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.

First time here

31 May, 2010 - 8:54pm - buff

Hi,

I read the signs of a procrastinator and I realized I had a real problem. It occured to me I have been struggling with this problem for over 20 years without facing it. 

Recently, I had some paperwork due at my job and I put it off for 3 weeks. Each weekend I told myself I would do it. The weekend came, and well, I ended up watching the clock pushing back the start time until later and later. So late I finally had to go to sleep.

It really is a drug addiction cycle. I don't accomplish what I tell people I will. I feel guilty and miserable and it gives me anxiety too. I hide my procrastination from others. It interrupts my sleep as I think about how far behind I am. Until I read some of the articles on this site I didn't realize how bad I had gotten.

I think I am at the rock bottom of procrastination. I finally surrendered and admitted I have a serious problem. I am trying to do some paperwork tonight instead of waiting until I feel like it. It is tough giving up the habit.

-Mark 

‹ also new here Anxiety ›

Using the tools of the PA site

Crazybug - 1 Jun 2010 - 11:29am

Welcome, Buff.  Yes, this is an amazing community and it's so helpful to find folks that REALLY understand the pain that procrastination can wreck in a life. As a person married to an extremely efficient and super-productive individual who's not very empathetic with those who aren't (though a GREAT hubby in all other respects!) I really thought that I would never find support to get through this.  I joined this group last week and had three really productive days (for me anyway) and it made me realize how my procrastination really fed into the cycles of depression that I've suffered from for most of my life. For the first time in years I didn't dread work in the morning. That doesn't mean I was perfect in anyway but I gave myself permission to make small steps and recognize my successes. I have a long way to go but PA has given me hope.

 I know that if I can make progress anyone here can. So you can too!Smile

Welcome!

GetStuffDone - 1 Jun 2010 - 9:36am

:)

Welcome Buff!

Kitty - 31 May 2010 - 9:59pm

Buff, It is so good to have you here.  When I first found PA I couldn't believe there was a group of people that understood this compulsion --and that they were succeeding in recovery.  It's been about  two weeks since I found this site, and I have already felt transformed....gone from feeling like I was semi-living as a wraith to being alive.  Doing things actually feels good now, and I'm not dreading waking up in the mornings.  That's a big change.

There are many brilliant tools that the PA community has created to support each other.  In addition to the online check-in boards and keep-on-track chatbox,
there are weekday phone meetings at 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, as
well as short periodic check-in calls that we schedule during the
morning meetings.  There's also a weekly online meeting on Sundays.  Some people use all the tools, some only one or two--but the beauty is that there are so many to choose from, and they work.  If
you have any questions, please ask.  There are a lot of newcomers here,
as well as people who have been here a while, and we all learn
something from each other every day.

Welcome!

Kitty

P.S.  Here are some quick links to the things I mentioned.

  • 24/7 Chatbox (for checking in while we get things done...it's okay to hang out for a while to see how it works!) :  Visit chatbox
  • Daily M-F Morning Phone Meetings:  These last 15 minutes and are currently held at both 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. (Eastern Time).  For instructions on dialing in, and the latest information, click here.  We also set up periodic quickie phone check-ins throughout the day.  These are held on the same phone bridge at various times during the day (on the half-hour), so you can always dial in to see if anyone is on the line at that time.
  • Sunday's Weekly Online Meeting:  Held in the Meeting Chatbox; click here to learn About the Meeting
  • Face-to-Face Meetings in the Boston, MA, and Madison, WI, areas (which you've already found--that is so great!)
  • I think additional phone meetings are in the works too...these will be announced in June
  • Fantastic general boards with all sorts of useful information