From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: "Peter Neilson" Subject: Re: An Org-based productivity tool Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2018 10:57:43 -0400 Message-ID: References: <87efcxaibq.fsf@mbork.pl> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed; delsp=yes Content-Transfer-Encoding: Quoted-Printable Return-path: Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::10]:54167) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1gAcPN-0008Cl-Hh for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Thu, 11 Oct 2018 10:57:50 -0400 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1gAcPJ-0002vV-E2 for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Thu, 11 Oct 2018 10:57:49 -0400 Received: from mail.windstream.syn-alias.com ([69.168.106.36]:9684 helo=mail.windstream.net) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS1.0:DHE_RSA_AES_256_CBC_SHA1:32) (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1gAcPJ-0002u8-5g for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Thu, 11 Oct 2018 10:57:45 -0400 In-Reply-To: List-Id: "General discussions about Org-mode." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Sender: "Emacs-orgmode" To: emacs-orgmode@gnu.org On Thu, 11 Oct 2018 10:03:15 -0400, Bingo wrote: > Le 10 octobre 2018 21:45:53 GMT+05:30, Marcin Borkowski = > a =C3=A9crit : > >> >> - a warning when my efficiency is lower than a set value, and info >> about >> how much work I need to do to bump it up to that value. >> > > Nice, but it has an anti-feature. For procrastinators, warnings = > frequently have negative effects. It can be understood in multiple way= s : > > 1. "What the hell" effect : As Dr Art Marckman tells in the book "Smar= t = > Change" , there is a "what the hell" effect where the victim goofs off= = > even more to the extent of giving up a goal if he realizes that he is = = > falling behind schedule, or has goofed off more than was advisable. Th= e = > solution is to forgive oneself, and not beat oneself up. This warning = = > looks like beating oneself up. > > 2. Showing how much work needs to be done to catch up goes against som= e = > self improvement philosophies. E.g. dividing work into subtasks helps = in = > not getting overwhelmed by the amount of work. Or the recommendation = to = > plan breaks in addition to planning to slog, otherwise the plan to slo= g = > becomes overwhelming and procrastinators give up. > > Of course, if it works for you, go for it. Sabotage of the TODO list ... Managing the flow of my own work sometimes runs into unintended sabotage= , = perpetrated by others or by me. The offending tasks are often large, = incapable of division, and not immediately crucial. For example, somewhe= re = in the middle of my list of "Get it done some other time, but not now," = = tasks is this one: "Repair the International 454 tractor." It rests = comfortably on that list unless I either (1) need to use that tractor, o= r = (2) hear my wife telling me, "Why don't you ever get the 454 running? Yo= u = never get anything done around here! I need to use its bucket, and the = Mahindra doesn't have one." From that point onward, and my "TODO" though= ts = about writing, about programming, or about training horses are derailed.= = In case (1) I need to figure out some other approach, like maybe using t= he = Mahindra. In case (2) my wife is right--as always--and my tendency is to= = stop doing anything at all. My org mode TODO list is absolutely no help when I encounter one of thes= e = show-stoppers. If anything, the list is an additional albatross adding t= o = my already encroaching depression. Maybe I need a brain-wave detector, connecting through emacs-lisp AI cod= e = to a huge Pomodoro-style graphic display, that will alert me when I am = goofing off, falling asleep, or practicing mental evasion.