Procrastinators Anonymous

I've had a couple of people advise me recently, with great intelligence and compassion, to give up giving up. Accept that it's just too hard for me. That's an option I'm considering, but I'm not ready to take it yet. Living without procrastination for a day, a week, or two weeks feels so good, and changes things so much, I'm not ready to accept that I can't have that in the long term. I want to make at least one more really good effort.I'm going to give myself easy tasklists, tons of breaks, and all the support I can get, and couple that with absolute bloody-minded mad enthusiasm for living life on purpose and kicking the arse of this addiction one minute at a time.Please pray for me and encourage me because this is a serious one. If just one person can manage to quit procrastination I know others will be able to as well. Interesting story - it was thought to be impossible to run a mile in under four minutes, until finally one runner managed it. In the following year masses of people - I think around 30 - ran a mile in under four minutes. They were able to because somebody had proved it was possible. 

I'm planning to try giving up procrastination again tomorrow - seems ridiculous given the state I'm in, but I'm sick of wallowing in it. Made a very short tasklist and planning to chatbox a LOT and see how it goes.

As part of my own recovery journey I used all the time management stuff I could find online (some helped, some not so much, some nada), the 12 Step programs' literature (very helpful).  Eventually, I also sought guidance in the Book of my religion. 

There, I learned that the oldest time management principle on record is "In six days do all your work, and on the seventh day, rest."  My belief system does not define or designate a particular day, so I pick a 24-hour period sometime during each week when I will stay offline and out of any planned or difficult or routine "work." 

Even this I am not real consistent with, but I do find it helps me be (or at least feel) more productive and focused during the rest of the week when I've done it.  Good luck with that, Lucky, and let us know how it goes for you!

As I'm sure you can tell from the tone of my last post, things went waaaay downhill after that. This week's flavour of procrastination slump has been 'sleep deprivation', which has been really gruelling. Not procrastinating would have been so much easier!

I've had a couple of ideas out of this slump. The book I've been reading suggests that whatever you focus on, you get more of. So e.g. if you focus on how fat you think you are, you usually get fatter! I've been focusing on how much I procrastinate, and how to stop procrastinating, etc, etc.nSo I want to try to replace 'not procrastinating' with a positive phrase. I like 'living on purpose' - it means 'living WITH a purpose', but to me it also suggests that whatever you do, you do on purpose, not because you feel you can't help it. In the words of J.M. Barrie, always to be really doing whatever you are doing, and in the words of Tiffany Aching, this I choose. This I choose to do.

The other thing I want to try is having one day off a week. Shocking, I know! But doing the cold turkey project has really showed me that I work in cycles. I can work like crazy for a period of a few days to two weeks, and then I crash, every time. Reducing the work intensity doesn't seem to help - I'm not sure it prolongs the work period at all, and it certainly doesn't enable me to keep it up indefinitely.

So it occurred to me - why not try having one day of rest a week? (I know - shocking, right?) That would mean I only ever have to keep up not procrastinating living on purpose for a streak of 6 days. One full day off sounds like insane luxury, but I think I could manage it by working hard the other six (I like working hard, when it doesn't result in a crash - it's just that it always results in a crash. This way, I'd be building the crash in.)

I'm Christian, but not very traditional - the day I've picked is Saturday, because that works best with my schedule. (Jewish readers may now have a good laugh at me ) However, I do wonder if we're on to something here. I've heard that a lot of the seemingly random rules in the Old Testament are actually very advanced health and hygiene advice that's only now beginning to be understood. So it's not inconceivable that this 'Sabbath' thing might be very advanced productivity advice!

Continued to do REALLY well until last night. No day was perfect - there were always a few minutes of procrastination - but every day was really good. I've felt in control and got loads done, and the few-minute blips didn't dent that.

By the night before last I was aware that I was flagging and needed to take it easy, but didn't do so and I got worse and worse throughout yesterday, ending in a late-night internet surfing fest until 4am. However, because I wasn't having perfect days anyway, this doesn't feel like a disaster.  This morning, it took me 15 mins to get out of bed, but after that I was able to make a tasklist and get on with it as normal.

Another positive is that I could definitely feel this coming on, and that means that hopefully, with practice I'll be able to stop it happening.

Yesterday, when I knew I was slipping, I was thinking a lot about giving up procrastination absolutely, and wondering if my pattern of not-quite-perfect days was weakening my attempt. Now I'm wondering if those thoughts were actually part of the slide into a procrastination attack. My demands on myself tend to get higher the less hopeful I am of meeting them!

It's possible my original idea was wrong and the almost-perfect is the way to go. Even during the 17 days of non-procrastination I managed a while ago, there were *moments* when I stalled, I just got myself out of them fast enough to decide they didn't count. I'm not sure yet, I'm just going to go with this and see where it takes me.

Doing REALLY well! Will you look at my tasklist from yesterday!

Went REALLY well today - I tried making a shorter tasklist than normal, and completed it with time to spare! Having an occasional wobble but nothing seems to stop me or take away the feeling of purpose. I really hope and pray I can sustain this at work tomorrow. Work is more of a challenge so please pray/send good thoughts my way - thank you!

I've noticed I have the best success with quitting at weekends, rather than when I'm at work. If I start with a couple of days in easier situations at home, I have the momentum of 2 days' success to help me make it through the work day on Monday.

So for the past couple of days I've been feeling a bit of gathering excitement about quitting on Saturday (yesterday). Almost a feeling of readiness, like it was going to happen and I just had to go along with it. I did indeed quit yesterday morning and there's been a bit of an odd change.

Over the weekend, I've had two incidents where I started procrastinating and then stopped myself within 5 minutes. Normally that would signal disaster, the end of the quit attempt and a massive procrastination fest. This time I've just picked myself up and carried on as if nothing happened. I'm not sure this even counts as quitting, but I still *feel* like I'm on that quitting roll and need to keep it going. I'm not going to let a couple of false starts stop this attempt.

Those who pray, please pray for me because I really want to make a go of this one. I'm going to celebrate how far I've got already.

It's super effetive. hidden_motive's reputation has fainted.

"Surfing the internet (or any other 'non-productive' activity) is not
procrastination. Can be, but doesn't have to be."

I think surfing the net can always be considered procrastination, because people always have work to do, and surfing is just delaying the work. However I will agree that, unlike indulging an alcoholic addiction, a little bit is fine, as long as you feel in control. If you can not surf and be in control, then don't do it at all.

In addition, I'd like to say that you don't have to quit cold turkey. Google chrome and firefox both have addons that help you quit procrastination. Firefox's is better and is called leechblock. Think of it as nicotine for web surfers.

Everything else you said, I agree with

Didn't manage to stick to an hour yesterday - I didn't time it carefully enough and went over time without realising. Going to start over today and time it properly using alarms.

Another thing to add to my non-procrastination tips... using one 'snooze' period when waking up in the morning. I find it hard to admit because I feel like I should be able to jump out of a deep sleep and immediately get on no matter how tired I feel, but here in the real world, I function much better with one snooze period and starting the day without procrastination makes it easier to carry on that way.

I'm gearing up for another attempt and thinking of ways to deal with my internet addiction. I want to cut 'fun' internet use down to 1hr a day. 'Fun' DOES include eail, social sites, surfing and researching things that interest me; it does NOT include PA (not that we don't have fun here ;) ), emailing PA buddies, or strictly practical things like online grocery shopping or looking up train times. 

I need a lot of motivation to accomplish this, so I'm going to offer myself a really big reward. As you may have noticed from the intermittent appearance of Ziva and Abby in the check-in thread, I really love NCIS. I've found a site where I can get season 1-6 on DVD for £70. LOT OF MONEY for me.

I'm going to do a 35-day challenge starting today. Every day I stick to my hour, I get £1. If I go the whole 35 days straight with no slipups, I can double the money and buy myself the DVDs there and then. If not, I still get a pound for every day I succeed and can keep plodding on until I reach 70.

Wish me luck!!

As I said, I'm also trying again to give up procrastination, and have a few new ideas to help with that:

MUST allow extra downtime at stressful times (unless the stress is about having too much to do!! Even then, cut down non-essential tasks)

Start using an iPhone tasklist app

Late nights are a problem - I tend to 'flop' after dinner because I'm tired and realise I have no hope of finishing my tasklist, so I might as well do nothing (!) The following ideas might help:

When starting a break or work activity, PLAN how long it will be and stop when planned

Start emailing PA buddies last thing at night again

Keep tasklist to a minimum - it's not about doing as much as possible, it's about procrastinating as little as possible

Use PA for support, celebrate and reward every success. Push myself to have more rest, treats and fun than I feel I deserve.

Hmm, I procrastinated again. Interesting how it happened, though. I had
been reading a newspaper on the train and was convinced this was
procrastination and I'd blown it, then I realised that I had already
done all the tasks I'd set myself for my commute - I was 'allowed' to
read the paper. Then I went ahead and very definitely procrastinated at
home by surfing the net. It was as if I didn't want the reprieve. I
really need to stop playing these mind games with myself!

Going to try and get back on the horse right away with use of
prayer, chatbox and 5 mins on/5 mins off tasks. I still feel like I'm
on some kind of roll and can beat this.

I'm now in the 'trying to convince myself that I did not just procrastinate' phase. Yesterday evening was a washout because the dog got attacked by another dog (she's okay, but it was not a productive evening!) and today I'm feeling a bit vague and shaky and am not sure whether it's dehydration, low blood sugar, or fear. Having some lunch, so that should narrow it down!

I haven't really 'lost control' at any point in the last 4 days, but equally I haven't achieved as much as I'd have liked to either... I think I've been a bit TOO easy on myself and not bothered enough about completing my tasklist. The challenge now is to step it up without falling over into tyrannical parent/rebellious child silliness. (I don't need to explain that any further, do I? )

I've actually made it this far... haven't completed everything on my tasklist by a long chalk, but haven't been procrastinating either. I need to work at putting less on my tasklist and being more singleminded about doing it. But at the same time, wow! I've done 2 days! (Posting just after midnight so it might look like 3 days... and it WILL be 3 days tomorrow )

I'm trying again. I know this thread may look like proof that it's impossible to give up procrastination, but there is success here. I managed over two weeks to begin with and I've managed a day very recently. And I keep trying. And I will keep trying until this thread becomes proof that it's possible. THIS time will be the time.

I lasted precisely one day without procrastinating! BUT that was the best I've done in ages. And after two days 'off the wagon', today I've been praying like crazy (trying Clement's 'Practice of the Presence of God') and just realised I've hardly procrastinated at all... Back to it!

Going okay so far... I had a bad start after thinking that since I was so full of motivation, it would be okay to look at an addictive website while eating my breakfast... Idiot! 20 minutes later I got myself OFF the website and into a day of not procrastinating, so my 'start time' is now this morning... I think the Haircut and Cheese Breakthrough hasn't stopped me procrastinating but it has definitely helped me to bounce back afterwards. The 'old' Lucky would probably have written the day off at that point.

Getting back to work after lunchbreak is one of my 'risky' times so I need to get a good run-up and clear this hurdle - here goes!

I'm going for giving it up again. I had hoped that feeling better and just 'sitting with' what Kitty delightfully calls the Haircut and Cheese Breakthrough would lead to natural, organic de-procrastination without the need for anything so rigid as 'giving up'. It hasn't! This is still going to take effort, which isn't a surprise really, but I feel a lot better about my chances of success.

It's late at night so all I have to worry about is not procrastinating between now and bedtime...

Interesting!  

"Bless the present. Trust yourself. Expect the best." --Steve Nobel

Well, my last attempt to give up procrastination didn't work I don't think I've truly tried for a long time. I've gone through the motions of trying but without really believing in myself and without doing obvious things like using the chatbox to give myself the best chance of success.

However, I had a weird experience yesterday which has really changed my state of mind. I was trying to do a meditation which involves asking 'who am I, really?' and realised that the last time I felt like 'me' was age 10, before I failed a scholarship exam that everyone (including me!) expected me to ace. It meant I had to leave my school, and I was devastated. I think I've been repeating the pattern of failure ever since - trying to get myself expelled or fired, and often succeeding.

This next bit is hard to explain, but having realised that I left myself behind in junior school, I realised that I was going to have to go back and get myself. I somehow went back into the mindset of that ten-year-old girl and I chose to leave. I imagined myself as I was then, with my hair in pigtails, picking up my satchel and my gym bag and freely and confidently walking down the long driveway and out into the world.

Somehow I feel as if I am that person now. With the body and the life experience of an adult, but still, that person. Me. I locked myself in the bathroom at work and cut my fringe and put my hair in pigtails, and there I was, in the mirror. Me. And the funny thing is that I still absolutely suit this hairstyle. You wouldn't believe the number of compliments I've got. I'm going to keep wearing it like this for a while, until I learn to look in the mirror and see me no matter what my hair looks like.

Last night I wondered what on earth I was doing without cheese in the house. I've been in the habit of living on breadline poverty food like porridge, rice, and lentils, for years. Suddenly my inner ten-year-old was loudly requesting CHEESE, APPLE JUICE, and all the other things that used to be my favourite foods on earth and still are if I actually bother to think about it. So I went out and did some grocery shopping.

I'm not sure I'm going to try giving up procrastination again today. I want a bit longer to just sit with this and go 'what's going on here?' But I think I will be shortly. My procrastination urges, work-dread and feelings of helplessness have gone way, way down, and while I'm not naive enough to think that I will now be perfect and everything will be easy... I think it should be easiER.

I've just (about) come out of a truly awful procrastination slump, and while I still don't feel sure of myself, I did manage to get straight out of bed at 6am this morning, into the shower, and then come here to check in. It's my first good start in a long time.

Over the next 6 days I'm going to be so busy I probably (hopefully!) won't have time to procrastinate. I have a houseguest coming tomorrow (and haven't cleaned the house yet!) and what amounts to an international fan convention over the weekend. So despite the post-slump rockiness, I think today is a good day to try giving up procrastination again, because it should be easier than usual to get those all-important first few days under my belt.

I'm also trying for a freer/more spontaneous way of doing things, with less reliance on rules and timetables - I'm tempted to call this 'The Bert Method' because I think I usually operate under the Mr. Banks Method...

As you may have guessed from my total non-appearance on the forum over the last couple of days, that attempt to give up procrastination didn't go so well.

I'm trying again and with a slightly different attitude this time. I think part of the reason I slipped up, and definitely the reason I stayed down for so long, was that I was viewing this as a huge test of my strength of character and ultimately of my worth as a person. So one slip was a huge failure and made me feel like a huge failure. Nonsense!

There's an article here on why that attitude doesn't work:

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1868965,00.html

I had a great mental image today of my whole edifice of 'I can't, I suck, I'm a failure' as... a Doozer structure from Fraggle Rock For those who aren't familiar with the classic kids' TV show, that means a huge tottering pile of random scaffolding made from rhubarb, with no building inside it and no purpose. Having had that thought, I sat there and mentally watched fraggles eating the whole lot.

(((journey))) (((hope-faith))) (((Helen))) Thanks SO much for the support! I'll take the advice re not counting days in a row...

I managed to stay on the wagon yesterday, and this morning so far, despite a slightly dawdly start (I need to avoid 'having a quick look at my email' or other non-essential internet activities first thing in the morning - even though I did feel in control and did stop when I said I would, it just sets an icky precedent for the day and is too easy to screw up.)

Just need to stay really focused today, use the chatbox and give myself tons of planned breaks - I'm thinking I'll use Focus Booster and Get Back to Work (though I don't approve of the term 'Failures' on that second page - I've got a version somewhere that I hacked to read 'Late successes'

I've decided to try again today. I really haven't been okay since my original fall off the wagon on Day 17. So I had 16 days without procrastination and then 16 days afterwards screwed up by that one fall - I've only just realised this, AFTER deciding to try again today!

I'm going to take this one day, one hour, one minute at a time but I really want to stay on the wagon for good this time. There's a lot riding on it - I can't even explain how much. Wish me luck!