Looking for a cure for procrastination

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m a procrastinator. No, not like you people; I’m a world-class procratinator. For example, when I got my driver’s license, I didn’t get a car for four years. I HAD the money to get a car, I just didn’t want to go through all the hassle.

So here’s my question: what are you thinking and feeling just before you get off your ass and start some chore?

What thoughts and/or emotions get you out of the chair or off the bed?

I have two: (1) If I can see/understand every individual step in a project before I start, and (2) if I can anticipate the sense of accomplishment I will feel after the job is done, I can get moving.

But if I think there will be roadblocks or I can’t get excited by the idea of the job already finished, then I won’t start.

So I ask you motivated people: what things are you folks thinking and feeling before a task that get you moving?

2

I’ll tell you later…

3

Damn it, I was going to open a thread like this yesteday. And Lazlo , I’m going to give you a piece of my mind for that flippant answer, just you wait and see.

4

The Now Habit :cool:

5

I’m a huge procrastinator, but I harnessed it as a force for Good.

To perform any task without a problem, just find some other great and horrible task you REALLY want to put off… then occupy yourself with the first task, that way you don’t have to even think about the really bad one.

I’ve written all sorts of articles while procrastinating doing the lawn or cleaning the house. I walk in, look at the mess… and all of a sudden I have all sorts of ambition for working on the book, doing illustrations, adding articles to the website, etc.

6

This should be in the IMHO forum, IMHO.

I’ve heard the best technique is to break the daunting task into smaller, manageable mini-tasks. Another way is to promise yourself a reward after completing the unpleasant task. The “lesser of two evils” approach can definitely be effective: if you are procrastinating about grocery shopping, tell yourself you really should be filling out your tax return…

I do sympathize with the OP. I tend to procrastinate for weeks over the most minor of tasks - e.g. calling to change my cellphone plan, paying a utility bill. Freud would probably say it’s the subconscious rebelling because it doesn’t want to pay that utility bill.

7

I read some of the readers’ reviews of this book. Looks helpful. Some day I’ll check it out! Seriously, I think I do things “under the wire” because of the challenge of seeing how fast I can get stuff done. Not the best thing to do when road blocks occur. Can cause stress.

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I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this, and I really do believe that it’s different for everyone. I get the least done when I try to work under someone else’s schedule, or a schedule someone made me make. Your best bet is to pay attention to yourself; see what works for you and what doesn’t, and most importantly, pay attention to what inspires you.

9

I put things off; I dread things too. But boy does it feel awesome to get it outta the way. You have to do it sooner or later.

Are your family members procrastinator’s too? That can be a big influence—I bet.

Did you not want to get your drivers license either? Did you delay that as well?

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Off to IMHO.

DrMatrix - GQ Moderator

11

In my family, procrastination is not just an option, it’s almost a religion. :smiley:

I’m convinced that a change in attitude is the key to curing procrastination, but I can’t figure out what that attitude is (beyond the two things I mentioned above.)

12

You can’t be that much of a procrastinator … you actually got your driver’s license, didn’t you?

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For some reason procrastination can be associated with depression and anxiety. Some of the antidepressent drugs have a marked effect on reducing procrastination. BUT I would personally consider such drugs are not suitable to use for procrastination if procrastination is the only problem. (I have been prescribed antidepressents for my depression for years, they are useful drugs, but their side effects are such that you only want to use them if the thing you are trying to cure is badly effecting your life. )

14

You’re not getting much practical advice, so I’ll offer a tip that works for me.

I’m one of those people who can only get motivated when I have a deadline staring at me. So break your tasks into separate parts and set a deadline for each one.

Let’s say your driver’s license expires on Friday.

Monday, check calendar to block out time to go and get license renewed.
Tuesday, get hair cut to look good in license photo.
Wednesday, check and see if you have all your paperwork in order
Thursday, go get your driver’s license renewed and the time you blocked out. If something happens, you have Friday to fall back on.

15

Damn, I was going to say that, but I procrastinated…

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I really ought not to be giving advice on proctastination but over the last several years I have gotten better at getting things done in a more timely manner. I just began by doing the easy stuff first and trying to do one thing each day until caught up and satisfied. It has almost become a habit now just taking care of business sooner rather than later and I feel better about myself by not having tasks undone.

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Well, my favorite “cure” for procrastination is a little trick I call the “10 mnute rule”. I didn’t make it up (I wish!!), I read it somewhere, likely in a fitness magazine.

The idea behind it, and why it works is this:

10 minutes isn’t very long, you can do ten minutes of almost anything without it eating into your more desireable activities too terribly much. So, what you do is you do X, where X=task you’re trying to procrastinate on, for at least 10 minutes.

If, after ten minutes, you STILL don’t feel like it, or still aren’t motivated, you allow yourself to quit. More often though, people will find that it’s inertia, rather than not wanting to do it at all, that causes procrastination, and that they’ll get motivated and usually complete the task.

So, on your car buying example for example, your “10 minute rule” might have started out by doing 10 minutes of internet research to determine what kind of car you wanted/needed/could afford, etc. Then, if after 10 minutes, you were still unmotivated, you could “allow” yourself to go do something else.

But likely, you’d get into the research and get something done. Then, the next day, with research in hand, you might make a “10 minute rule” with yourself to go for one test drive and so on.

Hope that helps…good luck

18

One other trick that I use that works best for the smaller, immediate tasks, is to not allow myself to do the things that I’m doing while procrastinating, the most common of which are watching T.V. and surfing the net. Tell yourself that you don’t have to write that paper/do your laundry/whatever, but you are not allowed to get on the computer, or turn on the T.V., or call your friends. The frustration of not doing what you’d normally do to fill the time can be a great incentive to get stuff done. I cleaned my whole bedroom on Sunday by forbidding myself to turn on the T.V. Oh, I sat around for a while, read a little, tried to take a nap, but ultimately I just gave in and cleaned the place.

The ten minute rule works, but you can also try one hour (or half hour) on, and one hour off. That is, do what you need to do for an hour, then do something fun for an hour, etc. For longer term tasks, just tell yourself that you’ll devote one hour a day to it.

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In 1979, I bought a book calledDO IT NOW How to Stop Procrastinating, by Dr. William J Knaus. I’m gonna read it one of these days.

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I meant to reply to this when it was on the front page. But I got distracted.