"It wasn't urgent, but it was urgent enough that it had to be done before any of my other projects. It turns out this is a killer combination."

You're not the only one--I've been having this exact problem for the last few days. Even the Paul Graham essays part is spot on. Like EphemeralNight, I've been finding that banning myself from semi-productive tasks has only made it worse--which is consistent with "Structured Procrastination" (loved that essay).

You know, a lot of the frustration in these comments is exactly what might interest someone in "personal development" i.e. "instrumental rationality" in LessWrong-lingo. I'm not sure what to make of that. And although it's perfectly acceptable--in fact, necessary--to point out the lack of evidence for most self-help suggestions, there is a point--and I do not think it is very difficult to reach--a point at which abstaining from the subtly damaging actions and subtly damaging attitude of acceptance characterized by 'being into personal development' is no longer worth it.

Maybe a (temporarily?) venturesome--even self-deceptive--attitude is more likely to lead to a higher 'local maximum' in terms of effectiveness in life (namely what you value). After all, if we're only "kluges", and rationality is not what drives us naturally (beyond the sub-optimal rationality of heuristics), then maybe we need to follow actions based more on what does drive us, such as emotions, or.... something like that....