from Hacker News

The Art of Not Thinking

by tmatthe on 8/3/20, 4:34 PM with 162 comments

• by darkerside on 8/3/20, 5:25 PM

  If you are in a similar boat, it's likely that when you consider an upcoming dreaded task, there is at least a small part of you that admits the possibility that you will not do the task. And because there is, and because your brain realizes it, it expends mental energy trying to convince you not to do it. Once you are actually doing the task, or it's done, or you realize that you must start doing it immediately, you suddenly find that while plenty of physical energy may be required, there is almost no mental energy required at all.

  A trick I've learned is to lie to yourself. Say you're excited to do it, that you can't wait, and that you enjoy it. Your brain is easily convinced if you're willing to let it be.

  Sometimes this is not the case, because your brain entertains the idea that it can stop doing the activity it doesn't want to do. Once you are able to convince your brain that is not an option, this mental energy is returned to you as well. i.e. Pain is mandatory, but suffering is optional.

• by atdixon on 8/3/20, 7:49 PM

  Similarly I tried to get myself to exercise for years and years.

  I must have discovered the same approach as this author.

  I stopped any kind of thinking about it and focused on observing myself drive to the gym, get in the pool, do the strokes, etc.

  If my verbal ("thinking") centers of my brain needed to say something I would only let them describe what I was doing ("You are driving to the gym", "you are putting your swimsuit on", etc.)

  Never did I let any other "thinking" or "reasoning" enter the picture. It was all observation. I was able to keep an exercise routine for years this way.

  ---

  I think her post fails in the last section "Do the easiest part first". This is too much thinking, reasoning and I think will backfire. She should delete this section. I think this idea is hard for people to understand. You want ZERO REASONING to come into the picture when the time comes, not even a shred. Only pure observation of you doing the task.

• by bonoboTP on 8/4/20, 4:29 AM

  Anything you do consistently for a long time will have to become part of "who you are" not just "what you do". If you can't find a way to make it mesh together with your self conceptualization it won't last.

  You have to come up with a background, a connection to your past and your being, a story that makes sense why this is who you are.

  How this looks can be entirely personal. It may be a rugged individualistic stubbornness story to learn to face adversity, a story of family, about health and treating your body as a temple, or whatever else.

  If you have a stronger competing story for your identity (eg my kind of person doest jog, that's some silly Instagrammer avocado soyboy thing, my kind of person drinks beer and watches TV) then you'll not keep doing it even if you successfully force it for some days or weeks.

  Stories carry and propel us through life to a large extent.

• by ChrisMarshallNY on 8/3/20, 7:31 PM

  Thanks for sharing that Tiffany.

  This has been the way I've worked for decades.

  I've found that stuff gets done, once it becomes habit. It doesn't always become enjoyable, or even effortless, but it does get done.

  There's a saying: "Just for today I will exercise my soul in three ways: I will do somebody a good turn and not get found out. I will do at least two things I don't want to do, as William James suggests, just for exercise."

  I usually have the second part down by 7AM. The first is not always guaranteed, each day, but I pull it off, every now and then.

  Getting Things Done has been my pattern since I was eighteen years old.

  This being HN, I have also learned to "think less" while coding. I've established coding habits; often with the help of LINTers[0], and now produce a lot of good code, at a blistering pace. My designs are almost fluid; often reconfiguring in the middle of implementation, as I take a "JIT" approach to design[1]. That's not something that can be taught. It only comes with a great deal of experience.

  In my experience, the less thought I have to give stuff, the better.

  [0] https://littlegreenviper.com/miscellany/swiftwater/swiftlint...

  [1] https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/evolutionary-design-speci...

• by kanobo on 8/3/20, 5:05 PM

  For the main example given (exercise), I think for people like me there really is no thinking involved. It's purely an emotional aversion to discomfort and disenjoyment of physical activity. I think the better advice is to search for physical hobbies you enjoy rather than to 'just do it' (tm).

• by bingobongo1 on 8/3/20, 9:10 PM

  >After years of feeling guilty about not wanting to do everything...

  Has the author asked themselves why they feel guilt about not wanting to do "everything"?

  Is it possible that the form of discipline being promoted here under the tag "Productivity" is entirely unnecessary for a satisfying human existence, and that it is primarily caused by cultural forces?

  Is it possible that such a focus on this relentless productivity, caused by our society, is related to the feeling of guilt that comes with perceiving oneself as 'undisciplined'?

  Anyone who is commenting on how this opposes the nature of zen or other mindfulness lineages is on the right track and anyone who is still justifying cramming as much activity into every moment of their lives in the name of productivity is doomed to repeatedly feel the guilt and shame that comes along with not living up to these cultural standards.

• by tomxor on 8/3/20, 7:43 PM

  A more specific tactic I have discovered to avoid thinking and start straight away is to make a very quick promise to myself:

  That I can quit as soon as I get too bored or hit a block of some kind - this relieves me of all the concerns that I might need to worry (think) about upfront, I waved those requirements when I allowed myself that quick exit.

  Most of the time you just end up persevering, and due to the nature of these unimportant tasks - not planning just doesn't make any meaningful difference.

• by d--b on 8/3/20, 5:11 PM

  Something also that I noted is that it is somewhat easier to do the task you don't want to do when you're tired / sleep deprived - mostly because effectively, my brain is too tired to argue against doing the thing.

• by karmakaze on 8/3/20, 6:04 PM

  Another great trick is when you don't have the energy to do something, do miscellaneous things only to get ready to do the thing at another time. Once you have the idea that you're explicitly not doing something the prep part is incremental, trivial/negligible units of effort. Often I find once all the prep is done, I'm actually psyched to start and will start on the spot or at the very next opportunity.

• by bearer_token on 8/3/20, 11:23 PM

  “Once you've got a task to do, it's better to do it than live with the fear of it.” -- Logen Ninefingers

  https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/logen-ninefingers#:~:te...

• by chansiky on 8/4/20, 2:08 PM

  Don't you think there's too much thinking involved in an article about not thinking?

  I just watched Joe Rogan's interview of David Goggins[1], and he lives the essence of what this article is trying to express. I think his perspective is far more succinct and sharper, its sort of an anti-motivation motivation. Its definitely worth a watch if anyone is interested.

  [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tSTk1083VY&t=4s

• by shabuta on 8/4/20, 3:55 AM

  My trick I perfected in college is to set my alarm for a couple hours earlier than I would normally wake up and start doing the task right when I wake. My mind isn’t awake enough to come up with any resistance so I start the day with momentum. This worked for studying or projects. It continues on in the work world where if I have tasks I’m low-key avoiding, I’ll set it for first thing in the morning. The more I’m avoiding it, the earlier I have to start in the morning to make sure I tackle it.

• by unabst on 8/3/20, 6:29 PM

  Fear also works. That's why cramming for exams is so easy. Not the act, but getting yourself to do it.

  You can also barter with yourself. Have a list of harmless splurges to reward yourself with. Kyoto cold brew, a Sapporo black beer, or a few hours of gaming are on my list.

  I recon the most professional approach is to clear your schedule, remove all distractions, and simply give yourself enough time or even unlimited time to do it. I often find they get done faster than expected, since most of these tasks aren't particularly difficult. Like taxes. The problem isn't that they're hard or challenging. They disgust me :/

• by cdperera on 8/3/20, 9:22 PM

  I've found planning ahead to work, to great success. Almost ridiculously so. It's come to the point where I don't really need my usual distraction blockers.

  I've found: 1. I can fit a lot of things into my day, than I assumed. 2. I often overestimate how long things take, on top of that.

  Point 2 is particularly interesting, since I know if I just bang out my tasks, I'll keep find "free time" that I over-planned for. By the end of the day, I get a couple free hours to do whatever I want, and it's lovely.

• by emptyparadise on 8/3/20, 5:27 PM

  It's very difficult for me to do anything like this because I end up forgetting things so much - good old ADHD, not something funny pills alone can solve. Creating a routine and sticking to it works best for me, but I've never been unable to stick with it through more turbulent times. Everything is fine until something, say, an unexpected family visit or a worldwide pandemic, disrupts my everyday life and routine and then I just fall back to my old ways.

• by 082349872349872 on 8/4/20, 5:07 AM

  AN Whitehead, on separating data and control planes:

  "Operations of thought are like cavalry charges in a battle — they are strictly limited in number, they require fresh horses, and must only be made at decisive moments."

  To understand this, one must realise that a horse can only go full out (<20 HP) for a minute or two, and even at 80% will be exhausted in under 15 minutes. Infantry may, and does, grind, but cavalry relies on timing[1]. (Why use cavalry then? Because, properly deployed, they turned minor routs into decisive victories. Consider Guagamela.)

  [1] There is a nice anecdote about von Seydlitz and Frederick the Great. Von Seydlitz is waiting with his cavalry squadrons for opportunity to ripen. Frederick sends a messenger to him to attack. Von Seydlitz responds, "later." A new messenger comes, "you are ordered to attack." Von Seydlitz responds, "in due course." Finally a messenger arrives, "the king says if you do not attack instantly you will be beheaded." Von Seydlitz responds, "please inform his Excellency that my head will be at his disposal after the battle, but during the battle I still need to use it in his service."

• by newusertoday on 8/4/20, 10:36 AM

  My trick is to tell my brain to do whatever is comfortable so for e.g. don't tell it you want to run 5km say you will run 100m or whatever is comfortable. Once you put on your shoes and go on track half the battle is already won and may be you won't run 5km but you may run say 3km slowly as you keep on doing it you will find achieving your goal.

• by Poc on 8/3/20, 5:47 PM

  For things like textbooks, I'll start easily but then, when I reach a new point or new chapter, I will rationalized my self to stop it there and call it a done work, when in reality I worked only 30 minutes instead of and hour.

  it's like my mind is rationalizing itself to settle for a sub goal.

• by Wandfarbe on 8/3/20, 5:01 PM

  I think the art is in actually finding yin/yang.

  At the end you oscillate in-between.

  I don't think you can really get away from it.

• by danaliv on 8/4/20, 1:50 AM

  This reminds me of when I did my master’s thesis. At a certain point I had the distinct experience of being forced to turn off part of my brain to get through it. I described it as “mashing the keyboard while screaming through the feelings.”

• by meh206 on 8/3/20, 5:27 PM

  I'm now chanting "I am not thinking" as I finally clean my home office xD

• by bitwize on 8/3/20, 7:10 PM

  For me, motivation is like a car engine. Once the crankshaft is turning, the pistons are moving, and the fuel is igniting, motivation is self-sustaining and can keep me going on a particular task. But it has to be started. Something external has to turn the engine over a few times until the self-sustaining process kicks in. Usually, this takes the form of forcing myself to work a tiny bit on the task. Once I get that tiny bit done, I'm in a headspace to where getting a bit more done is much easier, and I can keep going like that.

• by TrackerFF on 8/3/20, 8:16 PM

  When I was younger, I could work out just fine, off nothing more than pure motivation and drive. I did that for a solid 5 years - lost 70 lbs, gained weight and muscle, and transformed my body. Good times.

  But then around my mid 20s, working out just got boring. My body started deteriorating, which made working out even harder.

  Sad to say, these days I can't even do a light jog without something to distract me from the jogging itself. Either music in my ears, or some TV-screen on the treadmill.

  But once I can focus on something else, I can work out just fine.

• by LordGrey on 8/3/20, 7:08 PM

  My trick is to delay the task to a specific day and/or time. I use a reminders app to create a schedule of sorts, and I've trained myself to do the task right when the reminder pops up.

  The presumption here is that I've already thought about how long the task will take and what I'll need to complete it, plus I'm aware of what else is going on and taken that into account, so I have no real excuse for not doing the task right when the reminder pops up.

  It's a bit of moderated procrastination, but it works for me.

• by minkowski on 8/3/20, 11:28 PM

  This rather reminds me (very inexactly) of Behavioural Activation Therapy [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_activation] although in that case the task intended isn't necessarily inherently disagreeable, simply overwhelming to a person with depression.

• by sourabhforu on 8/4/20, 2:10 AM

  My advice- do the thing you dont want to do as the first thing in the morning. You will end up having a great day

• by SubuSS on 8/3/20, 7:21 PM

  I usually attach something fun to the tedious tasks: if I am to walk our dog in the rain, I am going to listen to armchair expert: I never listen to it in the regular day - so that acts like a treat. For biking - it is my fascination with being outside and so on. Eventually it becomes into a habit too!

• by FactCore on 8/3/20, 8:56 PM

  Been doing this for a few years without assigning a name to it. It works wonders for someone who is a chronic procrastinator like myself. I'd also like to add: If you can set a schedule to "just to it" for a reoccurring task, that helps immensely in reducing brain strain.

• by BurningFrog on 8/4/20, 1:31 AM

  One dumb trick I've had success with when it comes to exercise is to just put on my gym clothes.

  It may be several hours before I actually go on that run, but now the task of running needs to be executed before the clothes can be taken off.

• by _emacsomancer_ on 8/4/20, 1:42 AM

  For certain tasks, of course, you can also make them enjoyable, or have a built-in (immediate) reward: you have a podcast or audiobook you want to listen to, but you only do it while exercising/cleaning/whatever.

• by kristianov on 8/4/20, 1:16 AM

  Don't make decisions just anytime/anyday/anywhere. Make decisions when you are thinking clearly and rationally. And follow through.

• by pier25 on 8/3/20, 7:48 PM

  > Do the easiest part first

  Yes.

  Once you've started it will be easier to keep going. Also, it's harder to not to finish something the more time you've spent on it.

• by blueterminal on 8/4/20, 7:21 AM

  Just stick to something for a few months without exceptions and it'll become who you are.

• by throwawaynothx on 8/4/20, 12:39 AM

  waking up at 4am to get that sunrise photo.

• by ziroshima on 8/4/20, 1:01 AM

  TL;DR - Don't think about it, Just Do It. Nike had it figured out all along.

• by stoops on 8/3/20, 5:05 PM

  TL;DR: Discipline beats motivation