anything. Now my audience is absolutely gone thanks to different priorities in life so it's also "helping" procrastination as I'm doing it just for myself and few friends.
In my 20s I had a lot of adrenaline rush. Now like you I need to search for new sources. I hope that video games will still work for me because sound for games is my latest career destination  

I never look that much but I remember that I read that burn out is more and more common with age (well, most of music bands have their best times in their 20s). I suppose that procrastination and getting burned out and close to each other.


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## Fredeke (Oct 27, 2020)

pixel said:


> Oh yes. Making my own music became very slow. Sometimes for months I'm not releasing anything. Now my audience is absolutely gone thanks to different priorities in life so it's also "helping" procrastination as I'm doing it just for myself and few friends.
> In my 20s I had a lot of adrenaline rush. Now like you I need to search for new sources. I hope that video games will still work for me because sound for games is my latest career destination
> 
> I never look that much but I remember that I read that burn out is more and more common with age (well, most of music bands have their best times in their 20s). I suppose that procrastination and getting burned out and close to each other.


Well, counting on the adrenaline rush was only a trick to begin with. A reliable alternative would be discipline I suppose. I'm contending with that now.


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## MartinH. (Oct 27, 2020)

Fredeke said:


> A reliable alternative would be discipline I suppose. I'm contending with that now.



Reminds me of this:


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## mscp (Oct 27, 2020)

JonS said:


> When one is writing for film and tv there’s no time to procrastinate. There’s not even enough hours in a day.



Major generalisation.

To work in this field and also have a life, you must be extremely organised and know which battles to pick though.


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## joed (Oct 27, 2020)

One of the only things i'd say i do at a professional level is procrastinate.


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## Fredeke (Oct 27, 2020)

I just decided to rewatch Total Recall right now.


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## el-bo (Oct 27, 2020)

MartinH. said:


> Reminds me of this:




Hmmm...A few big flaws to that video, imo.


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## JonS (Oct 27, 2020)

Phil81 said:


> Major generalisation.
> 
> To work in this field and also have a life, you must be extremely organised and know which battles to pick though.


I’m used to writing ✍ 6-8 minutes of original music a day scored to picture by myself. That doesn’t leave much time to do anything else especially when I don’t have a team of composer assistants under me and I’m also doing all the spotting, orchestration, instrument performances, recording, mixing, mastering and ftp uploading. So from my experience, I wasn’t generalizing. Being extremely efficient and organized is a given in this business. It is not uncommon for me to have to write 42 minutes of music in 6-7 days. Good luck finding time to have a life outside this if you are doing this by yourself. Some of my best ideas came to me when I was in the shower or walking my dogs, so I found out that there was almost no downtime when under these kinds of demanding productions.


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## MartinH. (Oct 27, 2020)

el-bo said:


> Hmmm...A few big flaws to that video, imo.



I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on it! 




JonS said:


> It is not uncommon for me to have to write 42 minutes of music in 6-7 days. Good luck finding time to have a life outside this if you are doing this by yourself.



Jesus! How do you not burn out at that pace?


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## JonS (Oct 27, 2020)

MartinH. said:


> I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on it!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


22 Episodes later demands massive downtime. No doubt I am wiped out after a season and need to recharge after writing over 15 hours of original music to picture. But you gotta finish each season first before you get that break.

To be able to have a fuller more balanced life one needs a large staff, but then that implies you are getting paid a lot of money or you can’t afford help.

I think if you saw how many hours the top A-list composers put in it’s an extremely demanding career.

Having your data continuously backed up today is beyond critical too. If one’s main computer goes down this can be extremely problematic in the middle of a project.


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## youngpokie (Oct 27, 2020)

I found this article illuminating






Why You Procrastinate (It Has Nothing to Do With Self-Control) - The New York Times (nytimes.com)


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## sinkd (Oct 27, 2020)

Sorry I didn't respond when I first saw this thread. But yes. The less time you have to do some things, the less time they take to finish.


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## Romy Schmidt (Oct 27, 2020)

easyrider said:


> I do....Man sometimes I find it really hard to get going...once going I can sink hours into creating music...but more often than not I procrastinate ....



I feel sorry for you. Are there more men in your family with prostate problems?


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## mscp (Oct 27, 2020)

JonS said:


> I’m used to writing ✍ 6-8 minutes of original music a day scored to picture by myself. That doesn’t leave much time to do anything else especially when I don’t have a team of composer assistants under me and I’m also doing all the spotting, orchestration, instrument performances, recording, mixing, mastering and ftp uploading. So from my experience, I wasn’t generalizing. Being extremely efficient and organized is a given in this business. It is not uncommon for me to have to write 42 minutes of music in 6-7 days. Good luck finding time to have a life outside this if you are doing this by yourself. Some of my best ideas came to me when I was in the shower or walking my dogs, so I found out that there was almost no downtime when under these kinds of demanding productions.


“From my experience, I wasn’t generalising”. That’s my entire point. Your experience is your experience. Singular. Generalisations come when we tend to see something as a whole based on how it works in our world. I’ve met people with similar work schedules like you (huge “ish”), like mine, crazy mad schedules with and without assistants, and a lot of those who seem to push their work back to the last minute simply because they can (and they’re also working by themselves). We’re all different in one way or the other. It really depends on a variety of variables that life throws at us.

Yes - the perks of this job is the fact ideas can appear anywhere, anytime to rescue us.


I also generalised a bit when I implied that being extremely organised is the key to not running a chaotic life - if I think a bit deeper about it.


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## mscp (Oct 27, 2020)

Locks said:


> Literally everyone posting on VI Control is procrastinating.



Guilty. I need to get electroshocked every time I come to VIC.


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## ReleaseCandidate (Oct 27, 2020)

sinkd said:


> The less time you have to do some things, the less time they take to finish.



Yes, that's Parkinson's Law. 








Parkinson's law - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


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## el-bo (Nov 1, 2020)

> el-bo said:
> Hmmm...A few big flaws to that video, imo.






MartinH. said:


> I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on it!



Sure! Although my thoughts on this are just my opinion. Different folks will 'vibe' with different advice. Whatever works.

For me, however, I think this video is a little short-sighted.

In terms of actual flaws, the lock on that box can be reset by simply removing the battery from the timer. While they may have changed this recently, I'm doubtful. I assume it has to be there as a failsafe mechanism. As a symbolic gesture, one might as well put the 'offending' article in a plastic bag and use the timer function on their phone. A lot cheaper 

The bigger problem is that nothing is really gained by avoidance of triggers. The inability to resist temptation can be both a self-control/self-discipline issue, and a much deeper issue related to addiction i.e discomfort avoidance (That's probably a whole thread's worth, to itself). Either way, removing triggers/temptations will not 'cure' these issues any more than avoiding climbing ladders will cure someone of a fear of heights. 

Even if it were the case that removing triggers and temptations could be helpful, the extent to which we can control our environment is very limited. Unless you live on your own and are an agoraphobic hermit who never leaves the house (Seemingly possible, these days, thanks to a plethora of home-delivery options), then there is at least a glimmer of a chance. However, the minute that one needs to leave that environment, all illusion of control completely disappears. Think of the example of starting a new diet. Common advice is that if you don't have tempting foods in the house then you won't be able to eat them. While this can definitely help with those momentary and fleeting cravings, it does nothing to help prepare someone for the moment that leaving the house becomes an inevitability. 

I have actually been dealing with this myself, this last week. Been experimenting with OMAD (One Meal A Day). If I lived alone, it would be possible to donate all stored food items and call Uber-eats for that one meal to be delivered. Of course, in reality, I can't afford restaurant food everyday. Nor would I want to eat it from a health point-of-view. On the contrary: I share a flat (and therefore a kitchen) with three others. Food is being prepared multiple times-a-day. I don't have to eat it, but I have to at least deal with the smell of cooking most of the day. No way I can lock that all away in a timed box  And if I could? I'd still have to deal with multiple temptations as soon as I left the flat. In the video he advises taking a different route to avoid the bakery. There isn't a route that I can take, in any direction, where I don't encounter multiple opportunities to eat. And after twenty-three hours of fasting, that definitely presents a challenge 

The avoidance of triggers isn't the only mis-step taken by this video's creator (Again, imo). When he does mention the idea of self-discipline and habits, he only does so in the sense of diminishing power, willpower fatigue and the breaking of bad habits. Self-control/discipline is like a muscle. It can be trained, and that training will allow it to become stronger. And just like the muscle, the development of self-discipline/control needs resistance and opposing-force to stimuli i.e triggers. Fatigue, at least in the early stages, will indeed be a factor. But eventually, as self-control becomes a habit, that fatigue will diminish. Going from couch-potato to running every day, first thing in the morning, will eventually involve willpower and a lot of muscle-soreness. With training, that muscle soreness will soon give way to movement fluidity. And the positive aspects gained from the initial effort will eventually remove the need for willpower from the equation.

And self-control begets self-control. Being able to be around a gamepad without inevitably losing an entire weekend to 'Fallout' will help build the foundation necessary to be able to eat just one Oreo cookie. But there ain't a lock-box big enough to store the whole world of temptations to which one potentially falls victim.

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I do have more thoughts to share re: the inner dynamic of discipline and possible solutions, but I am increasingly aware of this perhaps being way outside of the purview of this thread. Apologies to the op if that's the case. I did wait a while, to try and distil my thoughts into something more concise, but it's not so easy to do with such a vast topic.

None of these ideas are my own. They are just a distillation and amalgamation of information gleaned in my own search to overcome these issues.

If anyone does object, but you are still interested, I can edit down the post and we can take it to 'pm'.


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## el-bo (Nov 1, 2020)

ReleaseCandidate said:


> Parkinson's Law.



Parkinson's Law - Don't work with children, animals or animal-puppets


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## MartinH. (Nov 1, 2020)

@el-bo: Great post, thank you for the detailed reply! You raise a lot of good points, but I think we came away from that video with slightly different impressions of what the goal is. I try to see all these things as little puzzle pieces, not as catch-all solutions. I don't think he meant it as advice to lock all triggers away, but rather pick your battles better and be concious about willpower not being an immovable constant and putting some thought into shaping your environment (within reasonable limits) to not unneccessarily tempt you away from your goals. I'm a Pepsi/Cola addict, and I simply can't have that stuff in the house, or sooner or later I'll drink it. I find it a lot easier to resist ordering one at a restaurant, when I haven't had it at home in a while. So - anecdotally - removing those triggers from my home makes it much easier for me to resist them outside where I don't have control over my environment.

But I agree that a lot of stuff that applies was left out. The avoidance of discomfort that you mentioned is huge. I think positive beliefs that the willpower you need to exert, to achieve something, will result in positive outcomes, is also a really big deal. Taking your OMAD example, if you really believe it will either make you feel better or help you to lose weight, then you may be able to pull it off in spite of tempting triggers that you can't get away from. But if you try long enough and it _doesn't_ work, then at some point doubts will creep in, the willpower required to keep doing it will increase, and ultimately you'll probably give up thinking "this is stupid". I've tried a bunch of these things too, like a 24h "dopamine fast" (can't recommend), intermittened fasting (didn't work), or doing Keto for months (that worked and I'd do it again). Willpower is so much less of a problem for me, when I believe the result to be worth it. But e.g. a couple years ago I managed to do daily excercise for about 1 or 2 months, and neither did I lose weight, nor did I feel better. It made excercising slightly easier towards the end, but I still hated it, and had no motivation to keep going and I'm now less motivated to even try again than I was before trying to build that habbit.

I recently made a weight-loss bet with a friend, to help motivate us both. At a certain day whoever of us has lost a higher percentage of body weight since the start of the bet, will get a steam gift card from the other one as a price. I'm in the lead, but since he isn't making any progress, I'm not as motivated to push harder for a victory. I had hoped that to be a little more competitive, but at least it got me on a slightly better trajectory.




el-bo said:


> I do have more thoughts to share re: the inner dynamic of discipline and possible solutions, but I am increasingly aware of this perhaps being way outside of the purview of this thread.



I'd be surprised if @easyrider has any objections against derailing a thread about procrastination :D. I'd love to hear your thoughts on possible solutions and I'm sure there are a few others here as well.


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