Thread: Tell me about how your relationship with procrastination

I'll tell you later.



I have a story I've been wanting to write for the last 7 years.

Everyone decided to come back to this post and reply later.

But yeah.... I have terrible issues with procrastination. So much so that I'm sure I have ADD.

Originally Posted by tommo

But yeah.... I have terrible issues with procrastination. So much so that I'm sure I have ADD.

How do you force yourself to move?

I like to define goals and then split them through my day. Then I shut down any distraction and hopefully I can finally start the task. I heard there's some theory that the hardest part is to start, which makes complete sense.

Procrastination: the ability to lie to ourselves and make it sound completely reasonable xD

I've found the best way for me is to say "I'll do this for 5 minutes" or with cleaning or something "I'll just pick up a couple of things".
Most of the time, you'll end up doing it for longer, but as you say, the hardest part is starting, so saying you'll only do a little bit gets you to start more easily rather than thinking about the task as a whole giant thing you have to do which is what prevents you from starting.

Of course, I keep forgetting to actually use that trick coz I'm constantly distracted. But when I manage to remember to use it, it definitely works.

That 'do it for only a few minutes' thing does seem to work. Lately I've been telling myself I'll read only a couple pages of my textbook. When I finish, I feel I've accomplished my goal and I no longer have to read it, so it's easy to keep going and read even more than I would have if I'd told myself to read that much in the first place.

Unfortunately, the same thing happens with procrastination. Like right now, I say I'll go on DV for a few minutes, or I'll tell myself this is the last thread I'll click on. Then I go back, see another thread. One more thread doesn't seem like a big deal (it takes like 2 minutes to read the new posts) so I'll read that too, and it keeps happening until I'm on for like an hour.

A lot of the time I'll be in a good mood before starting, feel like I can accomplish anything, but it's like I'm so happy and motivated I become overly confident and I don't think it will matter if I spend a few minutes procrastinating, since I feel I have such strong willpower and actually will be able to stop this time. Then, two hours later or whatever, my energy's been consumed by whatever I was procrastinating with, and I realize I've just wasted a lot of time, feel like shit and no longer have motivation.

Another problem is that, while procrastinating for a really long time over something, for weeks or even years (learning a language or instrument, getting my driver's license), I feel increasingly bad about not doing it with time, until it becomes a nightmare to even think about. It keeps getting harder to actually do it, because just thinking about it fills me with intense stress and guilt, even though I'd feel a lot better if I somehow actually did it.

Originally Posted by Dianeva

Things that you said.

Holy crap, you are still alive.

PS: Stay on topic, unlike me Actually I guess I can answer this.....

Bad, lol. Talk to girl. Never say anything. they get married/get BF/leave. The end.

Originally Posted by Dianeva

That 'do it for only a few minutes' thing does seem to work. Lately I've been telling myself I'll read only a couple pages of my textbook. When I finish, I feel I've accomplished my goal and I no longer have to read it, so it's ....

That makes so much sense. Didn't even think about that. When I procrastinate I start off exactly the same as the "just do it for a bit" method, but for pointless things. Just blew my mind.

Originally Posted by Dianeva

Unfortunately, the same thing happens with procrastination. Like right now, I say I'll go on DV for a few minutes, or I'll tell myself this is the last thread I'll click on. Then I go back, see another thread. One more thread doesn't seem like a big deal (it takes like 2 minutes to read the new posts) so I'll read that too, and it keeps happening until I'm on for like an hour.

I have a trick for that - what I do is make myself uncomfortable while I'm doing something I only want to do briefly. My computer is in the basement, and when it was cold through the winter I'd be sure to be wearing a shirt that isn't warm enough, or go without my shoes on so the concrete floor will make my feet cold in a few minutes. Now that spring is springing and it's warmer I have to do it differently - for instance right now I'm still wearing the jacket I wore for the shopping that I just go home from. It's too warm, but instead of taking it off here I'm using it to make me need to go back upstairs where I'll take it off and hang it up, and then I'm gonna start cooking the corned beef I just bought.

Of course you could come up with modified versions to suit your situation better - maybe set a timer in another room so when it starts buzzing you need to go and physically shut it off. Something along those lines. When I really needed to get my web browsing under control I found a perfect little app that allowed me to do it - it's called Freedom, costs $10 (usd) and is more than worth it in my opinion if you want to control your internet addiction. What it does is allows you to set the amount of time you want to be offline and then it shuts off your internet connection for that amount of time. Of course, for emergencies or whatever you can always just shut it off and go back online, but usually once you've made it difficult to get back online then the easiest course of action is to just stay off. Of course, works best if you give yourself something to do meanwhile.

Link: Freedom