Procrastinators Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from chronic procrastination.

Got Procrastination down to a fine art

Got up relatively early this morning, made a cup of coffee, then got into chat(internet chatrooms), psychologically i alotted myself a couple of hours for this activity, but this is how i've got procrastination down to a fine art - i don't give myself an extra hour once my time is up, an hour before my time is up i feel unable to come to a reckoning with myself and say to myself - a few more hours.

 It's 5:40pm now and basically i've wasted my whole day chatting, or browsing, it's like this every day, my days don't change! But there's a difference this time, i've told you all about it, i'll switch modes now and do what i intended, to read this book on improving my memory(which will change my life according to the author)

 That's another thing, are we procrastinators suckers for the big solution ...usually to be bought in book form, i'm not knocking self-help books, but when you look at the market out there for them it's sorta funny, there are hundreds of websites trying to sell you something.

 One last thought before i confront the book i've been avoiding(man oh man, how many books i could have read in the last ten years if i hadn't have wasted them on chat)....i'm intrigued by the 12-step programme which (in part) asks you to accept a higher force...have any of the regulars or Procrastinators Anonymous turned to religion?....me, i read a couple of buddhist books and tried a bit of meditation but then my beliefs got complicated...but that's another story

thanks for reading (if you have)

 KB Embarassed

re: the fine art and the 12 steps

As an admitted self-help book junkie, I love this thread lol!   I think this is a good addiction though.  It's good to continually expose yourself to positive thinking, encouraging literature and good news.  

Unfortunately, I don't think there's a big solution out there waiting to be found.  Conquering this problem, like any other addiction, is done by working on it day after day, one day at a time. 

As far as the 12 steps go, I know a lot of people are resistant to 12 step programs because it smacks of "organized religion".   But the 12 steps aren't focused on any certain religion, all it takes is an idea of a higher power as we understand it.  Maybe this is a higher part of your own consciousness, maybe it's "the force", maybe it's Allah or God.   But if you seriously attempt to do Step 1, regardless of the cognitive dissonance, I feel sure that you'll find yourself in a better place. 

Having said that, though, it's certainly not necessary to do the 12 steps to be a part of this wonderful community.    The info is here if you choose to use it.   

Jo

 

 

"The sooner you get behind, the longer you have to catch up." - Steven Wright

big solution

The self-help book buying binge comes upon me every once in a while, but it is more in check now that I have this place. There are some things which I do think help: usually the ones that are more effective techniques I have picked up here listening to others.

For specific addictive behaviors (ie, surfing) or in my case, escapist reading, I find that not beginning my day with that behavior helps. My husband, who is born-organized, stopped reading his email until the late afternoon and he was able to produce unbelievable amounts of work. Even though each moment is an opportunity to move to a different behavior I often lack the willingness to choose to do so if I begin my day in my addiction. That is where the 12 steps come in.

The Serenity Prayer resonates with me when I find myself stuck.

"God (Higher Power) grant me the willingness to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

I often start my day with that little prayer. It helps me do a few things: by turning over being in the drivers seat to my HP I find that I give up my deep need to control things. When I am willing to allow my Higher Power to drive the bus, I become willing to do whatever the next best thing would be: ie, bother to make myself a decent meal, brush my teeth, make a dreaded phone call.

When I am willing to go to any length to change my behavior, especially for dreaded tasks, I find that using the chatbox as a place to think myself through babysteps works extraordinarily well. This is true even when I am alone there.

I am going to stop myself now, because I need/want to get some things done that are my 'next best things to do'.

 

the big solution & 12 steps

you get a yes from me. My view of myself is that i was always looking for the one big solution, the one big idea, book, technique, that would turn it all around for me.

And now i've found it. And it involves one day at a time, checking here periodically thruout the day. The checking in here is part of a "giving up" of everything else except my recovery.

Ie, the "one big solution" for me appears to be really dozens, sometimes hundreds, of tiny solutions all day long.

As for the higher power... what it looks like to me, and this is what i get from the AA literature also, is that "the 12 steps" only make sense when people arrive at Step 1. Ie we have to have exhausted all other options before the 12 steps make sense. People arrive at a point where can't imagine anything in the world that can help them--then they're ready to consider looking outside this world for help.

This is certainly tru of my experience. It's not like i chose to give my life to my HP because i thot it was the best soln. It was more akin to an act of desperation not knowing where else to turn. And so far it is working. But even that--i can't say about the future. Then again, 12 steps is one day at a time.

I dont even know if the 12 steps works on people who haven't reached Step 1.

The 12 steps for PA are here: http://procrastinators-anonymous.org/files/PA_Steps.html

Sorry

Sorry i didn't mean to say we are suckers, i was in rant mode, i don't even know if my pointless wittering on is real turn off to everyone here

 Sorry once again.

lol jose

that's funny about people who keep buying self-help books.

I think some of them have helped me on my journey. They've informed me. Given me broader perspective. But i still think they're raw material only.

kipple: i like your rant. Keep them coming. I also like spirituality. What i've been learning is that the 12 step approach is very accepting of individual conceptions of a higher power.

self-help books

Somewhere I read that Men's Health had done a study for their advertisers, about who is most likely to buy new self-help books. Their answer? People who'd recentl bought a self-help book. His point was that if they worked, the same people wouldn't keep buying new ones.

I know what you mean about the compulsive power of online-ity. I don't like real-time chat, but I read news sites with fora, and it's scary how fast I can burn a whole day that I was planning to put to good use in "meatspace".

It started when I was in school, in 1997, and I discovered a little-used 24 hour computer lab. Soon I was spending hours a day on sites for X-Files fans(!) and other silly things like that. It harpooned my grades. It's been an ongoing slow rot in my life.