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.

Also new, looking for an accountability buddy

I am having a lot of trouble forcing myself to work on my dissertation and I do not have the luxury of time to waste. I have a defense date set, a job lined up, and my research lab is running out of money to pay me. In the past I have done well with daily goals and tracking my time expenditure, but now I am having trouble bringing myself to do that. Days have gone by where I have wasted time on the web all day long. Deadlines fly by and I look worse and worse in the eyes of my advisor and colleagues. 

I know that I'm sabotaging  myself and my levels of shame and anxiety keep rising every day, ironically making it harder and harder for me to get started on what I need to do and keep myself from indulging in distractions for the sake of immersing myself in an activity where I don't have to face my past and current failures. 

I know that the best motivation would be intrinsic, and I go through spurts when I'm really focused and on point, but once I drift out of one of those periods I find it increasingly difficult to get back into them. I'm currently in a pretty bad spot focus-wise. I'm looking for someone to act as a mutual accountability buddy to help steer me back on track when I'm starting to drift like this. 

I have browsed around the forum and seen some of the tools that people have found to help them. I think that these could help me, but I am looking for something a little more personal - i.e. someone who will call me out if I haven't checked-in, etc. Someone who is willing to look over my time logs on a daily basis and make sure that I'm continuing to track my time - and that I'm spending time on my top priority goals. 

This would be a commitment, and I am of course willing to act as an accountability buddy for that person as well, in the capacity they think would work well for them. Anyone looking for a similar arrangement?

Hmm... so how does this work?

You tell your buddy what you're going to do and then report back at the end of the day to tell them how much you have done thereby guilting yourself to do more?

 

I supposed the theory is allright though I think I'd end up just having to send a blank email at the end of the day listing what I've done :(

 

If you still need one, pm me.

The Big D.

Hi Guess,

I'm also working (or rather, not working) on my dissertation.  I also have a job lined up.  I do not have a defense date, though - I'm not that far along.  Plus, I'm not sure anyone actually expects me to finish at this rate/anymore.  Maybe an "accountability buddy" is just what I need!  If you are still looking for one, email me (jennyfleur) at gmail.  And good luck!

Jenn