Comments on: Procrastinating authentically

By: Ragged Clown

Ragged Clown — Thu, 25 Jan 2024 15:52:58 +0000

I just re-read this. It’s pretty good, even if I say so myself!!

I have a bunch of existentialist books by my bed that I have been putting off. Mostly Beauvoir & Sartre. I should get back to them.

I have a secret voting scheme that determines what order posts are shown on the home page (favourite ones at the top). I just upvoted this! 🙂

Thank you everyone for your kind words.

By: Janet

Janet — Wed, 05 Jul 2023 14:47:11 +0000

In reply to Ragged Clown. That's it! Always a "task-oriented" little creature, I've done my best work in school, at home, and in three very different careers when I had a checklist and a deadline. Retirement has revealed how very dependent I have been on the structure of assigned tasks and expectations for timely completion. And how little I respect my assignments and deadlines I create for myself! Good luck with the essay, thanks for the book rec, will look it up today!

By: Ragged Clown

Ragged Clown — Wed, 05 Jul 2023 09:36:36 +0000

In reply to Janet. Nigel Warburton's Little History of Philosophy is good place to start. He covers a lot of ground in a short little book and it will help you decide what to read next. I'm really interested in How Should We Live? and How does the Mind Work?

By: Ragged Clown

Ragged Clown — Wed, 05 Jul 2023 09:35:10 +0000

In reply to Janet. For essays, the Fear of the Deadline works on me. As the deadline gets closer, the motivation to write increases. The trouble is, for the bigger life choices, there is no deadline. I thought I had a deadline and everything was suddenly urgent. Then when the deadline got cancelled, I went back to drifting along. The things that were urgent are still urgent — writing, travelling, reading — but without the deadline, there is always an easier choice to take and I make no progress.

By: Janet

Janet — Wed, 05 Jul 2023 06:32:13 +0000

How many times in my life have I wished someone would simply tell me what to do? Too many to count. “Analysis paralysis” seems to be my default mode. Though I have some big decisions I need to make these days, I generally postpone repeatedly, choosing to make *easier* decisions instead, many of which involve disappearing down some internet rabbit hole for a few hours, looking up an old song, a book a friend told me about, a recipe for something I ate at a party last month. Thanks for writing this. (Can’t it count as your essay? ;-)) Obviously I could benefit from learning more about philosophy, but I can’t decide which philosopher to start with! LOL

By: Ragged Clown

Ragged Clown — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 10:47:33 +0000

Thank you for your kind words! I had been meaning to write a post about the relationship between procrastination and life choices for a while. The stuff about existentialism kind of elbowed its way into the middle of it. Not sure it worked. Oh, well!

I created the database before emojis were a thing. I guess I should fix the emoji problem one of these days.

By: Robyn

Robyn — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 08:01:14 +0000

FYI – That was a smiley emoji above! Not a question mark. Really enjoyed the post 🙂

By: Robyn

Robyn — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 07:59:41 +0000

Great read, Kevin

By: Shannon

Shannon — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 21:05:46 +0000

Kevin, I have always appreciated and enjoyed your writing style and views. This one though, struck a personal chord within me today. My recent life changes have put other choices in front of me and I too, have been “procrastination doom scrolling” in avoidance of choosing/deciding about some of those things. Not least of which, is about how best to “help” a good friend recognize the multitude of choices before them, when all they can see is no other choice but the one of least resistance. Your words gave me the mental nudge I needed to procrastinate less on my own options, but to also provide a nudge to my friend in a way that might empower them to envision future possibilities other than the path they currently feel resigned to taking.
So, thank you Kev, for sharing your mind with us. ? Love ya!

By: Justine

Justine — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 20:27:18 +0000

I am new to existentialism so thank you for the clear explanation about the order of essence and existence! A wonderful read as ever. Thank you for sharing.