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.

Hey Everyone.

 

Hey there everyone. My name is Dante and I am a procrastinator. That's how these things are supposed to go right? At any rate, I've always had a big problem with avoiding tasks. Ever since I was little I waited until the very last moment to get things done or I completely avoided them. It wasn't that I didn't want to do them or that I wasn't aware that I needed to do certain things, but I always seemed to come up with excuses oh I just need to talk to this person, or 5 more minutes on the computer I have to read this article, etc. The reason I even stumbled upon this website was that I had googled "procrastination is ruining my life." The reason was that after staying since wednesday and having well over 48 hours of free time to study for my two exams I had gotten a total of maybe 2 hrs of actual study time. Finally I got fed up with the situation and installed a program to block all non esential websites on my computer. That worked pretty well for about an hour then I simply started to watch tv but what really woke me up so to speak was the fact that I found a way around the system that I had installed. I was back to wasting time on FB etc. 

Really I just want some help. I need to find a way to become an effective person. I am so tired of sitting idly by watching all the things I want in life and all my projects go by the way side because I procrastinate too much. God know's how many times I have heard the "You are so smart, Dante. You are really wasting your potential doing nothing" speech. But I can never seem to get started on a project, and when I do I can't stay on task for very long. When I am studying I get up and go to the bathroom every 15 mins not because I really need to go to the bathroom I just have a need to get up and avoid doing the task at hand. I'll walk around aimlessly in the library and look up things that are completely irrelevant. Even now, I have two exams tomorrow and I can't seem to muster the impetus to start studying so I am using this post to waste so much time. 

 So, how do I stop procrastinating and realize a more effectie me?  

 

Thank you for your time, 

Dante

Welcome Dante

'You become what you think about most of the time.' - Brian Tracy

Hi Dante

Glad you're here. :-)

 I'm a student, too, and i can really relate to everything you wrote! And thats actually pretty much how I came upon PA, too....so... for once, procrastinating did something good for you....brought you here! Now keep coming back!

This is a good place to be. You can use the daily check-in boards to keep track of what you need to do and commit to doing it. Everyone here is really supportive when things get rough, and we all understand how it feels. The most important thing is to just take BABY STEPS. Thats what really makes a difference for me.

So maybe instead of tackling "studying for 2 exams", you could just get out your notes and textbooks, then congratulate yourself on making progress. Next, maybe make a list of what exactly you need to study. Celebrate again! Then pick ONE thing on the list....and DO it. Study. Just ONE thing. Yay, you did it again! Its all about positive re-inforcement. :-)

So... Welcome. :-)

((dante))

Thanks for your honesty and courage in looking at yourself ......wish I had the same decades ago when I did in school exactly what you did -- and let it fester until now in different ways; the specifics of this or any recovery method will come to you espec if you have made it thus far already. Meanwhile, in a round about way, feel lucky to have this experience and examination. We are all made luckier, too, by experiences and honesty of those like you. May I be the first to WELCOME you.