[HN Gopher] 'Ugh fields', or why you can't even bear to think ab...
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'Ugh fields', or why you can't even bear to think about that task
Author : robertwiblin
Score : 187 points
Date : 2020-09-11 18:10 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (medium.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (medium.com)
| clktmr wrote:
| Glad the author mentioned taxes, which are definitely my 'ugh
| field'. However I already pay a professional to do most of the
| work, but it doesn't help.
| Finnucane wrote:
| If doing taxes is not in your ugh field, there is something
| wrong with you. I don't even especially object to paying taxes,
| I think it's necessary. But the process is awful.
| teach wrote:
| I'd disagree that filing taxes is "awful".
|
| For most of my adult life, it only took me one hour per year
| to do my taxes. Form 1040-EZ, filled out on paper.
| bostonvaulter2 wrote:
| But how sure are you that you didn't leave any money on the
| table that you could have recouped?
| teach wrote:
| Who cares? This is the sort of thinking that leads taxes
| to be stressful.
| hinkley wrote:
| If you have been doing a 1040EZ "most of your adult life",
| you probably need a financial planner.
| teach wrote:
| On a teacher's salary? Not likely.
| beervirus wrote:
| This happens to me sometimes with a work project. Typically the
| only way I can break the logjam is to just pull an all nighter,
| refuse to go to bed until it's done.
| alonmower wrote:
| Same, though I wish I could be better at avoiding these
| ep103 wrote:
| I've adopted the following strategy for Ugh work. I would love to
| hear other people's suggestions, because while I have found that
| the below algorithm works, any improvement would be greatly
| helpful.
|
| 1 - Is the Ugh work so small, that if I just power through it, it
| can be done in ~15 minutes? If so, give yourself an hour break or
| so, then just slam your head into that wall. 15 minutes is hardly
| any time at all.
|
| Otherwise, follow the general below pattern:
|
| 2 - Document out the task. Figure out exactly that needs to be
| done. Most procrastination research I've seen, and personal
| experience validates, that just documenting out the task moves it
| from the theoretical (and easier to procrastinate) to something
| more tangible (and therefore less likely to be avoided / less
| scary).
|
| 3 - Break the task out into small, concrete components. The
| smaller the components, the better. (procrastination research
| also strongly suggests this, as small concrete tasks are easier
| to visualize just doing and getting done, and feel less scary
| than big unknown problems).
|
| 4 - Out of all of those tasks you just broke out, can we throw
| any in the trash and ignore them? Once this became an "ugh" task,
| we stopped trying to solve this task perfectly. At this point, we
| just want completion, because this is holding up something more
| important (otherwise, why are we doing it at all?).
|
| 5 - Out of all those tasks you just broke out, are all of them
| ugh tasks? Or are some of them neutral / easy? Often, just
| breaking things out into small tasks gets rid of the ugh factor,
| because now you can handle it in pieces. Its the combination of
| trying to do all the pieces at once that gives it an "ugh" factor
| (for example, doing all of the chores on a Sunday can be an Ugh.
| But having a list of chores I need to do in the next few days,
| and just do one or two now? Not bad at all, provided I never have
| to look at the entire list and get overwhelmed again, and can
| just pluck one from the top and feel good about my progress).
| Either way, do the easy / neutral ones left.
|
| 6 - At this point, hopefully, the Ugh task is now just a fraction
| of the size it once was. If we're under 15 minutes, just brute
| force it, and have some ice cream / whiskey / outdoor time as a
| reward.
|
| 7 - If the remaining ugh task still exists, or is atomic,
| estimate the amount of time it is going to take you. 10X that
| estimate. That is now the amount of time you must dedicate to
| that task, in order to get through it sanely and happily.
|
| It was going to take you ~1-2 hours to look up that financial
| data that you really hate standardizing in excel? Great, that's
| what YOUR ENTIRE SATURDAY is now dedicated to. Take breaks, play
| video games, do other things. Because in reality, you're going to
| work for 15 minutes, then take a break for an hour, then work for
| 30 minutes, then go to the store for 2 hours, then work for 20
| minutes, then cook dinner, etc, etc, etc.
|
| An Ugh task with an estimate of 1 hour is usually an annoying
| task with an estimate of 10 hours (9 of which are positive, happy
| activities).
| nefitty wrote:
| This is great. I have found that breaking things into step-by-
| step checklists works well. For example, I had to grill some
| burgers the other day. It was overwhelming to think about, and
| I know that sounds ridiculous, but it felt like the entire task
| from "Go to store" -> "Serve burgers" was a huge, intractable
| spaghetti bowl of tiny steps that I couldn't differentiate. I
| was really motivated to complete the task because it was for
| someone's birthday, so I popped open a trello card and pictured
| each step:
|
| 1) Google list of ingredients
|
| 2) Go to store and buy ingredients
|
| 3) Google how to use grill
|
| 4) Clean grill
|
| 5) Preheat grill
|
| 6) Prep tomatoes, lettuce, etc
|
| And so on... it's a surprisingly huge amount of steps which
| kept collapsing into a blob of ugh in my head. The burgers
| turned out amazing though.
| apineda wrote:
| I love this but then the thought of breaking down a task
| becomes a challenge and a task in itself to be broken down.
| Turtles...
| tomjakubowski wrote:
| My technique is insane and almost childish but, since the
| breakdown won't take longer than 15 minutes, I get past it
| with a small self-reward (a piece of candy, or something)
| just for doing that much.
|
| In time, maybe the knowledge it is reducing anxiety will
| become its own reward!
| bscphil wrote:
| I've seen people on Twitter claim that the experience you are
| describing (and I also experience) is actually ADHD, but I
| haven't been to (or asked) a professional psychiatrist to
| confirm this.
| fizixer wrote:
| 'Grading homeworks and exams'. I'm sorry the only way I could get
| over it is by leaving academia.
| s17n wrote:
| Did you try getting drunk?
| Apocryphon wrote:
| HN has always had productivity articles, but I've noticed some
| particularly good procrastination ones in the past few months
| [0]. I think this is another excellent addition, one that really
| examines the problem and goes beyond "break it into manageable
| chunks" or "work on it for just ten minutes." For many, even
| those standard tactics are not enough, you really need to examine
| the most discrete and atomic feelings of discomfort that cause
| procrastination.
|
| [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24170531
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24039887
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23537317
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24360966
| sandymcmurray wrote:
| This is me too.
|
| I have learned, slowly and painfully, that I need to wait 24
| hours before saying yes to any optional assignment. I'm too
| optimistic about my available time and wired to be a people
| pleaser. When I'm asked to help and I recognize a gap I can fill,
| I tend to volunteer, even if I'm not the right person for the
| job. Days or weeks later, I realize it was the wrong decision
| then the Ugh feelings start up in earnest.
|
| It's important for me to realistically assess whether I have the
| knowledge, desire, and time to do the task. I'm learning to say
| no more often than I would like, and to be less afraid of the
| consequences of saying no. Promising to do something I can't or
| won't do is bad for everyone.
|
| Better to think on the decision and politely say no up front if I
| don't have the time or interest or enthusiasm required to get the
| job done.
| pliu wrote:
| That's really great introspection. I have the same tendency
| which has led to creating some really deeply unpleasant
| situations for myself. I hadn't thought about it quite in the
| same way until I read your comment, thank you for sharing this.
| I think I've just had a light blink on in my head.
| sharkweek wrote:
| Yeah same - I get excited about new balls to chase which has on
| multiple occasions left me feeling overwhelmed and stuck with a
| longer to-do list than I can handle without wanting to pull my
| hair out.
|
| I like the 24 hours tip, that seems like a good tool to help
| let the initial excitement of something new and exciting cool
| off a bit.
| zanecraw wrote:
| Good read. I never knew this existed, but now I can put a name to
| what i've been feeling.
| renewiltord wrote:
| You can beat this with amphetamines and deadline fear. You can
| also beat it with CBT-style self-reorganization but if you find
| yourself stuck and you have gotten to the part where you identify
| the problem but are unable to solve it, use amphetamines and
| apply some close up deadline terror.
| mrspeaker wrote:
| Really? I feel like I'd just skip the task completely... does
| that approach actually "get it done"? (seriously asking!)
| renewiltord wrote:
| Hey, everyone's different. Works for me.
| samatman wrote:
| I mean. You're kinda saying the quiet part out loud here... let
| me rephrase for you.
|
| If your life is dominated by 'Ugh fields' and tasks that just
| aren't getting done, and you don't have a bottle of
| amphetamines or modafinil, you might just be missing a
| diagnosis.
|
| There's no reason to suffer. Talk to your doctor.
| nefitty wrote:
| Maybe the downvoted are from the use of the word,
| "amphetamines", but at that point I assume the amphetamines are
| prescription Adderall or such.
| renewiltord wrote:
| Yep!
| gfody wrote:
| > Just recognising and labelling the Ugh Field phenomenon can
| make it less bad, because it's an accurate systemic explanation
| for what's going on, rather than a misleading personal one like
| "I'm hopeless and never get things done".
|
| great this does seem helpful
|
| > If Ugh Fields are a constant issue for you, it might be best to
| try tackling those underlying [mental] health and well-being
| issues first
|
| It started out strong categorizing a sort of mental rut but then
| goes and blames it on underlying mental health issues? Not even
| anything specific just woolly depression/anxiety/etc. - not
| helpful in the least!
| viburnum wrote:
| Telling myself I only have to do it for five minutes and then I
| can quit is usually enough to get me started. Never actually have
| to quit. Another approach is to take three steps back and think
| about how to change your life so these tasks are never your
| problem anymore.
| gitpusher wrote:
| Wow, this hit close to home. It's refreshing to know that this
| happens to other people as well!
| zrail wrote:
| Same. I get trapped in these often and for large ones I've felt
| like I've needed to make drastic life changes like quit jobs or
| move to escape them. It's good to know that I'm not the only
| one that feels these things.
| core-e wrote:
| Same. I thought it was just part and parcel with me being a
| procrastinator by nature. I'm sure that's part of why it
| resonates so much. But yeah, it's always nice to know you're
| not as alone in your head as you think you are.
| air7 wrote:
| Same. On a meta-note, it's amazing how many times I rediscover
| that unpleasant parts of my psyche are not unique to me, and
| still I'm under the illusion that my hardships are mine alone.
| tetha wrote:
| I know these tasks all to well.
|
| Another good strategy I've found is to break it into small
| actionable pieces and do one of them. Like, don't have a task
| "Clean the entire place", that's big and scary. Clean up the sink
| and create a reminder to do it again next week.
|
| Don't build the entire dumb thing at once. Add in a necessary
| config value. Then think further and add another.
|
| Slow, steady, methodical, habit enabling progress isn't flashy,
| but powerful.
| ncmncm wrote:
| The Ugh field must be a close relative of the SEP field:
| "somebody else's problem". As Douglas Adams noted, it's the
| closest thing to invisibility possible in this universe.
| Igelau wrote:
| > all the normal literature on overcoming procrastination
|
| Enough for weeks, months, years of reading... and plenty of other
| people reading it to argue about it with!
| CodeWriter23 wrote:
| My wife's expedient solution, she says "It's work, just do it".
| DiabloD3 wrote:
| People like that are somewhat ignorant of the day to day
| struggles of people surviving in the mundane reality that is
| the modern world, and how people are not interchangeable cogs
| in the machine of productivity.
|
| That isn't a solution, its a dismissal.
| bscphil wrote:
| To be fair to OP's wife, this is probably intended to be
| something that works _for her_ , but not necessarily for you
| or me.
| olyjohn wrote:
| Sometimes all these techniques and tips to get started on
| things just don't work for me. Sometimes they do help...
|
| When they don't work, the only thing left for me is to "just
| do it." Usually about 10-15 minutes after I start, I get on a
| roll. But it's not without a huge amount of anxiety for that
| first 10-15 minutes. It's fucking painful sometimes.
|
| Sometimes that is your only option. And I will recognize that
| if you could always make that your first option, you spend a
| whole lot less time thinking about it. It bypasses me from
| having to get up and go do something to make myself feel
| better. The act itself of doing the task eventually makes me
| feel better anyways.
|
| I would rather be the person who can just sit down and do it
| every time, and not have these fucking issues.
| torotonnato wrote:
| I'm relieved this phenomenon is widespread enough to have a name,
| giving names to things is really a underestimated power.
|
| One technique I use to cope with this mental state: do complain,
| but only after you started doing that terrible job.
| nullsense wrote:
| >Most people experience this from time to time.
|
| If you're unlucky enough to be at the tail end of the
| distribution where basic tasks make you feel this way every day
| it's no longer called an 'Ugh Field' instead it's called the
| "Wall of Awful"
|
| https://youtu.be/Uo08uS904Rg
|
| One of the absolute best techniques I've found for breaking it is
| a trick I learned from DBT called "Improve the moment" where you
| simply think about what pleasant sensory experience could you
| introduce right now to make you feel better and then you do that
| quickly. I find if I put on a song or smell the lemon scented
| dishwashing liquid or run my hand under warm water it helps me to
| get moving on a task. It's not fool proof but it's a good tool to
| have in the toolbox.
| xkcd-sucks wrote:
| > where you simply think about what pleasant sensory experience
| could you introduce right now to make you feel better and then
| you do that quickly
|
| Oh that does not play well with addiction logic haha
| nefitty wrote:
| Oh, I guess I must be trapped in a Cubicle of Awful. The
| Improve the Moment technique sounds perfect. One thing that I
| do when I need to wash dishes or other tedium is put on
| headphones and listen to music, otherwise the "ugh" is too
| overwhelming.
| lioeters wrote:
| For me, washing my face with cold water does the trick. It
| somehow breaks me out of that "ugh" thought pattern, to start
| thinking afresh. Also taking a shower - interesting how these
| both involve water.
|
| Giving a name to this feeling, the "ugh field" and "wall of
| awful" (I hadn't heard of that one, thanks!) - it helps to
| recognize it as it happens. It takes practice to catch it as
| soon as it starts, because the longer you sit in it, the deeper
| hold it has on you.
|
| It's related to anxiety disorder, I think, in that there's a
| spectrum of how bad it gets, how much it affects your work and
| personal life. It's also a symptom (or a cause?) of the burn
| out syndrome.
|
| Having broken through countless walls of aweful, I've learned
| that patience and persistence are key. It's important to be
| patient with yourself, to lovingly steer the mind and body
| towards your goals, and forgive yourself for feeling how you
| do.
|
| If you feel so bad about doing a task, it's a sign that
| something is out of balance. Sometimes the best thing to do is
| let go, whether it's prioritizing your mental health over work
| demands, or searching for a better job situation.
| foolmeonce wrote:
| The water thing (particularly cold to the face) is probably
| the mammalian diving reflex. Your heartbeat (and other
| factors relating to stress level) drop to maximize your time
| under water.
| uhhyeahdude wrote:
| I do the cold water on face and the shower thing on an
| almost-daily basis. I mean, I shower daily in the morning
| because it feels good and I prefer not to alienate the people
| I interact with over the course of my day.
|
| Since my daily activities sometimes involve outside work in a
| tropical climate, I found myself needing the occasional
| evening shower. I also do a lot of work in the evening,
| working with computers instead of plants, and eventually I
| came to notice that I performed that work much better, with
| less resistance, on days when I had the evening shower.
|
| I added the shower to my evening routine, and it is helpful
| regardless of whether or not I did any labor-type work.
|
| The water-on-face thing is a habit I picked up this year, and
| I never connected it with the shower routine. But thinking
| about it now, it seems clear that it may well be. I do the
| cold water routine more frequently on days I feel
| overwhelmed, and it seems obvious in retrospect.
|
| I appreciate your insights; thank you.
| bobmaxup wrote:
| What a bunch of bullshit.
|
| There is a single source for this concept and it isn't backed
| by anything.
| nullsense wrote:
| Resonates deeply with me and those like me and that's all we
| need. So, fuck you. You're a bunch of bullshit.
| Robotbeat wrote:
| You mean Executive Function Disorder and ADHD? Both are
| highly documented and you can use Wikipedia (and follow its
| citations, which includes DSM 5) as well as I can. The title
| of the YouTube channel includes "ADHD".
| ohazi wrote:
| That... that channel is amazing. Wow. Thanks!
| luord wrote:
| Great read. This puts a name (sort of) to something I've been
| struggling with for a long time. Knowing that it's common
| actually does help a lot, and I'll start having that, and the
| rest of the advice, in mind more often.
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