Chronic Procrastination

I've got a pretty significant deadline in eight days. I've got a lot of work to do for it.

For the last couple of days, though, rather than work on what I should be, I've been working on this:

I know that self-awareness doesn't make this in any way forgivable, but every word of this track is true. Sometimes I play games, sometimes I talk to people on the internet, sometimes I just do nothing, but I almost always don't work on assignments until far, far too late.

Am I alone?

ed:

I can totally sympathise, I'm sure most people can.

What you have to do is, as soon as you receive your assigment, just do one small thing to start it. Then, each day, try to set yourself objectives for what needs to be accomplished. If you try to take on the whole project at once, it becomes too big even to comprehend, and you just put it off.

babysteps!

@nivi said:

Am I alone?

Are you serious?

Everyone suffers from this, to some degree. Hell, what do you think I'm doing right now? Not what I should, that's for sure.

Oh, and nice song.

I saw chronic in the title, this is about weed right?

Well, this is weird. I'm more motivated and optimistic about this project than I have been in weeks.

I guess it's true what they say about getting shit off your chest.

telling myself it's the best i can do
and knowing full well that it's simply not true

Technically it is true, as it is the best that you do.

I know what you mean. :)

Man up.

Procrastinators of the world unite!.... tomorrow

Everyone procrastinates though. You have to take a break from work sometime.

And that is a great song. You should put your stuff in iTunes and other music marketplaces.

I'm procrastinating right now! Fucking Giantbomb is to be blamed!!

@light_grenade: Damn we almost had a meeting going.

My whole life seems to be the result of suffering from a severe case of chronic procrastination.

I'll deal with this later.

My problem is not procrastination, it's prioritizing as if I'm a kid putting things in order of "fun" and unfortunately being adult so I have the power to do that and no one to tell me otherwise. Well.. my girlfriend will nag and I'll make some great "I'm an adult and I can do what I want" argument proving her right and looking like an idiot at the same time.

I had a huge problem with procrastinating before I started at my new job as a journalist. The deadlines makes starting assignments/tasks as soon as I get them second nature to me.

Don't worry, man; a lot of us have this problem. Just like you, I'm trying to free myself from the lack of motivation. Am I succeeding? Well, I'm pretty sure the fact that I spent the last day of Christmas Break (which lasts over two weeks) cramming in The Great Gatsby would answer that question hahaha. But don't worry, man; it happens and--hopefully--your decision to tell us about your issues might help you develop some motivation :)

@habster3 said:

Don't worry, man; a lot of us have this problem. Just like you, I'm trying to free myself from the lack of motivation. Am I succeeding? Well, I'm pretty sure the fact that I spent the last day of Christmas Break (which lasts over two weeks) cramming in The Great Gatsby would answer that question hahaha. But don't worry, man; it happens and--hopefully--your decision to tell us about your issues might help you develop some motivation :)

That's some great news! Read the wikipedia entry and some resumes, to get an idea of the whole work. :)

@nivi: that's interesting. Great work! Keep it up! :)

I can sympathize fully. Procrastination made my last years in high school very difficult. It almost got me kicked out of college and it prolonged my 2 year pre-university program to 4 years. It's also stopping me from doing something I actually love but can't bring myself to do because of lack of practice. That thing also being the determining factor in my future career.

Also, I kind of got surprised when the word ''fuck'' just popped up somewhere in your song haha. Great song by the way.

I'll answer your question and give insightful advice later.

A video!

I have 3 seperate deadlines this coming thursday. Spent the evening playing starcraft 2.

Ironically I'm probably more tired after playing that than I would have been if I worked.

I generally did the opposite, I powered through it as early as possible so I could Procrastinate all I wanted for the next couple weeks until it was due. I planned ahead my laziness!

Although I admit in general gaming is a good way ignore the things in life you should be doing that are more important. But fuck those things.

I'm exactly the same.
 
All the music on my youtube channelgot made because I was supposed to be doing something more important.

But It's so hard to work when I just DON'T CARE.

I seriously need to find a job that I give a shit about... I just don't know what that would be.

@benspyda: It's not procrastination if there's nothing that actually needs to be done.

@nivi said:

@benspyda: It's not procrastination if there's nothing that actually needs to be done.

There's always something more important to be done. that's life.

@benspyda: If that's the case, then every action is procrastination. I don't know how to feel if that is the true state of the world.

@nivi said:

@benspyda: If that's the case, then every action is procrastination. I don't know how to feel if that is the true state of the world.

Sometimes its best just do what you feel like doing rather than what society thinks you should be doing with your time. But there are always things we have to force ourselves to do to live obviously, earning an income, paying bills, eating well, passing a course etc.

Yep, same here. It hasn't caused me to mess up on something yet but I'm sure I'll be getting a reality check very soon.

Are you kidding me? Whiskey Media is the reason why I procastinate. I would say that if these sites weren't around I would do a lot more work, but I know I would just find somewhere else to kill time.

That song. It's fucking great.

Meanwhile, this is Spring break and it's a great time for me to catch up on things like:

• Finishing (by that I mean starting) and taking notes on every chapter of a 1000 page book on Alexander Hamilton.
• Reading all of my Classic Texts books that I didn't read before.
• Catching up on other American Constitution readings.
• Doing my American Constitution fucking take goddamn home exam that she expects to be six pages long and properly cited. FUCK.
• Reading a good number of stories for my Literature class.

What am I actually doing? Playing Mass Effect 3 from beginning to completion when it comes out, and playing Saints Row the Third until that launches, interspersed with forum typing, movie watching, and naps.

@RoboRobb said:

I can totally sympathise, I'm sure most people can.

What you have to do is, as soon as you receive your assigment, just do one small thing to start it. Then, each day, try to set yourself objectives for what needs to be accomplished. If you try to take on the whole project at once, it becomes too big even to comprehend, and you just put it off.

babysteps!

yeah that's pretty good advice. It has worked for me too. Break big projects up into small, manageable bits. chip away at the corners a little bit every day. Pretty soon you realize it's manageable and you've got a clear path to get it finished.

usually just sitting down and figuring out all the steps you need to take to get something done makes it all seem much more do-able.

I have two midterms this week, one on Thursday and one on Friday. They are both on a lot of notes and readings that I should probably start studying for today. But for the rest of the night I'm going to sit on the internet, tomorrow I'm going to sit on the internet and maybe play Starcraft, then Tuesday I'm going to play Mass Effect 3. Wednesday I will study for Thursdays test, after I play more Mass Effect 3, and Thursday I will study for Friday's test after I play more Mass Effect 3. I have given up trying to trick myself into thinking I will study and do my work ahead of time, because it never comes true. Now I just accept the fact that I will do everything last minute and plan my schedule accordingly.

So, you're in school or are a journalist based on the use of the term "assignment." Maybe school's not for you, and you'd rather passively do day to day work than these longer-term works. That's totally reasonable, and you'll probably be okay.

I personally thrive on assignments, though I still tend to procrastinate upon them.