Anyone else suffer from procrastination?

[Nurahk]

15 week course and I skipped almost every day.

And don't lie, unless you read 15 pages a minute there is no way you can cover half of Cal in a day.

I got 90 on the exam

[Xordan]

Well it depends on how detailed you go into calculus Our books really weren't that big, only a couple of hundred pages. However, I didn't miss all my classes in that case, so it wasn't calculus I had to totally self learn from scratch (statistics yes, and for one module we didn't have any classes at all xD they just told us which book to buy and left us to self learn). That would have been dumb


Pssh, I hope to never procrastinate a whole course xD;

[Nurahk]

It was dumb, my actaul class mark suffered but, atleast the course was slightly challenging as opposed to the huge lump of boring it usualy is.

But getting back ontopic, I procrastinated a whole course, beat that

[zanzibar]

Anxiety? What exactly are you anxious about? (If I should be so bold to ask )

It's not a matter of being anxious about anything in a normal, rational way.  It's an irrational condition, just like real procrastination is an irrational condition.

[neko kyouran]

Good thing you're not in my classes then.  Attendance is automatic 25% of your grade. 

Becuase I'm evil.

oh, and I never procrastinate.   

> . >       

< . <       

 

[Baldur]

Then why are you here
Nah, low one.

Anxiety? What exactly are you anxious about? (If I should be so bold to ask )

It's not a matter of being anxious about anything in a normal, rational way.  It's an irrational condition, just like real procrastination is an irrational condition.

My anxiety often comes from a lack of fulfilling a task. Perhaps i'm too lazy or i've settled on an excuse, "too tired". It might originate from insecurity but i'm not sure. Insecurity can be built counterwise by mentioned lack of fulfilling a task because of lazyness.

The only way is to break the apparent bad circle and counterwise do one of the causes. Do things instead of being lazy, forget excuses and instead of being insecure, imagine what it would be after you've made that task/tasks.

For me, this worked until I had no more homework/tasks to do. I became restless and started drifting into my old patterns. My guess would be you should always have something to do, to keep you "in shape".

[emeraldfool]

Anxiety? What exactly are you anxious about? (If I should be so bold to ask )

It's not a matter of being anxious about anything in a normal, rational way.  It's an irrational condition, just like real procrastination is an irrational condition.

Haha, there's no such thing as 'just being anxious'. You may not be able to rationalise it, but that doesn't mean it's not a rational cause. Unless you have some sort psychosis, like schizophrenia or something. But even then, that's a rational cause for anxiety in itself. A chemical imbalance such as a lack of seratonin could result in inherent anxiety, but that can be 'fixed' with anti-depressants or other drugs.

Point is, if somebody seriously can't figure out why they might be anxious, they should seek psychiatric counseling. Could change your life...

[hitancrias]

When I have something of a work-related nature that I want to accomplish, I tend to stay up late working on other things or sometimes just goofing off.  I don't go to sleep because I know I should be doing the thing I'm avoiding.  My hours get switched around from time to time as a result depending on where I am in the week.

Yes, I have exactly the same problem. I don't go to sleep, but I don't do what I 'am supposed' to do either, even if I don't dislike the thing I am supposed to do. I avoid thinking about what I have to do by reading forums, watching TV, listening to the radio or by doing anything that is able to keep my attention  away from the things I have to do. It's pure escapism and I usually fail to get out it once I have started to stop thinking about what I had to do. A half conscious feeling of: "I still have work to do" that pops up now and then keeps me from going to bed. However I do use quite some tricks to avoid getting in such a situation in the first place. They don't always work, but so far I am somewhat content about my 'solutions'.

My biggest escape machine is my laptop, so at the end of the day, I usually remove it from my desk and place it somewhere out of sight. This is to prevent me from starting it up without having consciously decided to do so. For the same reason, I don't even have a TV. (I live in a students house, we have a TV in the shared living room)
Another thing that often works is making a quick scedule. I write down what has to be done, even when it's trivial and I won't forget it anyway. For some reason it has more 'weight' when it's on paper. I think it works because it takes some time to write something down, so you don't have the chance to procrastinate it in less then a second without me actively being aware of it. It forces you to consciously make a decision about whether or not you are going to do it right now, or any time later. I usually use the back side of an envelope which I throw away when I've completed the things written down on it.
A final thing that can work great for me is organising social pressure. When I have to study, I agree with others to meet at the library. Things like that.

Relying on tricks like that may feel a bit weak. It does for me at least. The cultural determined idea is that when you have a minimum of wisdom, you can beat procrastination, because it's totally irrational. Relying on tricks is accepting that your own motivation and common sense is sometimes simply is not enough to get you started and that's not a nice thing. The flipside is that it works, while telling yourself that you don't need it and you'll stop procrastinating tomorrow doesn't. I doesn't always work, but things surely have improved since I started to force myself to do thing I already wanted to do.

I'm neither of those, and I'm not lazy either.  It's an anxiety thing.

It's interesting you mention anxiety. That is an issue for me as well. Even when I was (and still am) very confident of myself, I didn't want to be confronted with situations which theoretically could prove me that I had been overconfident. I.e. I didn't prepare for exams, so if I failed them, I could blame my preparation. It may be anxiety not to live up to my own or others standards. I'm not quite sure though, it's just what logic tells me.

[miadon]

I'm quite lazy but its more a confidence and motivation thing tthat prevents me from doing things.  But when I get started on things I usally work hard at it, until I get bored.

[Kiirani]

I have the exact problem Hitancrias has, perhaps I'll try the solutions.

[Baldur]

I don't either prepare for tests normally. Right now I have 2 tests and i've "promised" myself to read the first one one week before the first test.

Hmm >_>

I've met the school counsellor and i'm trying to talk to people but it does no good, probably because i'm anxious to why i'm anxious So that would mean i'm anxious about a hidden cause i'm anxious about...

All seem to have the same problem. We avoid what needs to be done, perhaps because we're not keen on taking the risks, maybe let ourselves down or just anxious. Often for some unknown reason.

Thanks for the tips, Hitancrias. I'm sure they'll help.

Ironic, isn't it. I'm sitting by my computer, discussing procrastination on a gameforum

[Robinmagus]

Yep...I'm procrastinating right now... Damn mid term....

[zanzibar]

Haha, there's no such thing as 'just being anxious'. You may not be able to rationalise it, but that doesn't mean it's not a rational cause. Unless you have some sort psychosis, like schizophrenia or something. But even then, that's a rational cause for anxiety in itself. A chemical imbalance such as a lack of seratonin could result in inherent anxiety, but that can be 'fixed' with anti-depressants or other drugs.

Point is, if somebody seriously can't figure out why they might be anxious, they should seek psychiatric counseling. Could change your life...

Psychosis means that you are out of touch with reality - you are beyond borderline.  Schizophrenia means that you're suffering from pretty heavy hallucinations and delusions including paranoid and illusions of grandeur.  Something can have a reason and yet not be rational.  Someone can have an irrational belief for a reason, but his or her reason for having that believe may not be based in rational thought.  I also recommend that you take more care in recommending drug therapy to people who suffer from anxiety because there are numerous complications that accompany drug therapy, and many people feel that drug therapy does more harm than good.  Look up the addictive qualities of Paxil and similar drugs if you feel like educating yourself.





@hitancrias:  Thanks for your response.  My situation does mirror your own.  The thing is, I consider myself to be a smart person, and yet the problem persists.

[emeraldfool]

Zanzibar, I've been taking Psychology for years, I know what a 'psychosis' is, and I know what schizophrenia is, and I'd like to think after all that time listening to actual psychologists in person, that I know a little more than wikipaedia

I suggest you look up serotonin, and its effects on the human brain. Without it, you feel depressed, tired, irritable, anxious and aggressive. So if you naturally don't make enough of it for whatever reason, your life will be rather unpleasant. The ONLY known cure for a lack of serotonin is anti-depressants - they have the ability to stimulate the release of serotonin, and in time can bring your serotonin levels back up to normal, so that you wont have to take them any more. (Unless you get addicted, but addictions are never impossible to break, and its rare that anyone would get severly addicted to Paxil or Prozac...)

And I don't think you understand my meaning when I say 'rational cause'. Schizophrenia is totally irrational - because talking to figments of your imagination obviously isn't rational behaviour - but the cause of that schizophrenia could be a simple blow to the head, damaging the frontal lobe.
The same way your anxiety might seem irrational, but the cause could be a simple chemical imbalance, or sexual frustration, or something else entirely.

Point is, people aren't inherently anxious - there's always something making you that way, be it natural or an effect of modern society.

[zanzibar]

Zanzibar, I've been taking Psychology for years, I know what a 'psychosis' is, and I know what schizophrenia is, and I'd like to think after all that time listening to actual psychologists in person, that I know a little more than wikipaedia

*sigh*

I've also studied psychology in university.  Not enough to qualify for a minor, but more than just a casual look.  I have friends who are psychologists.  Friends who see psychologists.  An aunt who is a psychologist.  And I've read books and articles which are better sources of info than wiki.

I suggest you look up serotonin,

I know what seratonin is and how it works on the nervous system.

and its effects on the human brain. Without it, you feel depressed, tired, irritable, anxious and aggressive. So if you naturally don't make enough of it for whatever reason, your life will be rather unpleasant. The ONLY known cure for a lack of serotonin is anti-depressants - they have the ability to stimulate the release of serotonin, and in time can bring your serotonin levels back up to normal, so that you wont have to take them any more. (Unless you get addicted, but addictions are never impossible to break, and its rare that anyone would get severly addicted to Paxil or Prozac...)

1.  Serotonin reuptake inhibitors don't bring your seratonin levels up to normal so much as they regulate levels in the body, thus breaking any patterns of highs and lows.  They have a different effect on anxiety, on bipolar disorder, and on clinical depression.

2.  Addictions are not only common, but in the case of Paxil they are extremely common.  Paxil stays in the body for a much shorter period than Prozak, thus explaining why it's so addictive.  A person who has studied the effects of Paxil will tell you that Paxil is more addictive than heroin, and the addiction can be life long with withdrawl symptoms that last for years and possibly even life.

And I don't think you understand my meaning when I say 'rational cause'.

No, it's you who didn't understand my meaning when I said "rational".  I introduced the term to this conversation, so it's YOU who misunderstood the meaning of the word in its particular context.  By rational, I meant resulting from reason.  Not from a reason, but from reason itself - that process of the mind that tells you things like "Perhaps I should research my facts before I speak of things I know very little about".



Edited to add:  Drug therapy does nothing to address the social causes of depression.