Start a more important task so you can neglect that and work on the other things you were supposed to do. A sacrificial task, if you will.
I do this. Productive procrastination. The terrible thing is that it works
My place was never as clean as when i was failing school for not submitting stuff that was pretty trivial for my level
Ha! I tend to forget things so I swear I can only ever remember n-1 things. So having one thing to forget helps me remember everything else.
Newton’s first law of motion. Body in motion remains in motion
So cant get stuck if i never sit down, keep on moving. Start in the morning and drop dead in the evening, never sit down too long in the meanwhile.Though yeah probably not that helpful in getting into motion again once stuck. Body in rest remains at rest
Warning: not the healthiest approach
Yeah, my husband is always trying to get me to eat, and I’m like if this train slows down one bit, I’m done for the day. Do you want the laundry folded or not?
My fiance also can’t stop or they lose momentum, so I hand feed them snacks periodically throughout the day so they can keep going and not starve. Dino nuggies, carrot sticks with ranch, diagonally cut sandwich with the crust removed; the works.
That’s beautiful. Truly.
This is how I do it. As soon as I sit down, it’s over. Really annoying when I am working with friends/family who always want to take a lunch break, because they insist I join them and I lose all my steam if I do.
I definitely have this but it falls apart when working on my computer unless theres one really urgent task or a work call. The fact I’m sitting or the waiting for something to load or something gets in the way stops my motion. Do you have any solutions for computer work?
FASTER computer so there are never waiting times! (and tune the hell out of it)
Or just get old and it’ll feel like the computer gets faster.
That doesn’t work if you’re forced to use Azure products.
No idea how they even managed to make an export of a list of 200 users take over a minute.
Watch a show with confident and or flat out deranged (but still motivated/functional) characters.
Wait for code-switching or whatever it is to kick in so you can easily start thinking and acting like said character.
Do the action the way you think they would.
You might have executive dysfunction but Hannibal Lecter sure doesn’t. (Bad example but I’ll leave it because it’s funny)
No joke I would do this to write essays in high school. It made my scores go up if I decided I would write the essay as though I was Cave Johnson
For completing household tasks, I’d recommend deranged characters like from Hazbin Hotel
For completing tasks that might make you anxious, I highly recommend someone who would be bored doing the task but still do it, so go watch The Witcher and then say under your breath “fuck” before doing the now more tedious than anxious task lol
I also really do recommend you choose humorously chaotic or satirical characters for most boring/tedious tasks btw because it makes life so much more entertaining to imagine their commentary about the action or your life in general.
Imagining that a character is talking to you (rather than… possessing you… being played by you?) can also be fun, like hearing Johnny Silverhand give you patronizing and cuss-word riddled but still somewhat motivating pep talk for going outside or writing an email lol
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alright, lets go, i’ll now make pancakes like Luna would.
Do the action the way you think they would.
Wait. Are you suggesting that I just role-play or “play pretend” my way out of distraction by just pretending I’m someone else?
You son of a bitch, I’m in.
You might have executive dysfunction but Hannibal Lecter sure doesn’t.
I mean, he’s got other problems though. This idea has the right spirit but I’m not trading my cards in for that.
No joke I would do this to write essays in high school. It made my scores go up if I decided I would write the essay as though I was Cave Johnson
LMAO
I pretend I’m two hours away from having to be at the airport to take a flight and I haven’t even started packing. Once I’m in that mindset, all the fog lifts, and I can see clearly. Every task is done to completion. I remember where I put (almost) everything. It feels like I’m flying.
Fuck, I’m going to try that. Thanks!
I’ve had too many dreams where I was in that situation, and no matter how many times I did the math in my head I just couldn’t work it out to where I could get to the airport on time.
In real life, I’m neurotic about flights. Like I’ll show up four hours early and still have anxiety until I’m on the plane. So those dreams are just cruel and unnecessary.
Reading your “advice” makes me sick to my stomach, recalling experiences that I never even had and only dreamed of having.
Like it was so bad, it burnt out my anxiety about deadlines and I became so dysfunctional because I just couldn’t care about doing anything on time anymore, the anxiety was so bad that it broke my ability to even care in the first place…
Dang that sucks man. And pretty crazy that it has the opposite effect on you! It’s not intended as any sort of “advice” though. This is just one of the things I do to trick myself into hyper productive mode. It’s amazing what I can accomplish once that last-minute-panic inspiration hits. The hard part for me is breaking through the barriers where that inspiration lies.

I knowingly pick a new side project / fascination to focus on. I’m always forcing myself not to pickup side projects so I can actually finish something, but when struggling to motivate myself at all to get unstuck, I engage in the guilty pleasure of a new sideproject for a day or so to get going.
Weaponized procrastination. Avoid doing the thing you want to do by doing something else.
Just the other day I cleaned most of my apartment because I was not in the headspace to write lore.
Another day I really needed to do laundry, most productive writing day I had in a while.
We call that “productive procrastination.” But I like how you call it weaponized.
Yeah after the first two words I thought this was going to involve knives or guns 😳
Nobody says it cant.
I use to say. My flat is never as clean as when I have to study. I never study as much as when I really have to clean. It never really occurred to me that I can weaponize this. Thanks!
That’s how do most of my tasks.
I read this as “weaponized prostitution” at first and was ready to hear how it works for some people, because it sure as hell didn’t work for me.
I have to have a sacrificial task at work. I can juggle dozens of different projects, but only if I have an annoying one that sits and festers. The only way it will get done is if a different, more annoying, task takes its place.
Putting on my playlist of pirate music.
Broke: “Ugh, I need to sweep, mop, and do the dishes.”
Woke: “ARRR, IT BE TIME TO BE SWABBIN’ THE DECK, YE SCURVY BILGE RAT!! AN’ WASH ALL O’ THE DISHES IN THE GALLEY, OR YE’LL BE WALKIN’ THE PLANK!!”
Edit: Ye asked fer the map to me hidden treasure. Here it be, me hearties!
Link please?
Link?
I have to try this. I’m going to make playlist of sea shanties, Alestorm, and Captain Dan & the Scurvy Crew and move it to the top of my “get stuff done” folder.
I love how the first playlist is basically just the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack, with a healthy dose of Skyrim thrown in.
The music is basically…pirated.Please, link?
Unavoidable timers. For example:
- Devices with low battery and the charger is out of reach.
- Drinking a bunch of water.
- Playing an album with nothing queued afterwards.
Along the same lines: incidental timeboxing. My toaster takes 2 mins, and leaving the kitchen means I’m likely to end up with sad cold toast, so I better stay and deal with some of the kitchen mess in those two minutes. The phrase “if you have time to lean, you have time to clean” has been strangely useful to me.
Allowing things to be partially done, but not in a state where is going to be a big problem. For example, the above kitchen mess.
- A cup and bowl with food left in it will be hard to clean and attracts bugs and grows mold, and that’s a problem.
- An empty but dirty cup and bowl is better but still harder to clean.
- A rinsed cup and bowl filled with water left in the sink is easiest to clean, so that’s the least problematic state to leave it in, and it’s not much harder to do that than it is leaving the food-filled cup and bowl there to begin with.
Hell yea
I kinda do this type of thing.
Chugging a quad shot espresso while saying ‘get up trinity. Get. Up.’ in my head
If you time it right, the anxiety from the caffeine hitting really sells the feeling that a matrix agent is coming to kill you so better get moving.
Where do you get the espresso from when you’re stuck?
I have a simple 5-step plan I’ve used to do this.
- Get old and have a family that always has needs
- Get a shitton of pets too that always have needs
- Go look at the shower plumbing I need to fix
- Go look at my car hovering on jack stands as I wait for parts to come in for the brakes
- I think there’s an old overdue bill sitting somewhere too–
Heyyy today seems like the perfect time to go do that yard work that it’s been too cold for!

are…are you literally me?
you guys are what im desperately trying to avoid. no offense.
To each their own 🍻
You’re missing out, it’s amazing
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Haha I might have ADHD myself but growing up with ADHD parents must be something else
It really is.
I’m 99% positive that my mother has ADHD and my dad is AuDHD. Looking back the clues were… abundant.
My dad has Au, but just mild and it never got in the way of the basic functioning of our family
AFAIK ADHD runs in the family, and autism definitely does …
I’m only gonna say this once
SEEK PROFESSIONAL TREATMENT GET THE FUCK OFF SOCIAL MEDIA
that’s the only thing I know that really works
Not all of us have the privilege of getting actual, good professional help.
Ya, if you have any kind of brainrot habits, scrolling on Lemmy, Instagram, YouTube, etc, stop immediately and getting things done is actually a lot easier. Adding amphetamine salts is also a major game changer.
Adding stims to scrolling increases the number and length of shitpost comments.
Yes, but having a toolbox with shit that works for others might still come in handy, even after a successful therapy.
Autistic burnout happens about 70% less often for me ever since I limited social media time to 30 minutes per day.
Found the therapist…
Haha this looks really sketchy if you just glance at it fast. Haha no I’m not a professional just someone that has recently found the way out.
Heh, I’m just busting chops. Generally, I agree with you, with the caveat that “professionals” are not commodities. The therapist who is perfect for me will probably be terrible for someone else.
I’ll stop there, before my cynicism gets too far out of control. :D
The drugs are important so psychiatrist is my advice
- Snort some meth.
- Put on a kinky BDSM outfit.
- Do the dishes while masturbating.
Do you have a designated dish and pleasure hands?
Scrubber handle insertion no doubt.
“Did you do the dishes?”

I’ll bet porn of this already exists. I’m not going to let you know, but I 1000% will look later.
Do you mean that or are you just procrastinating?
I mean I’m still at work for a few hours so I am definitely procrastinating but only because HR said this was the last straw.
Hats off to you, sir/ma’am
Somehow i can’t wrap my head around number 3, do you wash the dishes with just one hand ?
Could always use one of those remote controlled toys
Sit perfectly still and actively refuse to engage with any tempting distractions until you give up out of boredom and do the thing you need to do
I tried this a few times, but I usually just ended up staring at the wall for several hours
Impressive mental fortitude
Extremely entertaining internal monologue
I read someone say they sit and state at the white ceiling. Just the thought of doing that is enough to get me started.
Staring at the wall has been huge for my productivity.
Although it might work, this would burn so mich mental energy for me
It’s only to be used as a last resort
this is why my game updates on the community are the same game only slightly further along
Intentionally start spiraling to have a panic attack to get me off my ass to do the thing.
Literally just start smacking myself in the face until I do the thing
Uh yeah, I was once far less mentally well than I currently am…
Look, it does work tho(i am definitely not recommending it, it just used to work for me too)
Self induced panic attack to fall asleep. Healthy coping mechanisms ftw!
I picture the most over-achieving, manically driven person I know. Someone whose calendar is booked full half a year in advance from all their hobbies, friends and side-hustles. Then I pretend I’m them, magically teleported into my body, looking at the situation they found themselves in. I comment on the mess in my room, imitating their voice and everything.
Then I say “Well, it is what it is, let’s fix this shit” and get to work.Do they leave your body after cleaning up your mess ? or do they leave and you have to summon them again
Sounds like a reverse tulpa.



















