Tried it. I have been using such a plugin for a couple years now. (I gave myself no more than 60 mins within a defined working our).
I've also tried pomodoro.
Printing up reminder signs.
Talking myself into it.
All sorts of things.
If you are avoiding the underlying emotional issue, it works like a bandaid: helps in the short term, doesn't address the root problem.
It was only until I started seriously practicing meditation that things start to move, and not because meditation magically fixes procrastination. Rather, if you are practicing meditation correctly and stripping away self-deceptions, then you will eventually start surfacing up the things that lead to avoiding things that are important or urgent.
And it can go the other way too: people who are busy doing stuff may well also be procrastinating the really big, important issues in their life. Doing things that are urgent but not important becomes another procrastination tool, and helps with the self-deception that "you are doing something about it".
It's also been my experience that trying to face procrastination face on, takes on the quality of the emotions involved.
For example, if you were to attempt to rest your awareness on anxiety, the way you would go about it will be skittish, and avoid it. If you were to attempt to rest your awareness on anger, you will start to get aggressive towards your anger. If you were to attempt to rest your awareness on depression, then you'll get to the point where you say, what's the point in being aware of depression?
I've said it here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10144329 ... Emotional intelligence will supercharge your intellect because for most people, their lack of emotional intelligence holds back an otherwise brilliant mind.
May I ask, what specific technique/type of meditation have you been practicing?
I've used some meditation exercises coming from kundalini yoga to tackle other problems, and they have worked wonderfully. Nevertheless, I haven't encountered something like what you're mentioning.
Meditation will follow the same principles regardless of the specific techniques or tradition. The reason is that there isn't much to it. When you come down to it, there isn't much difference among Zen (Chan), Vipassana, Insight, Taoist shengong meditations, etc. This is because they all touch on the same ground of being (emptiness). (And yes, you'll find this in Western traditions and indigenous tribal traditions).
The exercises that will have the most variants are concentration exercises, usually some sort of one-point concentration on a sensory object -- sight, sound, touch, kinesthetics, taste, smell, etc., tangible or untangible in varying forms of abstractions. Journeying methods (where you visualize a space, or say, in Gestalt therapy where you allow fragments of your persona to embody) are variations on concentration techniques. Despite the emotional connotation of the word 'concentration' (which usually mean, some sort of pressure, stress, or force), skill in concentration has more to do with relaxing than stressing.
Kundalini yoga is interesting because you'd have to distinguish between Kundalini Yoga (tm) (the specific lineage of Kundalini yoga promoted by a genius in marketing) and kundalini yoga (the class of practices or yoga designed to awaken shakti and kickstart the Kundalini process). I don't know the details of your practice, but I wouldn't doubt that you would find them helpful. If you are arousing energy, then you will start surfacing up buried emotions, memories, habits, etc. and a complete system will also include methods on dealing with it. If nothing else, there is simply "sitting through it", and that is where it intersects the mindfulness practices like vipassana or insight.
It does! And actually, everything that you've mentioned has started to surface. But since I've only tried one specific technique/tradition, I was wondering if I was "missing out".
I'd say I've practiced kundalini yoga, since the Kundalini process definitely started. Nevertheless, I'm wondering who is the marketing expert now.
@kmundnic oh, I'd like to add something here, about the "missing out".
The first is suggesting that that wondering or doubt can be an entry point to explore something buried. You might surface up all kinds of interesting things.
The second is this: when Shakti pierces the 4th chakra and/or the hrit padma (below it) ... you'll gain a kind of "compass". From there on out, you'll always have a way of checking which path to go. It might mean staying with kundalini yoga, it might not be.
The journey getting to the center involves piercing through the 2nd ganthri, learning to surrender. It will be like peeling an onion. You'll cry. A lot. And you'll know it is worth it.
Whatever way you are choosing, you won't "miss out". Some paths are shorter -- and more intense -- than others. That "compass" is guiding you whether you are aware of it's influence or not, more so if you are re-affirming your dedication to the discipline. You take any path to it's ultimate end, and they all come to the same ultimate end.
Thanks for this and the follow on posts. I've been inconsistent in my meditation, and have been consistent with it only during periods of extended freedom, usually between jobs or tasks. I've not had the discipline to stick with it when my To Do lists starting flowing over... and of course that's when the procrastination and anxiety kick in. I'm going to have a stab at more consistent meditation practice, and hopefully I'll benefit with a bit of what you describe.
In my experience, the feelings that arise leading up to the practice time were exactly the feelings that arise leading to procrastination. One day, I found myself putzing around, avoiding the cushion, and knew that the practice has already started.
What worked for me were a number of small things:
(1) Dedicating a space for practice. When I first started, I dropped a cushion right next to my bed so I would trip over it when I woke up and trip over it when I slept. Formally dedicating a space, even if it is a small corner, helps a lot when you are first trying to establish a discipline.
(2) Dedicating a time. When I first started out, I was a night owl. I still am; but a lot of the night owl thing comes from -- you guessed it -- procrastinating on sleep. So I formally dedicated the time right before bed for practice; that, no matter how late, how tired, how fuzzy I was, I was going to sit before I crawled into bed. (A year or two in, I naturally shifted to a morning practice; by then, I feel off if I didn't practice something each day).
(3) Gamification worked well for me, though beware going to the extreme. Eventually, one of the things you start stripping away from your mind is responding to the reward/punishment triggers. I used a streak calendar. I took page from Kickstarter. I knew that I have a tendency to go overboard in excitement and then try to do as much the next day, fail, feel ashamed/guilty about failing, and the dropping off from the practice. So I would have three levels of practice:
The nominal practice time. In the beginning that was 5 minutes. I might not be able to do 10, or 20, but how hard it is to do "just" 5 minutes right before bed?
Stretch goals: if I went further, I'd consider it a stretch goal. Completely optional. In other words, the next day, the practice goal still resets to my nominal goal. If it happens I reach that stretch goal, then that's ok, but it's ok if I didn't. (If you practice correctly, you would know that there are a lot of things that arises from waiting to achieve stretch goals -- anxiety, shame, guilt, etc. the usual suspects).
Token effort: over time (months), I started ratcheting up my nominal practice to longer and longer lengths of time. I tend to do it when I'm regularly hitting stretch goals effortlessly. However, I left room to be lazy. I allowed myself a "token effort", the absolute minimum I can do. It's set around 5 minutes. (These days, "token effort" has more to do with the quality of my mindfulness rather than length of time). I knew early on that, just like stretch goals, some days ... my mind is tricking me into persuading me into skipping for the day, and I counter with "well, why not just do a token effort". Then when I do it, end up going past the token effort and it turns into a regular sit length.
(4) Other side of gamification -- social cues. (Ever read a book called "The Talent Code"? If Malcolm Gladwell popularized the notion of "10,000" hours of practice, "The Talent Code" speaks about how to get there). In the Buddhist tradition, this would be the sangha, that is, fellow like-minded people also on this journey, although they might not be traveling the same path. Opensit.com is a great example. You log your time there and people help each other stay with the sit, as well as comment on when difficulties start arising.
If you seriously want to establish a practice, my suggestion is to start at the basic: just getting yourself on the cushion consistently every day. Focus on the process, not the results. No one will ever give you a gold star for attaining enlightenment (seriously, no one will give you a gold star for attaining enlightenment). There are interesting states you can reach in meditation, but if you cling to those states and you're not aware that you are clinging to those states, you're not really practicing impeccably, are you? (You could also cling to the process, turn it into an empty ritual, but for most people, the issue usually lies in getting started).
Lately, I've been seriously thinking about writing a book, "Accelerating Your Spiritual Growth" with stuff like this in the early chapters. So I'm glad this info is useful to folks.
You were right about my inconsistent meditation - it has to do with my procrastination. Ironically, when I do meditate the experience is wonderful and so are the hours afterwards. And yet...
I'm familiar with the notion of the 10,000 hrs benchmark popularised by Malcolm Gladwell but haven't heard of The Talent Code. Thanks for that as well!
Regarding writing your book - you should do that and let us know when you do. I'll definitely be interested.
I've also tried pomodoro. Printing up reminder signs. Talking myself into it. All sorts of things.
If you are avoiding the underlying emotional issue, it works like a bandaid: helps in the short term, doesn't address the root problem.
It was only until I started seriously practicing meditation that things start to move, and not because meditation magically fixes procrastination. Rather, if you are practicing meditation correctly and stripping away self-deceptions, then you will eventually start surfacing up the things that lead to avoiding things that are important or urgent.
And it can go the other way too: people who are busy doing stuff may well also be procrastinating the really big, important issues in their life. Doing things that are urgent but not important becomes another procrastination tool, and helps with the self-deception that "you are doing something about it".
It's also been my experience that trying to face procrastination face on, takes on the quality of the emotions involved.
For example, if you were to attempt to rest your awareness on anxiety, the way you would go about it will be skittish, and avoid it. If you were to attempt to rest your awareness on anger, you will start to get aggressive towards your anger. If you were to attempt to rest your awareness on depression, then you'll get to the point where you say, what's the point in being aware of depression?
I've said it here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10144329 ... Emotional intelligence will supercharge your intellect because for most people, their lack of emotional intelligence holds back an otherwise brilliant mind.