I'm probably not the only one doing this

[ratcreature]

There should be a word for being unproductive specifically by spending time fiddling around with various tools, schemes, apps etc. intended to improve productivity or organization. It is the same phenomenon that has me enjoy tv shows or blog posts with cleaning, renovating or DIY tips as method to avoid doing any such thing. I suspect it is a common procrastination method.

It's almost like meta-procrastination, because you are procrastinating through things that are supposed to help you be productive.

Comments

[forestgreen]

Meta-procrastination! I love this definition. It totally is :D I know what you speak of.

I spent a whole day once reading about the pomodoro method, which was very good as time management goes and seemed very effective during all of the five times I used it.

The only thing that has remotely worked against my procrastination (at least regarding my house keeping) is the Unfuck Your Habitat approach on Tumblr. The whole set a timer for 20 mins and "unfuck" stuff until it goes off, and then you can be lazy for as long as you want really works for me. I'm always amazed how much I can get done in those 20 mins. I also like the word "unfuck". I don't know, something about, "unfuck XY" works much better than the verb "clean/tidy up/work/write" with all it negative, boring, procrastination-inducing connotations.

[ratcreature]

Now I had to look up what this pomodoro thing was...

I'm not sure how the 20 minute unfuck thing would work for me. I mean, once I reach a maintenance level of clean I do okay (at least for a while) keeping it up with a "clean as I go" approach, like for example my toilet is mostly okay, because I clean it fairly regularly so it doesn't take long to keep it clean, otoh my shower currently is quite gross, because to get it to actually "clean" I have to laboriously remove all the lime stone accumulations from the hard water.

Of course all bathroom cleaners *say* you just have to spray them on and wait for bit, wipe stuff off and it'll be sparkly clean, but none actually do that, so I end up with carefully scrubbing and scraping each individual tile anyway, which takes me longer than 20 minutes and I'd feel weird having cleaned just some. (I once tried a really hardcore cleaner for lime stone removal, and that looked like it started to dissolve the grouts between the tiles along with cleaning the tiles, so that wasn't good.) And the only way to prevent the buildup would be to wipe my shower dry after every use or something like that, and that is not happening either. I barely manage to regularly wipe down my bathroom sink so I don't get gross dirt, soap and toothpaste residue buildup there, and that is a small area compared to a shower stall. So my shower always goes through a cycle of increasing grossness until I just find it too bad and buckle down.

[domarzione]

I'm sure there's a word in German. Probably a single one that encapsulates your entire paragraph. ;)

[ratcreature]

Heh. Sadly the work avoidance vocabulary in German is still lacking that, though we do have other weirdly specific terms for nonproductive work circumstances, like an expression for doing just enough work to avoid being fired, but not showing any dedication, ambition or enthusiasm beyond the minimum.

[marag.livejournal.com]

I don't know what to call it but yes...it's definitely a thing :) I like meta-procrastination as a term.

[ratcreature]

Yeah, I thought it must be common. I mean, basically I do not need any elaborate productivity tools in the first place, because my actual task lists tend to be quite manageable -- as in not even needing list form (aside from the satisfaction of crossing things off from some list, rather than any truly necessary tracking of outstanding tasks). And I'm not particularly short on time and in need of scheduling wizardry or optimization or something either (except in the sense that I rather read some fanfic than, say, mop my kitchen floor or whatever).

[marag.livejournal.com]

I'm often short on time and I do have a somewhat complicated schedule, but I'm definitely prone to reading fanfic rather than starting dinner. And if I start dinner late then everything else gets thrown off course.

If I just did things, rather than worrying about doing things and playing Candy Crush instead, I'd be in better shape!