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.
Allovertheplace's January Project
December 2012
I tend to get very excited about a variety of projects, research them to infinity (it has to be just right....perfectionism rears it's ugly head) then forget about them almost as quickly. Someone wise has pointed out that part of this is a form of emotional regulation. It goes something like this:
I experience frustration with something in my life (feelings of failure and overwhelm)...I get excited about it and feel some relief. As my negative emotions dissipate, I no longer "need" the project.
However, in the long term, I become more and more disappointed with myself as I perceive I do not carry through with the projects I start. These projects are often typical life stuff i.e. cleaning out clutter, starting a regular exericise program. The other issue that is clearly here is just being able to deal with negative emotions as they arise in a constructive way.
I don't know how to battle this beast, except one little bit at a time. I thought a good place to start might be to pick one thing and mindfully work away at it for a short period of time, using this log to document my experience. To provide a structure, I thought I would start with this free e-course on creating a habit: http://www.raisinghappiness.com/class/free-online-class/ and if anyone else wants to give it a go, it's free!
So I'm going to start here. 
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New Year's Eve
Well, I watched the intro video and part of the first day's video (which they posted early). The videos are actually calming and reassuring (Jay- it might lower your stress to watch it!). I like that the instructor talks about battling her own perfectionism and making resolutions working towards growth rather than for avoiding something negative.
In the intro video it talks about the importance of scheduling a daily time to work on this habit. This is key for me! Otherwise it is completely forgotten!
thank you!
hello allovertheplace, i listened to the happiness programme today (day 1) and did the worksheet. it is massively beneficial, i homed in on a habit to change.
i intend to do the whole programme, it's good that it's removed daily as it makes you do it
so thank you!
jay
Hi Jay,Glad to know
Hi Jay,
Glad to know you're giving it a go as well! I get nervous but keep trying to remind myself to start small.. :)
I meant to go back and watch the intro video again because they had an amazing (lengthy) quote from someone about growth and change, but it was gone! I'll have to see if I can track it down at some point. Edit: I found it: it was by Lee Lipsenthal.
new years eve
hi allovertheplace, yes, great find, i listened to half the intro and looked at the fisrt work sheet
my concentration is bad...but funny i like that i can take consideration over resolutions!!
thank you
yes! i need to cultivate some self belief
hello
i've been giving this some thought, i tend to overwhem myself with 'changes' or wanting to make changes however i am so inconsistant that i inevitably fail on all counts.
this year i was diagnoised with an auto immune system disease which affects all aspects of my health including cognitive, plus my short term memory is badly impared so i live by lists and post it's more and more
i need to properly research it...but i find it stressful and drift on to pointless web browsing
i'm going to check out the happiness site
ultimately i need to find within me some self belief, i need a career of some sort to gain some self respect, it's all a vicious circle really, one feeding the other
self belief will only comw with finished projects
how do i make myself believe i can achieve?
when all i've ever known is failure and giving up
maybe picking small chances that i can be consistant with then add to is the way forward
there is a massive project that is highly stressful and complicated that i have procrastinated so badly that i find i now have to make excuses for..and the fact i havn't acted on it is going to have massive implications. i guess it's always in the back of my head nagging away
think my heart rate has sky rocketed typing about it
i need to control my stress
Jo re New Year's Resolutions
I don't really make New Year's Resolutions but I try to follow Leo Babauta's method of a monthly focus. Last year, I worked on building several habits (meditation, mindful eating, procrastination awareness, and eating more vegetables) but I totally fell off the wagon on all of these habits during the holiday season. It was a fun time with lots of family and friends but not a good time for building healthy habits!
I've learned that, although it's tempting to try to change everything at once, it's much more effective to work on building one habit at a time. So my monthly focus for January is daily meditation. I know that spending a few minutes of quiet time each day is the foundation for building all other good habits, so my focus in January will be to spend at least five minutes in meditation each day.
Jo
Let your purpose rule your day - Steve Chandler