.....................................Procrastination

I have been a procrastinator for as long as I can remember. It's 11 o'clock now and I still have a project due, test to study for, and other misc things to get done. School starts at 6 am and this isn't a rare situation for me to be in. This basically happens every night and I think it's really starting to affect me because of the amount of sleep I get every night. On top of the crap I have to do every night at midnight, the bombcast keeps me awake for another ~45 minutes after I might or might not finish all my work, while I try to fall asleep. It seems crazy to me that I can't even have enough self-control to do what needs to be done right when I get home. The worst part is, even when I sit down to do what needs to be done, I get distracted by anything and everything around me (such as these forums lol) so instead of having time divided into first doing work and then not worrying about it while I go do whatever I want to do, it's all chopped up; not committed to work, yet I can't start doing anything I want to do. Help me! Any suggestions? I think I'm slowly going insane!

Procrastinators Unite! 
 
TODAY!
 
Tomorrow! 
 
Some other time perhaps...

I was the same way in high school. College whipped me into shape though. If you have tried to stop putting everything off in the past to no avail, then you just have to hope something opens your eyes! That thing was college for me, it might be something else for you.

" I was the same way in high school. College whipped me into shape though. If you have tried to stop putting everything off in the past to no avail, then you just have to hope something opens your eyes! That thing was college for me, it might be something else for you. "

" I have a problem very similar to yours lol, and basically, you need to find a way to just NOT have an internet connection. AT ALL. It hurts, but ir works, trust me. "

It's just habit and self-belief. The future you, which you see doing whatever work that needs to be done, is still the you of the present that doesn't want to do your work. If you can create a habit of doing work early, you'll be more inclined to continue, whereas, if you create habit of procrastination, you'll continue to procrastinate. Good habits are difficult to form, and that's where becoming mentally strong comes from. You have to keep telling yourself why you are doing your work or studying, whenever you want to put it off, because if you allow yourself to take the easy way out, you're letting yourself be weak. Either you're weak, or you're not. Success is dependant on 10% talent, and 90% hardwork. So, you can either be unsuccessful and weak, or successful and strong. Which traits do you admire more? Time to become mentally tough.

Hey me too, lets make a club, I'll bring snacks!

i am trying to write an essay right now.

Yeah, I've got about a million exams to study for (or 2 this week), a presentation I need to finalize and memorize for tomorrow, projects I need to complete and a whole novel I've yet to start that I need to finish for next Monday... and I'm typing this instead.

I must admit sometimes I can procrastinate quite a lot when I really want to but overall I don't seem to be quite as much a victim of procrastination as the people around me. On my university course everyone seems to leave everything to the absolute last minute. Damn you procrastination!

"Hey me too, lets make a club, I'll bring snacks! "

I usually study about 10 mins before i take a test, and am a straight A student.

I'll post now and read the topic later.

*sigh* tomorrow never comes.

" I usually study about 10 mins before i take a test, and am a straight A student. "

" @demontium said:

" I usually study about 10 mins before i take a test, and am a straight A student. "

Your educational institution/teachers/school must be retarded then. "

" @fishmicmuffin said:

" I was the same way in high school. College whipped me into shape though. If you have tried to stop putting everything off in the past to no avail, then you just have to hope something opens your eyes! That thing was college for me, it might be something else for you. "

Damn, college is too far away at the moment to fix this now. I was hoping someone had come up with some magical golden rule that fixes procrastination. I guess no one has though, I'm sure they mean to eventually... "

I was not very diligent in middle school, and my first two years of high school I was still not that hardworking. Why? Why did I hardly ever do good work? Because I wasn't inspired to. I knew I could cram or rush something at the last minute and still make decent grades. Then, in 11th grade, I started taking AP courses, as most do, and, as most do, found out that I could not blow those off. I read some pretty sizable novels in my 11th grade AP English class and, because I knew there was no way to blow it off and still make decent grades, forced myself to read them on a timely basis. 12th grade was pretty easy, so once again I started blowing off work due to lack of inspiration.
Then last fall, my first semester of college, I really ramped up my work ethic as I discovered, going to a hardcore liberal arts school, that procrastinating would bury me alive before I knew what hit me. So I committed every waking moment Sunday through Thursday to homework (well, except eating times). That habit continues (for the most part) this semester (of course I'm not doing homework as I type this, so I allow myself some free time, unlike last fall). 
The point is, the best things to get you into gear are: a bad grade, or dread that unless you get kicking you will make a very bad grade; and realizing the satisfaction that will come with good work ethic. You will not feel you are slowly going insane if every night you put away the books knowing you got a lot done. I was able to fully enjoy the weekends last semester because I worked so hard during the week. You'll find that school, even when you get to college, is easy if you practice good tme management.

Do you have a computer in your workspace? If yes, move it away, it's a trap. Manage that time. Whenever you're playing games or surfing the internet, you could be working! Food and exercise (being healthy) is important, do some pushups, jumping jacks, drink some juice, eat a bagel. Tell yourself you can do it! Don't say negative things like "I hope I don't fail that test" or "I have to avoid screwing up this____" say "I'm going to study and do well on that test."

I don't think I have ever done homework or anything else school related early. Always the last minute for me. 

Real heroes don't procrastinate.

Word, I just wrapped up 12 pages of essay for my philosophy class in 3 days. Had a month to do it, but eh...

Maybe you could try doing homework while watching TV, that's what I did in high-school. Now I usually listen to podcasts while doing homework since I didn't want to pay for cable while at university. It's better for repetitive homework where you just apply a formula and plug in values, whereas for essays and studying, you pretty much need some quiet time. But it's a skill I'm really glad I picked up; if I needed complete isolation to finish my assignments, I bet around 75% of my out-of-class day would be filled with silence.

" Procrastinators Unite! 
 
TODAY!
 
Tomorrow!   Some other time perhaps... "

the internet has ruined the study habits of a generation, myself included :(.

" @fishmicmuffin said:

" I was the same way in high school. College whipped me into shape though. If you have tried to stop putting everything off in the past to no avail, then you just have to hope something opens your eyes! That thing was college for me, it might be something else for you. "

Damn, college is too far away at the moment to fix this now. I was hoping someone had come up with some magical golden rule that fixes procrastination. I guess no one has though, I'm sure they mean to eventually... "

I'm exactly the same, it's the fucking internets fault!

I better start my homework soon to. 12:09AM now.

I was gonna type something interesting but i can't be asked. Bed time!

" I have been a procrastinator for as long as I can remember. It's 11 o'clock now and I still have a project due, test to study for, and other misc things to get done. School starts at 6 am and this isn't a rare situation for me to be in. This basically happens every night and I think it's really starting to affect me because of the amount of sleep I get every night. On top of the crap I have to do every night at midnight, the bombcast keeps me awake for another ~45 minutes after I might or might not finish all my work, while I try to fall asleep. It seems crazy to me that I can't even have enough self-control to do what needs to be done right when I get home. The worst part is, even when I sit down to do what needs to be done, I get distracted by anything and everything around me (such as these forums lol) so instead of having time divided into first doing work and then not worrying about it while I go do whatever I want to do, it's all chopped up; not committed to work, yet I can't start doing anything I want to do. Help me! Any suggestions? I think I'm slowly going insane! "

there is alot of writing in here. ill read the rest later

I've procrastinated all my life, yet I still get mostly A's.  I've waited till the last 5 hours before a 1250 word paper is due (online class) several times and got it done with a good grade. 

" @FluxWaveZ said:

" @demontium said:

" I usually study about 10 mins before i take a test, and am a straight A student. "

Your educational institution/teachers/school must be retarded then. "

Also, the Great Gatsby is an easy book (and it sucks, its like a fucking soap opera, melodramatic waste of time- I do not understand why it is so critically acclaimed).  Yeah my teachers are fucking dumb- they let people ask other people for help during tests. "

I have had this problem for the past 10 - 15 years, i try to procrastinate on worthwhile things like drawing as i have an extreme aversion to doing anything urgent  

I'll procrastinate sooner or later....

Even without an internet I find a way to procrastinate. I ended up fixing my kitchen walls rather than writing my essays which were due.
 
Got them done in the end....ish.

My wake up call was almost failing out of college first semester. High school is a joke, you can get through it doing almost nothing (and I did). The fact is, however, at some point there will come a time when half-assing isn't good enough. And the consequences will not be fun. Do it even when you hate it. Push past the lack of motivation. I still don't have motivation, but I get stuff done even if it means pulling two all-nighters in one week. School sucks, but if you have a reason for doing it, something meaningful that you're aiming for, it doesn't matter that you don't care about schoolwork by itself. 

Hey! Yeah, I'm exactly the same. Want to hear a funny story? It got me, wait for it...  
 

" Procrastinators Unite! 
 
TODAY!
 
Tomorrow!   Some other time perhaps... "

Still haven't figured out how not to procrastinate. However I do set things up I have to do, so there wouldn't be anymore steps to do it. Like if I want to draw a picture, I get all references read, pencil, paper and it's easy to jump right in when i'm motivated at another time. If I have to do all these steps, I tend to get bored and my brain shuts down. Not sure if that will help, however at least having deadlines sort of helps.