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.

I'm new and terrified

I feel that I'm hitting bottom with procrastination.  I get to work 6 hours late, don't do any work, then leave in a couple hours.  My home is in unmanageable chaos, it's affecting my children and all aspects of life.  I just got a request asking for an update on something I was supposed to have started 6 months ago, and have done nothing.  I'm terrified of losing my job.  I'm in all kinds of therapy, and have quite a bit of support, but I was excited to find this site, which is so specific to many of my issues.  I'm not really sure what to do on here, start doing the check-ins?  I'm so far gone now that this former queen of to-do lists can't even write down item #1 today.

With so many people giving

With so many people giving different advice, it must feel so overwhelming to choose what to start with. I know that I felt this way to begin with.

My advice is: Start with anything. If there's one thing that I believe in, it is that change induces more change. Change something in your life for the better, anything, no matter how small and you should find that it will spur more change in your life.

For me, one of the first changes I made was the way I brushed my teeth! Basically, I brushed for longer and noticed that it was getting a lot whiter. But just the feeling that I felt when I realised that I'd changed something was quietly incredible. It was almost like, wow, I've changed something about myself - why can't I change the rest? From there, I've made good progress to battling my procrastination.

Hey, that's a VERY good point Steven

Our best thinking got us here, so just doing "something" will get results. Perhaps we can all share some ways on how we've approached things differently, etc.

Your suggestion reminds me

Your suggestion reminds me of another website for organizational things: the woman who started it suggested the following (if I actually follow her suggestion I do get things done.)

She suggests that first thing in the morning you get up, take a shower and get dressed all the way to your sneakers.

The second thing she suggests is to 'shine your sink'.

I have found that she is right: if I manage to get all the way dressed to my shoes I am 'ready' to go and actually am already started. Having the shiny sink is like finding an oasis of clean in the murk of the rest of chaos. That oasis somehow tends to spread organization to other areas of my life...elisaveth

That's FlyLady

She also suggests that you can do anything for 15 minutes.  What progress can you make on one of your projects in 15 minutes?

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flexiblefine
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheNowHabit/

hope4help...

Hello, and welcome! Start with a master list of all the things you have to do. Get it all down on paper - that really helps. Then prioritize it, and work out a plan that you execute using check-ins. But first do the master list. Make a list of everything you want to do. Post that, then you can discuss where to start.

You have to be extremely overwhelmed at this point - so much so you hardly know were to start. I know that's how I've felt when in a situation like yours. Start with the to-do list. It will help!

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Procrastination is the grave in which opportunity is buried.

Pro, Really, a list of

Pro,

Really, a list of EVERYTHING that must be done? The thought of it makes me want to hide under the covers...elisaveth

On a list, off your mind

The idea there is to get all those things out of your head so you can stop worrying about them and start planning what to do about them.  If they're on your mind, they're distracting you from actually doing things.

Once you have them all down, pick one and figure out what the very next thing is that you need to do to move it forward.  Then do that thing.  (Or make a list of those "next things" for all your projects and work from that list.)

The key is to get started.  Start every day, and you'll build momentum.  Keep starting, keep mproving, and don't worry if you have a bad day.  It happens to all of us.

--
flexiblefine
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheNowHabit/