kitchen table math, the sequel: Chinese moms, part 5

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Chinese moms, part 5

Today I finally got through the basal ganglia article I was trying to read.

Then realized the reason I'm so captivated by Chinese moms is that I desperately need one myself.

Speaking of desperation, Piers Steel's book is out!

The Procrastination Equation: How to Stop Putting Things Off and Start Getting Stuff Done


and see... structured procrastination

11 comments:

SteveH said...

There are ispirational satire posters (the kind you see framed in offices) that I like. One says:

"Procrastination - Hard Work Often Pays Off After Time, But Laziness Always Pays Off Now".

http://www.despair.com/proc24x30pri.html

Another one of my favorites is "Agony - Not All Pain is Gain".


In college, some of us would always wait until after the real go-getters have tackled a large homework set to see what problems and mistakes they ran into. I could make my own slogan:

"Pathfinders - The first to get run over"


I have to work at keeping my contrarian nature in check. It makes me think of the Mary Tyler Moore episode where she couldn't help laughing at the funeral of Chuckles the Clown after he was killed by an elephant when he was dressed up as a peanut.


For my own procrastination, I always try to stop work at an easy place to restart. I find it difficult to get going on new things, and once I'm going, I can be quite productive and don't want to stop. But when I do stop, I like to stop at very specific spots. I try to minimize interruptions. Sometimes I will work away from the phone and not be connected to the internet.

So, is KTM structured procrastination? I have to go derive some equations right now.

Catherine Johnson said...

Laziness Always Pays Off Now

That's what Piers Steel says!

(He did a meta-analysis of 5 gazillion studies on procrastination.)

Catherine Johnson said...

I find it difficult to get going on new things, and once I'm going, I can be quite productive and don't want to stop.

THAT is the ETERNAL problem.

Starting & stopping.

Help! Help!

Lisa said...

Sixteen yo's t-shirt today
"Procrastinators unite.....tomorrow."

Anonymous said...

We love Despair.com. Every year I get a calender for the youngest because he thinks they're hysterical.

Lisa, that t-shirt is hilarious. Did you get that from somewhere online?

SusanS

Anonymous said...

Never mind, I just googled it....

SusanS

Catherine Johnson said...

It's 10:13, and I don't know any more about the basal ganglia than I did when I got up this morning.

Catherine Johnson said...

Well...it's 4:13 & I know more about the basal ganglia than I did at 10.

I guess that's progress.

palisadesk said...

My dad gave me a great placard (I have it on the fridge) that goes as follows

PROCRASTINATORS WILL RULE THE WORLD

.......... SOMEDAY .........

(the last word in a much smaller font)

PhysicistDave said...

I find procrastination to be the most effective form of time management: do anything before the last minute, and you always take more time than necessary. Procrastinators can’t take more time than necessary.

Alas, my wife fails to appreciate this pearl of wisdom.

Incidentally, this is a real principle of economics – reflected in the discount rate for time (essentially the rate of interest) – and embodied in such ideas as “just in time” inventory management.

Dave

TerriW said...

"Pathfinders - The first to get run over"

One of my Dad's nuggets of wisdom he passed down to us was:

"The pioneers take the arrows."