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Comment by davnicwil | Hacker News Reader

I understand what you're saying, but the internet is the most enabling technology in history for learning.. to not use it at all because you might misuse it is throwing the baby out with the bathwater and doing yourself a serious disservice.

Avoiding procrastination is about discipline - if it's a problem, address the root cause, don't just chop off the leaves (sorry for the terrible analogy).

Compare it to say, quitting smoking. If you want to quit smoking, do you ban yourself from entering all places that sell cigarettes, and cut off contact with all your friends who smoke? Of course not! If you truly want to quit you ought to be able to go anywhere, do anything, talk to anyone, and still not smoke. It may not be pleasant but being able to do that == being able to truly control the problem.

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"If you want to quit smoking, do you ban yourself from entering all places that sell cigarettes, and cut off contact with all your friends who smoke?"

Yes, actually that's a great way to quit. Find out what triggers you and avoid it. Changing your environment is incredibly beneficial.

"It may not be pleasant but being able to do that == being able to truly control the problem"

Who cares about controlling the problem? It's not a drug addiction where a single relapse can ruin your life. If a simple environment change allows me to spend 2 hours learning each night instead of on hackernews... Well that's a win.

> Who cares about controlling the problem?

Well, if procrastination is liable to hinder you in buckling down to learn things, it's pretty important to find a way to really control it. Otherwise HN/the internet will be just be replaced by some other distraction offline.

How likely is it that your procrastination is really limited to whatever manifestations it currently has on the internet, rather than being a general problem you have to correct?

If it really is limited to certain sites, then getting offline or blocking those sites is a reasonable productivity hack, but otherwise you're just sidestepping the real issue and it'll only come back to bite you in other ways later, no matter how many times you change your environment.

Is it sidestepping an issue if a person needs a gym membership before they'll exercise? I really don't see a difference here. Environments play into disciplines directly and everyone has their own idea of the perfect space for any given activity.

Going without internet can be a great way to dim the lights and regain focus. It also eases your dependency on convenience and encourages you to plan ahead.

"Well, if procrastination"

I don't think procrastination is the problem with most people spending time on learning. Personally, I've found it is simply an issue with distraction/focus/energy/motivation like going to the gym.

I've spent an hour learning per work day for the last two years simply by going to the park after work and reading books/writing in my notebook. I've missed maybe a dozen days in the last year. Yet, if I get on my computer at home intending to study... i hardly ever end up doing anything useful.

This is only my personal take on things. For me, the internet is like water...you can find it anywhere...especially the library. In one hour at the library I can download all the webpages I need onto a usb stick. Generally, I go 4-5 months without having the net at home, 2-3 weeks with having a connection just to update my system and download a bunch of youtube videos ;-)

>If you want to quit smoking

Just poison your whole pack! But seriously, for those who don't want to deal with fixing their lack of discipline right now, I highly recommend SelfControl and its counterparts on other platforms. Block the procrastination-inducing parts of the internet like reddit and HN, keep all the important parts it's impossible to learn without, like StackOverflow.

(Restrict it for less and less each day, and maybe you'll find yourself weaning yourself off like cigarettes. I haven't made it that far yet.)

What is the permanent fix then and also what is the root cause?

things are always in flux and one must seek a balance...there are no black and white answers, although engineers always want them ;-)

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