Not enough time for A, I'll do B which takes just as long

I hope the title explains my problem.

I always have this issue. With always, I mean always. For instance, right now I wanted to play Don't Starve for a bit but it was already nearing 00:00, so I decided I couldn't play Don't Starve as I wanted to go to bed at a reasonable hour. It's 1:32 right now when I write this and I didn't play Don't Starve. I just went and posted a bunch on forums and what have you, listening to music and so on. I could have just done what I wanted to do instead.

This always happens and I do not seem to learn from it. The other day I wanted to go and train but I figured I didn't have time because I still needed to cook dinner so decided to skip a night. I ended up not cooking dinner at all having played games all night.

This is becoming an issue since I never get the thing done I need to get done. Any advice? Or are there at least people with a similar experience?

Pleasure Procrastination, a terrible affliction indeed. I have the same problem. I want to read a book, play a game, etc.. and end up browsing youtube or something. Must be that I like the idea of reading or playing a certain game more than actually doing it or maybe it's just path of least resistance. I could get up and put the disc in but this laptop is right here and Giantbomb is already opened to the videos page...

Yeah, I always do that. It's too late to play games, 3 hours later I am still up looking at dumb shit.

I don't do it with games. But i do it with music. Like right now its 01:55 at night, and i was supposed to have gone to bed at midnight. And even though i keep telling my self, ok one more track, before i know it i have listened to an entire album and started a new one.

But how can I counter it? Is it just like a mental thing? Perhaps I should just accept that if I want to do something I need to go and do it instead of trying to replace it with something that takes up less time, because it will end up taking at least as long... right? I actually don't know.

Will power dude, guess you just need to grab the bull by the horns.

Boy, if I knew the answer to that problem, I'd be drowning in money or something (probably not...)

Man I do this all the damn time, it's turning into a compulsion. I waste so much time on the internet because it takes less time to read an article or watch a youtube video than reading a chapter from my book or watching a tv show but I wind up reading tons of articles or watching way more videos than I should have and waste hours of my day. It's starting to get scary, it's depressing how easily I can waste my time.

Is it though? I don't know man, whenever I am already doing something I see it through to the end and, actually, beyond. I hate running. But whenever I actually go out to run I always run at least twice as far as I intended to do, just because I really like running when I do it and I want to keep going; but I hate knowing I still have to run later.

Also, after @citizencoffeecake post I looked up Procrastination and am kinda shocked by how similar all that sounds like to my behavior. Although, I do know that self-diagnosing is impossible and reading this stuff always makes it seem like it might be your own profile because you can see yourself in anything... also, it's wikipedia which isn't always scientifically accurate, but still.

If I may quote one part:

While it is regarded as normal for people to procrastinate to some degree, it becomes a problem when it impedes normal functioning. Chronic procrastination may be a sign of an underlying psychological disorder. Such procrastinators may have difficulty seeking support due to social stigma and the belief that task-aversion is caused by laziness, low willpower or low ambition.

So that. I guess it's best if I sleep on this before deciding it's time I need to go see someone for this issue.

@zevvion: I'm not gonna get all armchair psychologist or anything (nor do I want to push you into seeking help when you may not need it), but counselling can help a lot for dealing with procrastination, especially if it's affecting your self-perception or you're experiencing depression as a result. Ultimately the power is in your hands to enact necessary changes to deal with procrastination, but a counsellor or therapist of some sort can definitely help you develop the tools to do so.

I should be doing psychology homework, but I'm in here instead. I could think of an answer to your question, but it's probably better if I go do my homework. GLHB

@zevvion: You should probably eat dinner.

@rollingzeppelin same here. It's ridiculous how I can get nothing done in an entire day because my reasoning always is I don't have time for that stuff and end up the entire day on the internet or listening to music or something.

@funkasaurasrex Yeah, I know. I know what the problem is, I just have no idea what to do against it. People around me all seem to tell me: 'why don't you just go do stuff instead of slacking'? Which isn't very helpful. It's like telling someone with anorexia to stop being dumb and just eat something.

And I know that everyone has this problem in some degree, it's just that I get absolutely nothing done lately. Even fun stuff I want to do I seem to put off. Which is really, really weird.

"Is it just like a mental thing?"