A receipt printer cured my procrastination

Overall reaction to the method and article

• Many readers found the explanation of “game loops” and flow very clear, and said the article captured their experience of procrastination unusually well.
• The interactive design (progress bar, “level ups,” colors) was widely praised as a live demo of the ideas, though a few found it visually busy or noted minor mobile layout bugs.
• Some wished the printer itself had been introduced earlier in the article.

Micro-tasks, ADHD, and motivation

• A large number of commenters identify with ADHD or similar executive dysfunction. For many, breaking work into tiny 2–5 minute tasks is the only reliable way to start.
• Others said even micro-tasks don’t help: any subtask mentally “pulls in” the entire project and triggers overwhelm, or they run out of willpower after the first small step.
• Several contrasted tasks they can hyperfocus on (novel, interesting, or high-stakes) with routine or ambiguous work that feels almost impossible to initiate.
• There’s recurring discussion of relying on stress/adrenaline as a productivity driver and burning out, versus building gentler, sustainable loops.

Physical receipts vs digital lists

• Many agreed that making tasks into physical objects (tickets, post-its, index cards, whiteboards) is qualitatively different from a digital todo app: they don’t “vanish” behind tabs, desktops, or notifications.
• The specific printer setup is seen as removing friction compared to handwriting lots of cards, while the act of tearing/crumpling and dropping tickets into a jar provides strong, visible feedback and a sense of accumulated progress.
• Skeptics argued this is just a fancier todo list; supporters countered that tangibility and the “jar of done” are exactly what makes it work.

Sustainability, novelty, and limits

• Several chronic procrastinators noted that new systems give a 4–8 week productivity boost, then decay as novelty wears off; they’re wary of declaring any long-term “cure.”
• The author reports using this method daily for about six months, which for them far exceeds past attempts.
• Some argue such systems cannot fix deep motivational or value questions (e.g., “why do this at all?” or fear-based avoidance of scary tasks).

Health, safety, and environmental concerns

• Multiple comments warn that common thermal receipt paper contains BPA/BPS or other phenols with endocrine-disrupting risks, especially with frequent handling.
• Mitigations suggested: explicitly buying phenol-free thermal paper, or using impact/dot-matrix printers and regular paper.
• A few people also raised discomfort about paper waste and about many new printers ending up unused.

Alternative implementations and extensions

• Variants include: sticky notes and jars, 3×5 cards and spikes, whiteboards with limited space, bullet journals, spreadsheets, and kanban boards.
• Some automate printing via Raspberry Pi or notification systems, or propose adding “lootbox”–style random rewards or rarity tiers to tickets.
• Others prefer purely digital versions (Obsidian, CLI tools, habit apps), but still borrow the core rule: the more you procrastinate, the smaller you should split the task.