Maybe anxiety is the cause of procrastination, but maybe I procrastinate just because it is easier to sit at the computer all day than to do actual work.
Sometimes lazy is just lazy. Saying that “laziness is just the outer expression of something else: fear, depression, anger, etc.” is a real stretch. In this case, it seems to be due to avoidance of doing things which are less pleasant. If you’re a shy guy, it’s not easy to go outside your comfort zone, but that’s exactly what you’re going to have to do.
You have to do some things that are difficult, and even very uncomfortable, to grow as a person the way you want to.
It is OK to feel uncomfortable sometimes. It really, really is. Just because something is difficult, does not mean it is impossible for you to do it.
I tend towards procrastination a lot, and I find the best thing to do is to commit myself to deadlines above what deadlines I’m given. So for example, if a paper is due in a month, I will make a schedule so that my research is done by this date, and my outline is done by that date, and so on. The tough part is that self-imposed deadlines are easy to pretty soft, so you have to make sure you treat them as hard deadlines. Writing down the schedule and posting it somewhere helps, but it still require a bit of mental trickery.
Not if you’re aware that you want to be doing something more productive. Not if you’re frustrated with yourself. Not if you’re not happy or excited or alive or looking forward. If you’re 21 years old and you find it incredibly difficult to pry yourself away from mildly entertaining games and websites, that suggests very strongly to me that something, somewhere, is very troubling with you. Anxiety, depression, ADD. But a healthy, intelligent, vital young person who doesn’t seem to care about much isn’t happy. And if you aren’t happy, it’s not “easy” to sit in your unhappiness, it’s just inertia.
I wish you the best, truly. Life is so much briefer than you know, and you are very much in the prime of yours. All possibilities are open to you right now - if you find you can’t reach out for any of them, maybe you will at least reach out for some help.
I have two little tricks for you. They may seem very tiny and insignificant but are actually very powerful if you apply them. As you probably sense, on some level, it’s you that’s standing in your way and nothing else. Here’s a couple of things to break your self defeating habit.
Firstly, you must stop defining yourself this way. Be extremely cautious of how you end any sentence that begins with, “I am…”. It’s sort of like what the Buddhists say about how we create our own reality. Self awareness and self assessment is all well and good, don’t get me wrong. but as you define yourself, even casually, so shall you become.
The difference between, “I am too lazy to succeed…”, and “I wish I were less lazy.” may seem insignificant, but it’s not. They present two very different futures, when you think about it. One where you’ve already determined that you are lazy and won’t succeed, and one where there is the possibility for success if only you were less lazy.
I double dog dare you to try this, just for a week. It sounds like it would be the easiest thing in all the world. As someone who was presented with this same challenge, be prepared that’s it’s extremely difficult for people who are standing in their own way. When you realize you misspoke, take it back and rephrase it. Your inability to remember this one tiny thing is your defeating nature being stronger than you. And recognizing it, when you see, it is half the battle.
The second thing is also very tiny and so trivial and silly that it seems it could not possibly be effective. I was taught that it had to be tied to some physical action you do everyday. I chose when I was pouring the water from the kettle for my morning tea, but it could be anything you do everyday. All you do is, and I am aware of how silly this sounds, as you’re pouring the water from the kettle, say, out loud, “Today I give myself permission to break my pattern and stay on task!” I know it doesn’t sound like much, but I swear it works. And if you found challenge #1 difficult at all, be prepared this one is killer hard. That self defeating part of you, that keeps you from achieving your daily goals, is a more powerful demon than you might imagine. Don’t believe me? Try it and see.
When you realize, as you climb into your bed you totally forgot both of these things, you’ll begin to recognize what’s really standing in your way of you being who you want to be - you are! And that alone can help you move beyond where you are currently stuck.
Good Luck!
I’m a lifelong procrastinator, and I’ve come to realize that it’s just not going to change. I just can’t do anything until the last minute So now, instead of fighting it, feeling bad, beating myself and making it this huge deal, I plan for it. I figure it’s just my working style. And the result are as they always were- just fine.
So I plan to keep the day before the assignment (or whatever) free and spend the rest of the time actually enjoying myself rather than doing the whole “I’m going to stay home and work, but actually that just means I’m going to stay home a procrastinate” thing. I sleep in, because I know I’ll be up late that night. I keep my house stocked with snacks so I’m ready for hunkering down for however long it takes.
One positive thing I do is build up some “preparation” tasks before the project that I can do in my spare time without feeling like I’m committing to “doing the project.” I’m fine doing some preliminary research, or outlining, or messing with charts or whatever, as long as I feel it’s a discrete task that stands on it’s own. Psychologically, this is somehow okay to do in a way that, say, writing a first draft is not.
I agree it’s not ideal, but if it’s how I am, I guess that’s just how I am.
back in the dorms now. I made it through the whole break without doing any work.
Laziness and procrastination are both difficult problems to handle. I’d suggest tackling them one at a time. You could start with procrastination. That means you can still be lazy, but you have to be lazy right now. Or you could start with laziness. That’s more of a challenge, but you can always start tomorrow…
As a life-long procrastinator who did the exact same things with the exact same results as PSXer throughout my high school and college career (all papers done at the last minute, minimal studying/cramming the night before, all As), I can tell you that “focusing on the fear” isn’t a workable solution. First of all, it’s too vague of a solution. Second of all, the fear itself can be so vague that there’s literally nothing to focus on.
I discussed my procrastination problem with a counselor once, trying to figure out “why” I do this to myself when I could just as easily complete my work on the first day of the week, or the first hour of the day, then relax with a free conscience, instead of pissing off the whole day until the final hour, or the whole week until the final day, getting more and more anxious as the deadline drew near. Her answer was, “Because that’s what works for you.”
In other words, I wasn’t anxious about the outcome or the task itself, or some other, deep-seated fear, but I seem to require the kind of adrenaline rush that comes with the anxiety of waiting until the last minute to get a task done!
I suffer from anxiety and am a dedicated procrastinator, and I am very, very happy. Very happy.
I cannot commit to “artificial deadlines” imposed on myself, for myself, because they simply do not work. I have one of the most meticulously organized houses you could ever imagine. There isn’t a drawer or closet that doesn’t look like it came out of “The Organizer’s Guide To Closets and Drawers”. But sometimes big messes just happen for one reason or another. Big messes stress me out to the max. The obvious and easy answer is to just clean it up. It never takes more than an hour or two, tops, even at its worst. Usually only half an hour to pick everything up, put it where it belongs, make the bed and put the dishes in the dishwasher. Voila, clean house.
And yet, it sits.
Sometimes I have to resort to inviting friends over to force myself to clean up, because there’s no way in hell I’d ever let someone see me living like that.
I’m still a very happy person. Just a freakishly neurotic procrastinator who usually needs an external reason to get things done. 
I seriously could have written the OP at one time, scarily down to the Sega Hockey, and I ended up not finishing school. Turned out some classes didn’t work with that whole “learn it all at the last minute” method of studying (I’m looking at you, twice-failed Accounting I).
Now I’m 35 and doing ok in life but I regret not doing better in school. I was just diagnosed with adult ADD last summer and my doc said the way I skated through most of school with last minute cramming is a hallmark of ADD and one of several other anecdotal recountings that helped him give an official rx.
PSXer, have you ever talked to anyone about ADD or depression?
no I am scared to talk to people but at this moment I am determiend to go to campus counseling services tomrorow. I just hope I am so dedicated tomorrow
I’ve been doing hypnotherapy with an MD for this once a week for a year with good results. If you are near Walnut Creek, CA I can put you in touch with him, PM me.
I’m sure you’d come up with something to say. If not, the counselor probably has ways of making you talk. 
If nothing else, just print out the first post of this thread and bring it with you.
Good luck!
Just fucking do it. Then do it some more. Keep doing it.