I've done this for as long as a can remember, in all aspects of life.
In my mind, there's nothing more pitiful than a person who tries his best and fails. Because that's the last thing I wish for, I rarely put much effort in things that I know could fail. When I do put a lot of effort, I usually don't make it known and act as if it was trivial.
In the end, the only work I'm proud to share with people is the one I never actually started. I've been chasing the same vision/ideal for more than 10 years, told everyone about it, and still haven't accomplished a thing. Fortunately, having done nothing prevents it from being a failure (in my mind), and the expected outcome is so great that nobody expects actual results anyways.
Now if only there was a fix that didn't involve a downgrade from thinker to doer.
If you think that being a doer would be a downgrade, it seriously sounds like you should try it out.
Why go through life imagining you are better than other people when there is a way for you to know for sure?
That what I mean a bit in my reply above about breaking work down in a scrum/lean way and just doing the individual pieces and not thinking just about the great big scary whole.
Lowered inhibitions (more than one path there).
The only explanation I have is that the general difficulty is slowly going downwards. I was in school in two different countries (France/Germany) and on both sides there were some similarities, a shortage of funding and said funding being dependent on the number of people getting through the system.
So you have this sort of pressure that acts on the difficulty, since if the difficulty is too high less people graduate.
Then you also have the accomplishment of those before us. I remember looking at things from tests a few years ago, I would not have been able to solve that. (They were tests on mechanical forces.) What we were doing was a lot simpler, yet most did not realize this. So you have this idea that those that came before us were 'less smart' because we are acing it without much thought!
Obviously I only have a picture of my immediate surrounding. I've been in school from 2000-2014. Am currently studying. Perhaps someone from earlier or later could give their point of view on that matter?
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On another matter, I really dislike how my current reward system works. Am trying to fix it by eating regularly, something that looks like a sleep schedule, and actually giving a shit about the stuff that I produce.
The procrastination protects your self identity because you can discount failure as having not tried that hard.
It's better to keep your identity small and value continually learning over "being smart".
What do you think would be a solution to this - since you did observe it from a side and how does this behavior differ from your own behavior?
You have to commit to starting it and being clear about what else you have on at the time and where this sits it the priority. Classic Scrum, but it works for me (mostly...)
Let's break apart the parent's post and compare to what articles on narcissism say:
> most tasks in life are a bit beneath them
However quite a few Overt and Covert Narcissists will tend to feel many tasks at home and in life are beneath them. At work they may avoid and lose interest in long term, hard grind projects, as there is no quick payoff.
Source: http://energeticsinstitute.com.au/narcissism/
Narcissists hate routine. When a narcissist finds himself doing the same things over and over again, he gets depressed. He oversleeps, over-eats, over-drinks and, in general, engages in addictive, impulsive, reckless, and compulsive behaviours. This is his way of re-introducing risk and excitement into what he (emotionally) perceives to be a barren life.
The narcissist feels entitled to more. He feels it is his right – due to his intellectual superiority – to lead a thrilling, rewarding, kaleidoscopic life. He feels entitled to force life itself, or, at least, people around him, to yield to his wishes and needs, supreme among them the need for stimulating variety. This rejection of habit is part of a larger pattern of aggressive entitlement. The narcissist feels that the very existence of a sublime intellect (such as himself) warrants concessions and allowances by others. Standing in line is a waste of time better spent pursuing knowledge, inventing and creating. The narcissist should avail himself of the best medical treatment proffered by the most prominent medical authorities – lest the asset that he is lost to Mankind. He should not be bothered with trivial pursuits – these lowly functions are best assigned to the less gifted. The devil is in paying precious attention to detail.
Source: http://samvak.tripod.com/narcissisttime.html
> (of course I can do this course work / assignment / deliver this project / get great grades / ace this interview - I don't really need to try).
The narcissist constructs a narrative in which he figures as the hero - brilliant, perfect, irresistibly handsome, destined for great things, entitled, powerful, wealthy, the centre of attention, etc. The bigger the strain on this delusional charade - the greater the gap between fantasy and reality - the more the delusion coalesces and solidifies.
Source: http://samvak.tripod.com/journal42.html
> If they get praise/good grade/the job they have proof that they are cleverer than most...
> If they fail, well it's because they didn't try that hard, so their ego isn't damaged.
Self-administered punishment often manifests as self-handicapping masochism - a narcissistic cop-out. By undermining his work, his relationships, and his efforts, the increasingly fragile narcissist avoids additional criticism and censure (negative supply). Self-inflicted failure is the narcissist's doing and thus proves that he is the master of his own fate. Masochistic narcissists keep finding themselves in self-defeating circumstances which render success impossible - and "an objective assessment of their performance improbable" (Millon, 2000). They act carelessly, withdraw in mid-effort, are constantly fatigued, bored, or disaffected and thus passive-aggressively sabotage their lives. Their suffering is defiant and by "deciding to abort" they reassert their omnipotence.
They seem to feel that most tasks in life are a bit beneath them (of course I can do this course work / assignment / deliver this project / get great grades / ace this interview - I don't really need to try). Then they keep waiting and waiting until there is little time left to do the work. If they get praise/good grade/the job they have proof that they are cleverer than most and can knock work out in no time. If they fail, well it's because they didn't try that hard, so their ego isn't damaged.
Anyone else noticed this kind of procrastination? Since realising it I've noticed it more and more in people around me.