Serious problem with procrastination

[thatpfunk]

I am a horrible procrastinator. I used to be a pretty average procrastinator (waiting until the night before), but I have become much worse this past year. Example: I had 3 essays due today none of which I turned in. Last night I stayed up late like I would do them and instead just found other things to do- I vowed not to play poker, so instead I have just sat and played probably 8 hours of solitare (probably the biggest waste of time in life).

Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions that may have worked? It is getting pretty absurd for me and I know it as it is happening, I just can't get myself up to do anything until I know that there is absoultely no possible way out of it, then I figure out a way to lie or give an excuse to get some extra time /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[NutCrackerr]

I'll get around to posting a suggestion later.

[El Barto]

There have been threads on procrastination in the Psychology forum.

[thatpfunk]

I tired a search for anything within the past year but could find nothing of consequence.

[FatMan]

I used to be a serious procrastinator. My report cards read "very bright, but needs to apply himself more". I floated along until a professor gave me the best advice I ever received. His class was great as you got to grade yourself. There was no finals, you just met with him for an hour at the end of the class to decide what your grade should be. I knew I had [censored] around in his class and so I was gonna give myself a C. He told me I was a "whole" thinker, meaning I view everything as a whole. He said I view things like papers as one big problem and never find a place to start, using the excuse of "there's just too much to do." He said I needed to break it down into smaller pieces, such as creating and outline, or even just gathering research materials, etc. Here is the phrase I use to this day, "It's king of like eating an elephant, don't think 'Oh My God I can never eat an elephant.' Just take it one bite at at a time." He wound up giving me a B+ and that just shocked me at that time because I felt I didn't deserve it. I took his comments and applied them. Here is what I did. When a assignment/paper/program was due I would go to a place where I couldn't be distracted, i.e. the library, computer lab, etc. right after the class the assignemnt was for. I would force myself to do something, anything related to the assignment even if it was just creating a word doc with a title page and nothing else. Most of the time that little step would get me going and I could knock it out right then. It was the toughest thing I ever did at the time, changing my procrastinating ways. It takes discipline though, it's like sitting at a poker table for 3 hours and mucking hand after hand. You have to break it down into small, manageable tasks. You have to get to someplace where there are zero distractions. But you have to make the initial effort. You'll find as you complete one task it is easy to move on to the next. Hope this helps.

[fsuplayer]

but I have become much worse this past year. Example: I had 3 essays due today none of which I turned in.

I think you have blown past procrastination, and are now just a full blown lazy piece of [censored].

make deals with yourself, like no poker (or drinking or whatever) until you do say, 2 of the 3 essays.

you really need to get this under control. it sounds pretty bad. if nothing works, maybe a psychologist might help. PM bigbait (milo), he might know.

fsuplayer

[NLSoldier]

Check out my thread entitled "how do you study" in the psychology forum

[Alobar]

The sooner you fall behind, the more time you have to catch up

[ThaSaltCracka]

where do you "study" at?

[spamuell]

I used to do this a lot as well.

I don't really think it's a problem if you can get away with it.

Everything that needs to be done does seem to get done in the end though, I don't know how. I never remember anything about an all-nighter more than one day later.

[lu_hawk]

Procrastination is like masturbation. It feels good while you are doing it but in the end all you've really done is f yourself.

[thatpfunk]

Deals, etc don't really work for me. Example, this weekend i stayed in to "write papers" and would end up doing nothing. As I said in my post, I will have everything in front of me, ready to write, and just find any excuse not to do it (hence the many hours of wasted time spent playing solitaire this last week. that is a definite low and last resort in my procrastinating life).

As far as where I study, I'm an enlgish major so the majority of my stuff is writing papers. I am either at my desk or in a computer lab.

Over this past semester I've been wondering if sub-consciously I am trying to sabotage myself because I don't really want college to be over. Who knows, I'll get it done over the next few days, and my professors will accept it, but I don't know if I'll ever understand why I bring this anxiety and pressure into my life. /images/graemlins/confused.gif

Thanks for the help guys.

[Non_Comformist]

Great post, very insightful and something I will try myself.

Thanks

NC

[Phat Mack]

Nice post!

There is a story Pirsig tells in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. He was teaching English and assigned his class the writing of an essay describing their home town. One girl came to him and said she couldn't do it--there was nothing to write about.

He told her to write just about the main street of her town, and bring him the essay. She came back, still frustrated, with nothing written. So he told her to write about the first building on the right as you enter Main St.

She comes back: no essay. She can't get started. Pirsig tells her to write a description of the brick in the upper left-hand corner of the first building on the right on the main street of her home town.

She comes back with a ream of paper. It's the first installment; she can't stop writing about her home town.

[4thstreetpete]

[ QUOTE ]
I'll get around to posting a suggestion later.

[/ QUOTE ]

RFLMAO! /images/graemlins/grin.gif