Introductions and Procrastination Discussion

Hey Everyone,

Hi, I’m Savio. I’m 21. Undergrad student in 2nd year MBBS.

By Now---

1. I gym 4 days a week. I’m very happy with the way I look. (And the girls too. Ha-ha.)
2. I spend more time with the people I love, my gf, close friends and family.
3. I know things that make me happy and things I love.
4. I give myself 1 hour each day to be alone & have some quality time. Think. Write.
5. I've simplified my life a lot. My room is no longer messy, as it used to be. I made a rule to keep things that are most useful or loved and give away everything else. Almost.

Hi Everyone... I've procrastinated ever since I can remember. It has caused me MASSIVE and NEEDLESS pain,despair and depression. Recently I've taken a good hard look at myself and made a decision that this will end... I've also made the realization just like others have here that chronic procrastination IS a life destroying addiction (In many ways worse, and harder to rehabilitate than any drug), therefore I'm now regarding it just as seriously as being addicted to heroin, instead of thinking that it's just "a bad habit" like I have in the past. Thinking of procrastination in this manner has changed my attitude alot, and I think it's a perspective that others who suffer from this problem should adopt immediately if they want to change.

Hello. I just registered on this site today after sitting in my office all day doing everything BUT my paperwork. I just can't seem to start...I've procrastinated to the point of exhaustion , and now it's time to go home...I'm really tired from not doing anything I should and everything I shouldn't and I still have to go grocery shopping and pick up supplies for work tomorrow (and go home and pretend I was productive...ugh). Sometimes I feel like it takes every ouce of energy I have just to not stare into space...I'm super anxious...about to jump out of my skin. Anxiety and guilt...I know it would all be better if I'd just start and stay on task. It's not like I've never done it before, but it never fails; I fall right back into the same pattern of letting things build up again. I've been like this all my life: sometimes really productive, producing excellent quality work, then falling behind again. I wonder if I can ever be consistent. There are so many things I want to do.

Anyway, thanks for providing me with a place to rant. I've always thought that one day I'd pull it all together and develop healthy habits, but I'm discouraged. What stops me from doing EASY stuff? Don't mean to sound like a complete screw up...most people have no idea how much this affects me.

I haven't looked around the site that much today (too nervous), but I'd appreciate all the help I can get.

MK

Hi everyone! I just found this site, and boy, does it every strike close to the bone! Especially the article about Demand Resistance. Not that any of it is a surprise to me. I'm a voracious reader, and in school I'd often avoid doing homework by reading. Unless the homework WAS reading, then forget it, I would never get around to it lol.

I'm a stay at home Mom, always at various stages of panic/guilt/avoidance over something. My kids are 8 and 5, starting grade 3 & 1. I'm really worried about how I"M going to keep up with all their school stuff. Schools are extremely dependant on parents for so much, homework, voluteering, school council etc, I almost dread school starting up again, as much as I need some time to myself.

Being a SAHM is MUCH harder than working for $$ (for me). Everything is open ended, no external deadlines - when does the shopping need to get done? What time is supper? Don't even get me started about housework! Everything about it confronts my worst character flaws, every day.

I could really relate to the person (sorry, cant remember your name) who said this is the worst addiction! I used to say to my husband who was trying to quit smoking - Sure it's hard, but drop us on a desert Island - you're cured, I can procrastinate anywhere!

Thanks

Hi,

So how does one write a letter of introduction? Specially when you have to think it through 50 times then reread what you wrote to see if it makes any sense, and then decide if what you said is really what you wanted to share in the first place? Signs of perfectionism? Lord knows?

Im glad I decided to try surfing again on this topic. Seems I may actually have found some place where others can truely relate. Seems it affects all aspects of my life......never on time for anything...... be late for my own funeral if that was possible....my house looks like a bomb hit it or its been ransacked.......and im always running late. Weird thing is im only like this when Im at home. At work I like things neat and orderly and if Im ever at a friends house I'll be one of the first to pitch in and clean up.

ROCK BOTTOM

Today I feel I’ve reached rock bottom in PA. It’s so clear to me what my procrastination has cost and is costing me. Today I had a letter regarding a legal case. It is possible I have left it to late to take action. I do not know if I have as it is a legal matter but I can find out. I do not know if I would have won settled or lost the case but that does not matter either. What I do know is that I have had almost six years to take action and have delayed for whatever reason and I really can’t say why. I can afford to lose the case but that is not the point either.

It is procrastination. I am responsible. I am powerless over my procrastination.

Hi Everyone,

I am so glad I found this site.  And before I get perfectionistic and "never get around" to composing an articulate, witty, stunning introduction email,  I am going to take the advice I've read here so far and just do it.

I am 38 years old and have been (not) writing my PhD dissertation for about 8 years -- and totally panicking.  Procrastination shadowed my early life.  In later years it seems to have swallowed it.

Like many others, I got by on adrenaline and classes that allowed me to make it all up with one paper or exam -- and by going to a college that let me pretty much take whatever I wanted (Brown).  Result:  looked good on paper, was totally incapable (or felt incapable) of actually finishing projects, following through and even imagining the life I was meant to live.

I'm back,

Head hanging in shame etc.

It's nearly one in the morning and I'm awake worrying about papers I need to file at court by next Thursday 19th. I've plenty of time to do it and I've been ill. It should take me about a hour or so to get the work done. I've had nearly six years to do it. I had forgotton and if I don't do it the court won't hear the case.

So I'm back and need to be.

I'll post my todo list later as I think I need to sleep at the moment.

Regards Rexroth

I read some things about ADHD and procrastination here. When I read about ADD, I greatly recognize myself in the symptoms. I am not very hyper-active in my behavior though, but I am feeling restless all the time, and also tend to pick things a lot (fingers, nose, objects). Due to this restlessness I have much difficulties focusing and paying attention to things. At least this is how I feel.

When I talked to my company counselor (a psychologist) about my problems last year, I mentioned ADHD. She did some tests with me, among which some tests focusing on attention/focusing. To my own surprise, I scored quite well on these tests. My counselor then concluded that ADD could not be the problem. She then referred me to a psycho-therapist, who concluded that, briefly said, I was unable to focus on long-term goals and could not ignore short-term satisfaction. Although this helped me in understanding myself a little more, it has not really improved my problems.

Hi everyone,
I just discovered this website tonight when I was messing around wasting time on the internet instead of doing something productive. Hopefully it will turn out to be a positive thing! I'm most definitely a procrastinator and have been for many years. I have accomplished a lot, but usually put a great deal more stress on myself than would be necessary by putting things off until the last minute. I finished my Ph.D. in nursing about a year and a half ago and have been teaching in a nursing department for the last nine years. I'm currently taking classes towards a post-master's certificate in an online family nurse practitioner program. I'm happily married and have two daughters that are married. They live close by and we get to spend time togther regularly, which I love. I feel like I have a great life in most respects, but I drive myself crazy (as well as my family and co-workers, I'm sure) by ALWAYS running late (about 5-10 minutes), staying up until 3 am finishing projects, and just in general pracrastinating on about everything. Also, my office at home is always a disaster so it is a stressful work environment.