Introductions and Procrastination Discussion

Hi,
My name is Ritva and I am procrastinator (what a terrible word, I do not know how you pronounce it). I am female and I live in Finland in a small village. I am also a compulsive overeater in OA and sometimes I go to AA meetings because of the 12 step recovery program. I am married, sometimes I have thougt of divorce and him to take our son with him not because of him but because of myself. I would have less work if I lived alone and I might manage life better.

I wonder if there are any on line 12 step meetings for us the proc...

I am looking for a sponsor. I had a sponsor in OA but she said I have to send e-mail every day and do the steps every day. To send e-mail every day was impossible for me you surely understand why.

Hello, I've admitted that I'm a chronic procrastinator

Can you believe that...just figured it out?  I knew I had a problem but had a hard time pin-pointing it.  You would think going days without showering, living with clutter everywhere; not leaving the house would have given me a clue.  Well, what has really opened my eyes is the breakup of a relationship.  The reason for the breakup?  I won't commit to what I say I'm going to do.  I actually drove a man away because of that.  He actually meant a lot to me but I couldn't get myself to act...not even for love.  This loss has devastated me.  He would tell me my procrastination made him crazy.  I would try and commit and try and commit and not do it every time.  I knew what was at stake but I still couldn't act.  I've read some site content about demand resistance.  I would even tell him that for some unconscious reason, knowing that it was something I had to do, made me more inclined to not do it.

Hi, I'm Thomas C., compulsive procrastinator.

I've noticed two things since I discovered this site:

1. When I post, I procrastinate a lot less, and get a lot more done.

2. I post sporadically or at least inconsistently, not every day.

One reason I don't post is that I don't procrastinate on some things, like getting going in the morning. I notice that some people put in their check-ins such self care as brush teeth, shower, dress, etc. I don't need to post about those tasks, because I do them. We have to get our daughter to school on time, so we have the morning routine down pat. Also, right after I get to campus, I handle meditation, brushing teeth & flossing, and anything else that can be handled in a bathroom. ;-)

I wish some sort of authority or some powers-that-be organized and officialized a rehab center for people who suffer from chronic procrastination. I'd be running and signing myself in there before anyone else. I see great success when people are in their collective setting with a common predicament, helping eachother, and encouraging eachother. Wouldn't you guys agree?

Is it time binging if you are working and it is something on your list like last night when I could not sleep I stayed up and did task on my list .  Is it time binging if you stay on the same task on your list until it it done.  One of my problems is because my house is such a mess simple things mya take me way longer.  That is why I started the in progess list. To give myself credit even if the project can not be completed in a session.

Noticed the google ad at the top of the page about the 12 steps to confusion and aa is a cult.  It struck me as interesting, so I decided to check it out.    Kinda weird if you ask me.  Of course I am biased, since I myself am a pretty avid "12 stepper" as the "rational recovery" site call us.  The 12 steps pulled me out of my darkest hour and absolutely saved my marriage and my parents lives.   Curious whether PA is responsible for those ads or whether they are randomly generated.  I am thinking they are randomly generated. 

HI...I suppose here's an intro.
I'm 23, in university taking psychology and english. I recently got way too far behind in school and I feel like I shouldn't have ever started with university considering I have 2 more semesters left and I don't even have a remote clue what I want to do with it. But anyways, I'm so close so I suppose I should finish and have something to open more doors to me, or whatever they say an education does for a person. :p

Anyways, I think I've realized my procrastination stems from some serious self-esteem issues. I've always been pretty ADD I think, and bad at remembering stuff, keeping myself in the loop, focusing and all that, and when I was a kid that was all true except when teachers/parents would remind me of stuff, I'd happily get at it and try my best to stay on task, and never experience this terror or bad feelings or panic or anxiety. Now it's different. It isn't being scattered that is the problem, it's some gut-wrenching fear of the displeasure and failure that could come with actually doing my work. It's fairly illogical...if I actually get into something I can do just fine, but these days i never seem to 'actually get into something', and this started during some rough spots in highschool and hasn't changed since.

I couldn't find a forum for new members to introduce themselves so I started this one.

I am and have always been a chronic procrastinator. I also have an addictive personality and used to be an active member of ACA UK. I am 13 years clean of any substance (except caffeine) and get addicted to everything and anything. I liked your description of Procrastination as addictive escapism, as this could sum up my addictive behaviour. To be honest, once I decided to give up the previous substances I found it quite easy, but I think that's because I'm an all or nothing sort of guy. However, I struggle with food issues and entertainment - for example I had to tell my wife to change my WOW password because it was taking over my life. And those two are difficult because I can't escape them so easily.

"Excuses are the tools that a person with no purpose or vision uses to build great monuments of emptiness."
(author unknown to me)

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If I can't do it perfectly, I'll do it anyway. If I can't do it all, I'll do some. If I do nothing, nothing gets done.

"I don't feel like it" is a poor sacrifice for your dreams.

I mentioned on the Check-Ins Forum that I've come up with some steps that seem to be helping me stop procrastinating (when I actually get myself to engage in this process). I thought I'd share it here:

When I see something on my to do list that causes me anxiety or other discomfort when I consider doing it, or when I realize I am procrastinating about doing something, I write down answers to #1-6 and do #7-8:

1. What is the worst that could happen if I do the thing I’m anxious about?
2. What is the worst that could happen if I don’t do the thing I’m anxious about?
3. If I don’t do it, are there alternatives? (e.g., delegate it, don't do it at all, do something else that addresses the same thing)
4. Acknowledge that I truly have the power to choose whether to do it or not (bearing in mind that sometimes I feel as though I am trapped, but this feeling does not reflect reality—I might not like any of the alternatives, but I have the power to choose among them and maybe to create new alternatives as well).