overcoming procrastination once and for all

[skin_man]

There's a lot of talk about whether procrastination is a mental disorder or a biological one. Some even think it's a useful part of people's personalities. What do you guys think about this?

Also can anyone describe a functional process for overcoming procrastination.?

I know chase once described how to overcome depression and honestly, that was very useful. I still go over that blog article and observe that I have also nit suffered depression duce understanding it's process if overcoming it. I think it'll be lovely to have a proces description of overcoming procrastination for all purposes in life.

Thanks guys.

 

[Franco]

Hey skin_man,

I was (and still consider myself to be somewhat of) a procrastinator. In college, I often put off much of my work until the last minute because I had done the same in high school. However, all of the assignments I received in high school could actually be DONE at the last minute, so I got away with it.

College was not the same for me. I got my degree in Computer Engineering, and if there is one thing that I learned from that field of study, it is that procrastination and success is just not possible. I usually needed somewhere on the order of a week or two to finish an entire assignment or program, and I found that, even if I pulled all-nighters for 2 or 3 days in a row, it would sometimes not be enough to finish what I needed to get done, so I had to find a way to change my lifestyle.

There are a few simple techniques that helped me curb my procrastinating tendencies. The number one thing that helped me right off the bat was keeping a schedule on a calendar. I used Google Calendar to start placing EVERYTHING I had or wanted to do on there. I even included fun things on there (such as meeting up with friends to play video games or go out to parties). The purpose of putting the "fun" things on there is to remind yourself that you want to set aside time to actually DO those fun things, but if you don't follow through with the work you schedule and procrastinate instead, then you can punish yourself by not participating in those fun activities and instead use that time to catch up on your work.

Eventually, you begin to realize that it is just so much easier to follow your schedule! You'll start to notice that your life will improve since you are getting the important things done early and leaving your weekends (or whatever days you consider "fun days") free so that you can actually do the things you want to do!

So my advice is: keep a schedule somewhere. I find that an electronic schedule like Google Calendar's is the best. I believe this will help your cause.

- Franco

 

[Chase]

I set a rule for myself that the first thing I'd do in the morning after waking up on a workday was to meditate and get centered and focused on what I'm looking to do with myself and accomplish. The second thing I'd do after that is to crank out one piece of solid production on whatever I'm working on that day. No checking email, no surfing the Internet, no managing of day-to-day activities, no breakfast, no nothing until I had one solid piece of production complete on the day. That way, if all the rest of the day goes to hell, and I open up my email and find there's a firestorm of emergency BS going on and I get really sidetracked and derailed, at least I'd have done something substantial before starting the day and plowing into the grind.

Another thing I did was to take certain days every so often and use them as my "clear the plate" days for hammering out all the nagging little things I'd been meaning to do but hadn't yet done. You know, those things you keep meaning to do but have been pushing off forever... call your credit card company and figure out what that extra finance charge is that keeps popping up on your card. Switch payment processors for your business. Cancel this account or that account. Get this little annoying thing fixed. Etc. The way I tackle these days is, for my piece of production in the morning, instead of working on something big, I write a list of all the little annoying things on my plate that I want to get done. Then, I spend the rest of the day going down that list, one at a time, doing each of them, and crossing them off. After you do this a few times, those things that have been nagging you forever are suddenly gone, and you can focus on only important stuff, instead of nagging, annoying stuff.

Chase

 

[Flames]

Why do now what you can put off till tomorrow?

 

[Garrett]

Why do now what you can put off till tomorrow?

Why put it off if it can get done today?

 

[PinotNoir]

I still procrastinate like crazy and am late meeting friends, etc. (I don't know if these go hand-in-hand.)

For procrastination, I find it's easier to do it in baby steps or small increments. It's kind of like the technique described here to approach women: "I am just going to walk in that direction." "I am just going to walk by." "I am just going to say 'hi', nothing else." "OK, we're talking now; I'm just going to practice deep-diving, not ask for number." "I'll ask for number, but not call." .... It's about getting the expectations, stress, and work out of your head. So, what I will do is just say, "OK, I am just going to read/study/do this for like 5-10 minutes today. That's it." Then you start, and you either get momentum and into it or you can continue, "OK, just 5 more minutes."

If that doesn't work, back in college when I really needed to move my ass, I'd just repeat a mantra all throughout the day (either for that day or for the weekend coming up). "I am studying this weekend. I am getting all of my work done. It is making my life more relaxed and carefree...." Or something like that.

As for showing up late to events, I haven't quite mastered that one yet. Most of the time, I show up to work promptly (the threat of being fired is enough). I just get too caught up in things (reading, thinking, playing an instrument, etc.). I remember a proverb that said something like, "A man who arrives early has nothing better to do." And when I was a kid, whenever anyone said "The early bird gets the worm," I'd just say, "But the late worm doesn't get eaten." I was a bit of a smart ass...

 

[sunnygirl]

I just blocked all websites pertaining to gossip, celebrity drama, breaking news with comment sections, opinion articles, relationship forums (except this one) because I feel like the temptations will always be there, I created a Mycircle account and put in a random password with my eyes closed so I don't even know what it is. This way, whenever I attempt to log into those sites it will say "mycircle" or "privacy error," Everything is cut off now except my schoolwork pages and this website and a couple other neutral ones. I just can't control myself if the urge is there. I'm one of those all or none thinkers, either I'm 100 percent productive or 100 percent procrastinator, either way I'm passionately in the zone. I'd rather spend the zone on self-improvement rather than mindless junk.