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.

Introduction

Hi, my name is Will.  I have been in counseling for 2 years for an addiction that I have lived with since age 11.  During that counseling for the other issue, I have learned how everthing seems to be interrelated, and where procrastination has held me back.  I am still learning and seeking help.

All my life, I have dealt with procrastination.  I remember not doing homework until the last minute at night, or not at all.  I remember it being "like pulling teeth" as my Mom would say, to get me to do homework.  School never had my attention... I was always dreaming.  The odd part of this is, when I went to college, I did much, much better.  It was something I wanted to do, and I think that helped.  I was graduated with a business degree, at the average gpa for that school, but I could have had B's and A's if there were no procrastination.  I have a problem with being on time, no matter how important the meeting or event, however I am able to be on time for any conference call or telephone call... it's only the meetings or events that I must physically move locations, that I have problems.  I am able to turn in all my work assignments on time, but I skate the cliff constantly. I teeter on major failure every working day... I am just blessed to be in a job where there is no direct supervision at the location I work at, so I do not have to worry about being there at an exact time each day.

I believe the force behind my procrastination is perfectionism.  It became so real to me, when my 4 year old daughter responded to a question.  I asked "sweetheart, why did you not go dance with the rest of your class on stage?".  She said "because I might make a mistake".  It broke my heart, and gave me motivation to do something about my situation, so that I can help her.  Just for info, her mother and I do not say anything to her that makes her feel like she must be perfect, and we also do not praise her too much so that she see's the disparity between what she hears, and what she knows to not be perfect.  As far as I can tell, her mind works the way mine does.

I ALSO see the addiction angle, and it does make sense to me.  My procrastination has a definite "urge buildup, climax, release" which cycles constantly.  I think both need to be treated... the underlying perfectionism and the addictive behaviors of procrastination.

That's enough for now. 

Regards, 

Will  

 

 

hi esc

wanted to stop and say hi. I plan to come back and read later, but i'm trying not to procrastinate right now. That's why i came to the site right now, to plan, organize, dispel my fear.

Welcome!

Welcome Will

You will find kindred spirits here!

Your story about your daughter sounds so much like me when I was a kid!  My teachers called my parents in for a conference because I cried at school over making a B on a test.  They thought my parents were being too hard on me, but my parents explained that it wasn't THEM that expected straight A's, it was ME.  I had forgotten about that but in retrospect it makes so much sense in light of where I am today!

Good luck . . .

 Journey  

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” - Stephen Covey