Motivation and Procrastination

Nick Feamster and Alex GrayCollege of Computing

Georgia Institute of Technology

Motivation

• The Ph.D. is a long process

• It requires tenacity– It is more like a marathon than a sprint

• It is natural at times to lose excitement about a problem, your work, etc.– The key is to make continual progress,

punctuated by breaks at the appropriate times (and of the appropriate lengths)

Tips for Staying Motivated

• Work efficiently– An overworked brain cannot be creative– Pace yourself. Do not burn out

• Take personal time• Take thinking time• Take slack time (plan this)

• ???

Causes of Procrastination

• Anxiety

• Fear of failure

• Lack of energy

• Lack of focus

• Indecision

Anxiety about Complexity

• Problem: The task feels too complicated, and you don’t know where/how to start

• Solution: Break task into small chunks– Multi-resolution chunks are good. Things that can be

done:• Between activities/mtgs (don’t waste “gap time”)• By lunchtime• By the end of the day• By the end of the week

– Example: Write one (sub)section of a paper by the end of the day. Write a paragraph by lunch

– Making use of small time blocks (a productivity tool) goes hand-in-hand with this tactic

Anxiety about Unpleasant-ness

• Problem: The task is not pleasant. It requires something you’d rather avoid (“real work”, confrontation, etc.)

• Solution: Consider the (potentially disastrous) implications of putting it off– If possible, again, break the task up into

smaller chunks– You may discover that the task is more

palatable in tidbits

Fear of Failure

• Problem: You fear that once you complete something, it will not be “good enough”

• Solution: Get started– “Plan to throw one away.” – Fred Brooks– Apply the 80/20 rule

• Perfection is rarely attainable• Fortunately, it is also rarely necessary

Lack of Energy

• Problem: Feeling too lethargic to accomplish any major tasks

• Solution: Stay rested. Work efficiently.– Different times of day will be better than

others for certain types of work. Recognize and organize

– Take naps

Lack of Focus

• Problem: You are easily distracted (phone calls, email, IM, RSS, Facebook, officemates, etc.)

• Solution: Create time blocks with no distractions– Don’t check email, etc. first thing. Do something

worthwhile first– Try to arrange some aspects of your work so that you

can work without Internet connectivity• (It’s possible. People work on planes, etc.)

– Make lists of manageable tasks to accomplish• Work on them in small chunks (crawl, walk, run)

– Limit multitasking

Indecision and Lack of Prioritization

• Problem: You can’t decide where to get started, what’s important, etc.

• Solution: Goal setting, breaking tasks into manageable chunks, etc.– Do the most important task first.

Do it now.– Never lose sight of your ultimate goals– Continually ask yourself whether the task you

are about to perform will help you get there

Structured Procrastination• Ever notice that you’re most productive when you are at your

busiest?

• Problem: Parkinson’s Law– “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”

• Solution: Put off the “not important” tasks until they become urgent. This leaves time for the important, non-urgent tasks (e.g., your research)

• Example: If a homework assignment is due at the end of the day, don’t start it at 9 a.m.

• Note: This method requires discipline. It’s a very calculated way to put things off. It does not mean putting everything off.

Other Procrastination Hacks

• Indefinite procrastination– Some problems simply go away if you ignore them

(someone else can answer the email)

• Public pressure– If you tell other people you are going to do something,

you are now accountable

• Rewards– “After I finish this experiment, I will get a coffee. (and

not before)”

Procrastination Hacks

• Burst+Break – Good ideas often come quickly. They don’t require

“slogging”, so much as relatively short bursts of extreme creativity.

– The same can be said of many aspects of productivity (e.g., coding, paper writing, etc.)

– Your brain will work in the “background” during breaks (including sleep!)

• Delegate– If it’s unpleasant and not in your “top k” goals, you

might be best off entrusting the job to someone else

Reading: A Scientific Theory for Procrastination

• Bender et al., “Scheduling Algorithms for Procrastinators”

• Key results– For online scheduling, there exist adversaries

that force procrastinators to miss due dates– Stretch = flow time/(due date – release time)– “Hit the highest nail” has arbitrary interval

stretch

Productive Procrastination

• If you must procrastinate, at least do something useful

• Options– Personal correspondence– Mundane tasks: Paying bills, etc.– Learn: Branch out into a new area (e.g., read

an article about physics, politics, etc.)• You will become familiar with “thesis avoidance”

later in your career

Avoiding Having to Motivate Yourself

• Passion– Make sure that you are spending a significant

fraction of your time doing something you want to be doing

• Habits– Put structure around your day– Have a productive routing

Ask “Why”?

• Why are you doing this in the first place? – If you can’t figure out why you are doing it, it

might not even be worth doing

• Why are you having trouble working?– Will help you isolate the source of the problem

and fix it– Anxiety, fear of failure, etc.

Build Momentum with Small Steps

• Work on doing something for five minutes

• Develop a plan early in the day

• Break the problem into “next steps”

Consider Your Environment

• Get a partner who will also work with you– Company– Competition/guilt– Accountability

• Get the right tools for the job

References

• “11 Causes and Cures for Procrastination” http://johnplaceonline.com/stress-management/11-causes-and-cures-for-procrastination/

• “Overcome procrastination once and for all” http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/overcome-procrastination-once-and-for-all.html

• “Structured Procrastination”http://www.structuredprocrastination.com/

• “Thirteen tricks to motivate yourself”http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/thirteen-tricks-to-motivate-yourself.html