Why do I leave procrastinate and avoid things to such extremes for no reason?

@taosan: What?

To answer the Q, I am just like that! I don’t know how to fix it, though. I hope someone can help us…

I am a procrastinator, but I do not consider it a problem and so there is nothing to fix.
I did have to learn to accept it.
I don’t spend any time avoiding it, I spend that time doing something equally productive and beneficial.
Procrastination is neither an indicator of intelligence or laziness.

But procrastination can never be an excuse for substandard work or being late. Procrastination doesn’t mean that you spend less time than required to do the best. It does require that you learn quickly to know how long a specific task will take.

I’m sorry, I’m on a Mac and my browser cache keeps submitting to the wrong thread, so sorry…

Either it is Safari or my keyboard :( :(

sorry about that

It’s ok Tao, good luck getting that glitch straightened out! Your answers seem like good ones…in the right context : )

Working on it, posted a question ;)
Thx

bahh!!! Articificialard, I am doing that RIGHT NOW!! I have this project, that I could have easily done over the weekend (!!!) or tonight at 7:00, or at 8:00 or at 9:00 ET CETERA (!!) that i’m supposed to be working on right now (it’s 1:24 am) and here’s the thing that really gets me: it’s something i enjoy!! i love the topic, i chose it myself, i find the whole subject very interesting and i have a lot of things to say about it, but i just keep on and on and on not doing it!!! blahhhh!!!

a few things that work for me sometimes:

—working in a room with at least one other person who is working—> they will “catch” you if you stop working (or if you never start) downside, sometimes you end up distracting each other, then neither of you works. or you can go to the library, then you’re safe because you don’t know the people, but i never can get myself to go to the library because it’s cold and far away and i always forget something important, like my computer battery.

—disabling the internet—> that’s where most of my distractions come from this very site (like this distraction i’m writing right now) and of course the internet at large. downside: sometimes you need the internet to do the work (like i do now).

—keeping a day-planner. this has actually done wonders for me. in my defense, i have 5 assignments due tomorrow, and i did do the first 3 at reasonable times. (1 yesterday, 2 early this evening). when i see everything i have to do written out in a list, it really hits home, and makes me think, “oh man, i’ve got to start getting this shit done!!”

—having deadlines is really kep for procrastinators like us. the dayplanner thing, i mean, that won’t work at all if stuff isn’t due on a certain day. my research advisor was trying to be nice and lenient with me, not put too much pressure on me, and i finally just told him, if you don’t make me feel like it’s important to get this done by a certain day, i just won’t do it at all, ever. and that has really helped! i think talking to your manager might help with your work stuff. ie, knowing how important it is beforehand, like the thing that’s years overdue. my whale is only…months overdue. it was due at the end of august…man i really need to get on that….

anyway, good luck! i don’t even know if my suggestions are worth the internet they’re floating in, since i’m just as worthless as you are when it comes to getting stuff done. i’m going to go do my project now.

…must close fluther… ...must close fluther… ...must close fluther…

I’ve been an extreme procrastinator since I was a little kid. I was also sort of an OCD “perfectionist” type. I’ve been told that the two can be related.

The concept is that as long as you put off working on whatever it is you’re supposed to be working on, it’s still capable of being perfect. You can make big plans on what you will do… once you have the proper time, of course. But you don’t really have to start TODAY.

But once you do decide to get started, everything will be great!

I don’t know how true that is, it’s just something I heard when I was a kid.

I fixed my problem by getting into journalism, where deadlines are constant and time for reflecting on what you could do is nil.

@artificialard, You’re going to work and school, so you have a full plate. What else do you do with your time? I say this because I was without power for 7 days after Ike, and had nothing to do but finish projects. It was amazing how much I got done, and what I was actually doing with my time.

alfreda, i’m jealous. after ike, i had no power for 11 days and i got absolutely nothing dine!

I do that. Sometimes I just don’t care.

*done

I have this problem as well, haven’t fixed myself unfortunately :(

However, if you’re anything like me, you probably also have trouble getting out of bed in the morning. I’ve found that getting yourself to wake up immediately works quite well for making you productive.

Also, a good game of some sport is a great energy-booster as well, unfortunately I mostly do that in the evenings :P

That’s not a bad idea, AlfredaPrufrock – maybe do a procrastinacleanse.

I watch a lot of TV, at least 1–3 hours a day as I’m a TV junkie and get it from the ‘net so it’s always there. I’m also a chronic ‘net user, on facebook and e-mail all the time.

The problem is that I work in the tech sector and almost all of my work involves the use of computers. Maybe I’ll try have ‘net access for only about an hour or two a day so that I only use it for necessary activities…

@Vincentt I also have extremely poor sleep ‘hygeine’ and have to wake up early somedays and other days am too tired and sleep in or lie in bed until 3–4PM.

@Malakai That probably fits into my psychology very well. I have a tendency to require perfection of any activity I undertake so things where I’m unsure of my capacity to perform I tend to put off.

I’ve been trying to use GTD approaches to tasks like making small incremental steps but setting deadlines or marking to-do items to a ‘hard’ calendar date may help too.

My biggest accomplishment is my first saturday list. On the first saturday of every month, I change the furnace filter, buy kitty litter, go to the hardware store, remind my husband to change his contacts, bag up stuff for the goodwill. And, as a reward, go to the bakery and buy a dozen doughnuts. While that may not sound like a lot, I always have a clean filter, extending the life of the furnace, the cats are happy, we have keys/lightbulbs/garbage bags when they are needed, I get to nag my husband, and we move excess out of the house. Takes about 2 hours, and I feel pretty good about it each month. I actually get something done.

I love that idea, Alfreda! Must make a first Saturday list now.

In looking at my own procrastination, I think I must agree that it comes from a sense of fear of failure. We avoid doing it because a small part of us doesn’t think we can do it well. The solution is to think of it as a game and see how much you can accomplish in ___hours (give yourself a time limit). That way, whether you did a good job or not, at least you know you tried. It’s like that saying about getting a job from an interview: the biggest chance you have of getting that job is from simply showing up (if that’s not procrastination at it’s worse, I don’t know what is!). Good luck! You can do it!

That’s where really breaking things down into tiny parts really helps. Accomplishment is attainable, and small things build up over time.

@Siren That’s a good tip, to encourage work in baby steps. I’ve found my greatest success in overcoming that is when I break large tasks into digestible items that I can immediately do – action items in GTD parlance.

I’ve also read that tip about setting a timer for a short interval like 20 mins. and only doing work. Take a break after that and do it again. Overtime one can increase their work discipline and go for longer periods or do more intervals in one sitting. Just started this but it’s working a little for me.

@Artificialard Thank you! I think getting into some kind of schedule day to day works too. For example, I try to stick to a schedule everyday so it becomes more of a habit – a good one! It gets addictive after a while to feel that “high” of accomplishment, doesn’t it?