Procrastination

[Vulcan Princess]

I have a terrible problem with procrastination. I'll leave projects off to the last minute (even my school work which I enjoy) because I have trouble getting started. Once I manage to get started, I work in one big creative burst. However, I often misjudge how much time it will take to complete a task, so I end up doing poor work because I'm rushed. As a result, my grades don't exactly live up to my intelligence.

Has anyone else had this problem? How have you overcome it? I'm trying to change, but I don't know how.

 

[CaptainStoner]

I am very much that way also. A lot of my recorded albums end up half produced, half "organic", which is not necessarily bad, but sometimes the quality does suffer.
For me it comes down to picking up some skills that I've never mastered, and didn't come naturally, skills of organization and time planning. It's an uphill battle.

 

[Kelthaz]

Not really. I'll put things off sometimes, but I'll never wait until anywhere near the last minute.

 

[The Sneeze Police]

Yep, I am an inveterate procrastinator. I just deal with the fact that I will never get things done ahead of time...but I do not let it get in the way of performing adequately. I consider ahead of time how much time I need to allot to complete a task which probably prevents me from disaster. I just start as late as possible...

 

[RJDiogenes]

I'll Vote tomorrow.

 

[Canadave]

I'm just posting to remind myself to reply here in a few days.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I'd like to debate your view of procrastination, but I don't have the time right now.

I'll get back to you.

 

[auntiehill]

If something is important to me, I don't procrastinate. I'm too much of a worrier for that. I won't be able to relax until I know it's finished.

 

[6079SmithW]

*Considers posting response in thread*

*Does other things instead*

*Plans to post at some indefinite future point*

 

[Spot's Meow]

I haven't had an issue with procrastination, thankfully. Sometimes I will do things right before they are due, but that's more because I planned it that way than because I was putting it off. I tend to work better under pressure, I am able to think more clearly and work so much faster, so leaving something until the day before actually improves the quality of my work. I always plan ahead though and allot myself plenty of time to complete whatever it is. I would be mortified with myself if I didn't turn something in on time. I can only recall that happening once in school and the teacher got so worried that he phoned my parents and suggested I might be suffering from emotional problems!

Anyway, I wish I could give you some advice on how to combat procrastination but I really have no idea what to say. Just plan ahead, it always works for me!

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

Shouldn't this thread be empty?

 

[Finn]

I'll vote and response tomorrow. Just saying hi.

 

[Yeoman Randi]

Big time.
I remember reading something about kids that are brought up in alcoholic families. They they have constant chaos around them, so when they grow up, as adults they make that chaos in their lives because that is what they are so used to. Procrastination and the consequences of it could be another way we ACOAs perpetuate that chaos.

 

[RandyS]

Big time.
I remember reading something about kids that are brought up in alcoholic families. They they have constant chaos around them, so when they grow up, as adults they make that chaos in their lives because that is what they are so used to. Procrastination and the consequences of it could be another way we ACOAs perpetuate that chaos.

Glad to know I'm not alone. Dammit, Randi, you sure took your time telling me!

 

[Sakrysta]

I am a chronic under-estimator of the time it will take me to do something - usually get ready in the morning. I think part of the problem is that my reasonable brain the night before says, "You need to get up at X o'clock in order to be on time," but my befuddled morning brain hears the alarm and thinks, "You can go back to sleep for half an hour and still make it." Which, you know, is really stupid, but happens so often it's embarrassing. I put most things off until the last minute. I'm rarely late actually doing things that matter, but I often run late getting places. It doesn't help that I'm not a fan of being early. I'd rather just be on time.

 

[Holdfast]

This is the third time I've opened this thread with the vague intention of replying. Finally managed it.

I'm a chronic procrastinator, but fortunately there's very little I have to do that requires a timetable anymore since most of the work I do now is of a format that suits my mindset perfectly. I get to go into complex situations, with a need to assess and evaluate them swiftly, making a critical judgement call to solve the problem, and then largely leave the execution to others.

I suspect many procrastinators are at heart similar to me: problem-solvers good at rapid pattern-recognition rather than long-term doers. Once I identify what needs to be done, I detest actually doing it. I feel that the work - identifying what I believe is the correct path to take - is done. Actually walking down the path feels totally irrelevant and time-consumingly boring.

I'm best as a troubleshooter, advising and educating in a time-limited manner, which is why I've chosen a career format that plays to those strengths (and why I was frustrated previously working in a more bureaucratic large organisation). Try and get me to follow a pre-ordained path on long-term projects and I procrastinate heavily, and end up completing the task in a last-minute manner, simply because it then reduces down into a problem to troubleshoot rapidly instead.

 

[Kirkman1987]

I've been at the library all morning writing an entire paper that I didn't start until now. Honestly, it's times like this that I do my best work. I've always done my best writing the whole thing at once, the very day it's due, with a small bit of time pressure and a big cup of coffee, and then some sleep as soon as it's turned in.

Heck, I'm even procrastinating right now being in this thread. I only have one page left so I feel overconfident

 

[JiNX-01]

I am a master procrastinator. 40 years ago I read in Parade magazine that there is a Procrastinator's Club of America. I decided to join.

I still haven't.

 

[Vulcan Princess]

I suspect many procrastinators are at heart similar to me: problem-solvers good at rapid pattern-recognition rather than long-term doers. Once I identify what needs to be done, I detest actually doing it. I feel that the work - identifying what I believe is the correct path to take - is done. Actually walking down the path feels totally irrelevant and time-consumingly boring.

This describes me pretty well. I brainstorm well but I lack follow-through.

 

[RJDiogenes]

So, anyway, yes, I am a procrastinator. In fact, I have an article about procrastination that will appear in last year's edition of Procrastinator's Monthly.