The Art & Science of Procrastination

New Yorker

2012-04-22T03:43:00.000-07:00

I found this article in THE NEW YORKER, that I read for today's procrastination (see what I did there?).
My favorite part was

You may have thought, the last time you blew off work on a presentation to watch “How I Met Your Mother,” that you were just slacking. But from another angle you were actually engaging in a practice that illuminates the fluidity of human identity and the complicated relationship human beings have to time. Indeed, one essay, by the economist George Ainslie, a central figure in the study of procrastination, argues that dragging our heels is “as fundamental as the shape of time and could well be called the basic impulse.”

So yeah, that's what I'm going to go with. "Stop yelling Boss, playing solitaire illuminates the fluidity of my human identity!" :-P
Go read the rest of the article if you have an important deadline coming up

Balderduck

2012-04-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

It was about time I posted again about webcomics right? So, I give you Balderduck! Say what? Is that even a real word? No, my dear reader, it is not. But it is one of the funniest comic strips out there. And what a wonderful set of characters it features: among others there is mr. Luther that as every barman does listens to his clients problems, the Dupont family meets the eligible bachelor their daughter brings them and my all time favorite Josephine and her questions!
If you are more fluent in Greek than in English you can also enjoy the surreal humor of Balderduck here.

Youtube interactive videos

2012-04-18T03:23:00.000-07:00

Do you remember back in the 80s, the novels where the reader could choose his "own destiny"?
They used to be either fantasy or sciffy oriented and at the end of every chapter you decided from a number of proposed actions, what would the main hero do. Then you would be redirected to a page where you could read about the consequences of your chosen action. I've tried reading a few of those books in my preteens and let me assure you that halfway through, they wouldn't make absolutely no sense. They just gave me a dizzy feeling and I would just leave them. Or maybe the translation is to blame, dunno.

Anyway, after 25 years or so, youtube has transformed these "choose your own destiny" novels (well, their essence to be exact) to a new medium that serves them better. Not exactly a game as it demands less involvement but not a video either, youtube interactive gaming is a fun way to spend a few hours. My favorite one is the ever so popular "A hunter shoots bear" which was created as an ad, but there are several hundreds of them out there, so enjoy!

Falling Moon

2012-04-17T03:30:00.000-07:00

Falling moon (Puzzle game) | Play more games

Well, today is the first day back to work for us in Greece, so working is even harder than usual days. So I thought that a little, cute game might help the clock to move a bit faster and it has a dreamy quality about it that I find suiting for a cloudy (at least in Athens), blue, non-Monday.

Is procrastination evil?

2012-04-12T02:57:00.000-07:00

When you google the word "procrastination", thousand of results will show up explaining why it is bad and a variety of methods in order to beat it. Prioritizing and getting things done are the most popular keywords in those articles. But have you considered that procrastination might, in fact, be less evil than we originally thought it would be? My good friend Rosenred suggested this article from Lifehacker to me that supports my belief that a moderate amount of procrastination is actually productive and too much of prioritizing can lead to a state where you are constantly running in panic without any time to breath. So I agree with the article's author, I've been there and trust me, it's not a fun place to be...

Procrastination by Johnny Kelly

2012-04-11T03:19:00.000-07:00

A very pretty video about procrastination. I'm pretty sure that its creator wasn't procrastinating, AT ALL!

Amanita

2012-04-06T06:41:00.000-07:00

Samorost 1

I have to admit that I really like indie games.
According to wikipedia:

Independent video games (commonly referred to as indie games) are video games created by individuals or small teams without video game publisher financial support. Indie games often focus on innovation and rely on digital distribution. Indie gaming has seen a rise in the last few years, primarily due to new online distribution methods and development tools.

Cool huh? One of my all time favorite developers is AMANITA DESIGNS. Not only they are really good games but also they are a total eye candy. Most of their games are really cheap to buy, but you can check out for free the entire SAMOROST 1

TVCC

2012-04-04T14:33:00.000-07:00

Webcomics is undoubtedly a favorite procrastination of mine. Short stories told in comics form can suck you right in and let your time fly by without you even noticing it.
So a new category I'm introducing to this blog is webcomics. And what I better way to start but with one of my favorites: The Very Closed Circle.

It is created by Greek artists (and a few good friends of mine) and it surreal, funny and absolutely brilliant!
If you can't read Greek, don't worry about it, the ingenious minds behind TVCC provide a translation in English just below the comics! Amazing or what? If I have yet to convince you, TVCC just won the Comicdom Award for best anthology and it is the first web publication to do so! So go visit their blog and enjoy.

Scribbler too

2012-03-21T05:53:00.000-07:00

SCRIBBLER TOO, is an innovative and fun drawing platform with the magical ability to make the sketches of artless people such as myself appear much better than they really are. So check it out and share with your friends your new found Picasso side!

Tetris!

2012-03-19T03:28:00.000-07:00

Tetris (Classic game) | Play more games

Another one of the classics. I remember that there was one time that I would even see blocks falling while dreaming, after having spend too much time playing TETRIS

Boss Key

2012-03-17T06:04:00.000-07:00

Boss Key has been a feature of the early days of gaming. It's function, you ask? Well, quite simply my friend, with the pressing of one keyboard button it changes your pc screen from showing, let's say, that you spend your time on this blog to a safe "I'm working so hard" environment. Perfect for that sudden visit from your boss at your booth.
Some applications like chat clients etc have it installed but what if you want to create your own?
Well, I've found some instructions on how to create a boss key on Win 7 and you can read all about it here.

Tips #1

2012-03-16T01:58:00.000-07:00

Do you feel the sudden urge to start working?

Don't rush off to a hospital and don't worry, THE ART & SCIENCE OF PROCRASTINATION has your back.

• Create a list of what you're thinking needs to get done. Making tangible just how much effort you'll need to expend to accomplish everything will help clarify how disagreeable even beginning to try would be. Next, tear up the list you made and put it in the trash, or merely let it fall from your fingers onto whatever you happen to be standing or lying over at the time
• Don't be too tough on yourself when it comes to deadlines. For example, if you assign all the tasks you need to get done deadlines well beyond your life expectancy, you can make a reasonable assumption that you'll be long dead before you even need to get started on anything
• One thing you can't procrastinate if you're going to become a proficient procrastinator is excuse making. For example, excuses such as, "I didn't finish the project on time because my mom died of cancer", and, "Oh, is there a dead body in my house? I didn't notice it because I fell off a roof when I was ten and lost my sense of smell" are best made in advance to promote believability. Note: be sure not to claim the same family member died of cancer more than once

If you enjoyed those tips, you can read more at the Chuurch of Apathy.

Pacman!

2012-03-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

Well, what would procrastination be without online flash gaming? The mother of all time wasters, the downfall of even the best employees, the black hole in the matter of the universe and of everybody's "to do" lists. And yet, resisting it, would be futile. So what better way to start this blog than offering a true classic? Just press "Insert coin" and give it a try. Yes, you are only going to play once. ;-)

Tales of mere existance

2012-03-14T07:39:00.002-07:00

We've all been here... Alas, the need to get stuff done...

Welcome to THE ART & SCIENCE OF PROCRASTINATION

2012-03-14T06:54:00.000-07:00

Art by Pete Joison

Procrastination refers to the act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of lower priority, or doing something from which one derives enjoyment, and thus putting off important tasks to a later time. (Wikipedia)

The art of procrastination: When you master procrastination well enough to know exactly when to screw off or work. You also know how to set things up so that you appear to be working, but really your just playing Tetris, looking at porn, etc. (Urban Dictionary)

The science of procrastination: This guy wins an Ig Nobel for admitting in public that he is a procrastinator and figuring a way of beating it. Good for him!

Procrastination.

Let’s face it. We all do it. It helps us clean our houses just before an important deadline, it urges us to call that long lost friend of ours when we should be making work related calls and it gives sparks for reigniting of our creative fire the moment someone requires for the most mundane task to be done asap.

So, want to learn new ways of procrastinating? Or tips in order to make your procrastination undetectable? Or maybe prove to people that caught you procrastinating that a flash game can be in fact, very productive?

Well, you’ve come to the right place!

Very fittingly this blog was conceived during a game of BEJEWELED, when the author of this post was supposed to be working on making this blog happen.

So, enjoy that stolen leisure time and let THE ART & SCIENCE OF PROCRASTINATION help you make the most of it, which should be exactly nothing. :)

Test

2012-03-14T05:47:00.001-07:00

Hello world!