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.
Procrastination & Fatigue
Hey y'all. I'm new here. I'm a college student and I'm a chronic procrastinator. Being a chronic procrastinator and a college student is a deplorable match. I was full time when I started the fall semester and because of my procastination, it cost me to drop three of my classes leaving me with one left. I could've finished my studies quickly but it seems this condition has taxed almost all of my dreams. My friends at school do not take me seriously anymore. I'm well aware that my excuses for not getting school work done undermined their confidence in me. My educational goals relate to the medical field (to become an RN and proceed premed) and there's alot of pressure to be prompt and punctual - something I'm apparently uncapable of. My parents also, they're disappointed in me. It's as if my condition is not serious at all. It's branded as extreme sloth instad. I don't really mean to procrastinate, it's just it's come to the point where it feels like an addiction or a negative behavior pattern. At the startof the day, I wake up with the best intentions to get things done only to be disappointed and filled with regrets and could've-beens by the end of the day because I couldn't do them. It's a mental struggle, if you will. And because of it, I've developed an anxiety disorder. Has anybody ever gone through the same thing? We procrastinate so hard and we end physically and mentally fatigued.
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i know EXACTLY where you are
Hi Taka,
If you are a freshman, I am you three years down the road. I'm a senior and procrastination has basically destroyed my years in college, and has affected all my relationships in little to huge ways. My GPA is low, my dreams feel dissipated, and I feel haunted by the trail of disappointed professors I've left behind. So many of them have told me not to waste my potential, but I can't seem to get things straight. I know I have a lot to offer the world, but I can't seem to tap into myself.
I finally recognized last fall that I do suffer from anxiety, which is sometimes crippling. I often get fatigued too, like it's in my bones. I cannot make myself get up for the life of me, and every morning is a nightmare. Each evening is equally bad. And all the white lies I have to tell to keep my world sputtering on is eroding my self-worth. I'm in this cycle of depression, procrastination, anxiety, and back again, and it is wearing me out.
I went to several free therapy sessions provided by the university health services, and I went to a couple of private sessions with a psychologist I was referred to, but I couldn't stick with it. While talking to someone made me feel better for a little bit, I couldn't figure out what I had to do. I still don't know how to overcome this problem.
It IS a condition, an addictive pattern of behavior, and I think it gets fed by creating other little addictions and patterns... I don't know. Procrastination, I guess thankfully, is my only 'addiction.' Now if only I could defeat it... All I know is, I'm finally at a point where I've realized it's now or never.
~Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
But a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
Pr. 13:12
Sympathize
Thank God I'm not alone! Manas, your post was spot on. Like you, I can't seem to tap my potential. And yes it is an addiction fed by little addictions on the side. Alas, now that the semester is nearing its end, I found out that I'm fixed at a letter grade of C in my Antomy & Physiology class. Disappointing to the core. I watched with tremendous self-loathing as my neighboring seatmates gleefully anounce their more impressive standing in class. Not to mention the self-pity that erodes my mood, which ends up turning people off confusing me for sad, hopeless, or unreasonably pessimistic. And i'm right with you there on that horrid cycle (depression - procrastination - anxiety).
"That which the fool does in the end, the wise man does in the beginning."
--R. C. Tench
Thinking the same thing
Very interesting. As I was lounging for far too long in the bath tub tonight, I was thinking about this very same thing - how depression and anxiety are linked to procrastination, as I feel I've struggled with all three. Hadn't read much about it on this site so far, until I found this thread.
While my university days are farther behind me than I care to mention, I can totally relate to your observations regarding self-pity and "turning people off". I continue to battle with this. For me, I become completely consumed by my anxiety and that's all I can think or talk about, which I'm sure is hard for those around me to tolerate in large doses or over prolonged periods of time.
The cause of my anxiety is most often NOT my procrastination, but because it completely overwhelms me, my anxiety eventually does cause me to procrastinate in other areas. I can't get my mind off what's making me anxious; I can't settle down to do anything productive; I feel everything's conspiring against me and me only.
Taka, you are not alone!
Hi Taka,
>I'm a college student and I'm a chronic procrastinator. Being a chronic procrastinator and a college student is a deplorable match.
Serious procrastination problems are very common among college students - you're by no means alone in this. If you google "procrastination", many of the sites that come up are university counseling centers trying to help students like you.
I was a procrastinator in college, too, and it continued right through my professional life. School and work are my main areas of procrastination. I've found bookending here to be extremely helpful, and I'll bet you will, too.
Click the "Forums" button at the top of the Web site, then click the Check-ins board. The first message listed, "Why bookending works", will tell you how to get started.
hi Taka!
You are most certainly not alone! Welcome. I've had days where I spent literally hours staring at my computer in numb terror, unable to do the smallest task. It sucks!
Many of us have found bookending to be helpful; we post our "to do" lists throughout the day and help each other stay focused. Today's post is here. Post your list and updates as replies to the main post.
Good luck!