Technique 2-1: The Wave of Despair

Also known as: The "I'm-never-going-to-make-this-deadline" Technique

Step 1: Set unrealistic expectations for yourself and others
Step 2: Spend hours on a task, only to realize it's not as hard as you thought
Step 3: Panic and start again from scratch, while simultaneously complaining about how hard it is

Example use cases:

When your boss asks you to finish a report by the end of the day
When you're trying to learn a new programming language for that one "cool" project
When your cat decides to wake you up at 3am to "play"