This is not about productivity hacks! This is a fun episode where we talk less about how to do things in less time and with more attention, and more about why it’s so hard to, you know, do the thing.

Harry Wallace is a writer, journalist, theatre maker, adventurer, student, and a self-proclaimed expert procrastinator. Procrastination is a multifaceted issue, and Harry beautifully fleshes out some of the more nitty gritty issues as we discuss the psychological phenomenon of procrastination, what drives it, the ramifications, and it’s place within both the human experience and society.

This episode is a little bit longer than usual because I thought it might be nice now that a lot of folks are stuck at home, trying to occupy ourselves with nice thing instead of panic. I thoroughly enjoyed creating this, so I hope that you enjoy listening! And if you do, leaving a review would really help us reach more people (plus the nice ones make my day), and if you’re listening on spotify, sharing it to your stories would be equally excellent.  

We recorded this before physical distancing became a thing, so don’t worry! Harry and I are both at home, minimising our contact with the outside world. I hope you are too.

Keep well,

Paula

P.S please, please please please, stop drinking energy drinks. Mama Paula wants you to take care of yourselves.

EPISODE NOTES:

Things We Mentioned

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Here is that Deakin University resource about procrastination, it is pretty academically oriented, but still has some useful tips and insights.

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This is the excellent Ted Talk we mention which has the procrastination monkey.

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We touch briefly on the attention economy. Here is a sort of quick read on the subject from the Nielsen Norman Group (they’re a big deal for marketers, advertisers and businesses in general). There’s also a video down the bottom about “banner blindness.”  I also found this much longer read, and philosophical article about the attention economy from an ethical perspective.

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This is a great article from Vanity Fair which definitely addresses the attention economy, but has more to do with digital health.

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If you, like me, are fascinated by the brain, then have a squiz at this educational resource about the limbic system. Thelimbic system is largely responsible for our emotional life, and has a hand in forming memories.

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Here is a that scene in Mad Men with the Kodak Carousel.

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Mel Robbins talks about the science behind her 5 Second Rule here, and there’s a short video too. In that vein, I found this cool scholarly article about how distraction effects memory.

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We spoke a bit about the pomodoro method, and how useful it is (when you, ya know, use it). When I listened back to this episode to edit it, I was reminded again, and I’m looking for a good app. So if you have any recommendations, send them my way!

You can find Harry’s work here:

This is his writing for The Creative Issue and you can also listen to his podcast News Sense, here is a link to it on stitcher

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Produced by That’s Not Canon Productions. Graphics by Claudia Piggott. Music by Jessica Fletcher.

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