To Be or Not to Be... a Procrastinator

I suck, because I'm a terrible procrastinator. :p But for me, it's a combination of extreme perfectionism and a fear of failure that can be paralyzing. If I dwell on things too long, it can be disasterous for me because I'm caught between making things absolutely perfect for others (not myself) and fearing that my plans won't be good enough.

And so, stuck between Scylla and Charybdis, I can drive myself screaming bonkers if I'm not careful. Takes some mighty powerful inner dialogue with my inner child to get out of those ruts when they happen.
 
It should really be my middle name...I know not how to complete a project lest i procrastinate its completion...
 
Pfft! I'd put all you INFJs to shame the way I procrastinate!


... ah crud! That's not a good thing :(
 
arbygil said:
I suck, because I'm a terrible procrastinator. :p But for me, it's a combination of extreme perfectionism and a fear of failure that can be paralyzing. If I dwell on things too long, it can be disasterous for me because I'm caught between making things absolutely perfect for others (not myself) and fearing that my plans won't be good enough.

And so, stuck between Scylla and Charybdis, I can drive myself screaming bonkers if I'm not careful. Takes some mighty powerful inner dialogue with my inner child to get out of those ruts when they happen.
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SO TRUE!! Aargh!

Yeah, I totally get that Arbygil! Even the dialogue with the inner child. Lately just to get some dishes done I've been telling myself that I don't have to do them all, just some. Then once I'm doing them I'll typically keep at it and get more done than I originally planned. Breaking it
down into really small parts helps a LOT.
 
I don't believe in procrastination as an explanation of behavior.

It always reduces to something else, most often stress.
 
dissonance said:
I don't believe in procrastination as an explanation of behavior.

It always reduces to something else, most often stress.
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I know you like to fence. Do you believe procrastination to be a behavior? The absence of action? The act of not doing something, which cannot be an actual act? Maybe it is an act, like in a play; or is it merely an explanation?
Thought I'd give you a chance to jump in. Enjoy, and welcome again.
 
just me said:
I know you like to fence. Do you believe procrastination to be a behavior? The absence of action? The act of not doing something, which cannot be an actual act? Maybe it is an act, like in a play; or is it merely an explanation?
Thought I'd give you a chance to jump in. Enjoy, and welcome again.
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Procrastination is putting off the implementation of a defined goal. So, yes, I believe one can be actively procrastinating.

What I mean is, I don't think there are people out there that are "just lazy" or "just procrastinators". I think the behavior almost always reduces to some mechanism for stress control.

People have told me my whole life to stop procrastinating, to stop being lazy, etc. I'm like "no shit...it would obviously be better not to procrastinate. That's not the problem. The problem is that I know I don't want to procrastinate and I do anyway. And I can't will myself out of it. So basically, nothing you say is anything I haven't thought of already and am not telling myself right now."

Given that I do procrastinate, the way I explain it is this: every single moment that I choose not to implement my task is a cost/benefit analysis problem. So if I'm not doing my task, I've decided that the pros minus the cons of doing my task do not outweigh the pros minus the cons of whatever I'm currently doing. As the deadline gets closer, the cons of doing my task decrease, making me more and more likely to do it.

Sometimes it feels really good to get in there and get the task out of the way before the deadline. But that really good feeling is clearly offset by something, or else I'd be doing that all the time. In my case, I run up against a crippling amount of stress/anxiety, so much so that I can't for the life of me break through it. I don't even really know what it's about, honestly. It's kind of a problem.

Anyway, I've observed that this explanation works in all of the cases I've seen of so called "lazy people" or "procrastinators".
 
dissonance said:
Procrastination is putting off the implementation of a defined goal. So, yes, I believe one can be actively procrastinating.

What I mean is, I don't think there are people out there that are "just lazy" or "just procrastinators". I think the behavior almost always reduces to some mechanism for stress control.

People have told me my whole life to stop procrastinating, to stop being lazy, etc. I'm like "no shit...it would obviously be better not to procrastinate. That's not the problem. The problem is that I know I don't want to procrastinate and I do anyway. And I can't will myself out of it. So basically, nothing you say is anything I haven't thought of already and am not telling myself right now."

Given that I do procrastinate, the way I explain it is this: every single moment that I choose not to implement my task is a cost/benefit analysis problem. So if I'm not doing my task, I've decided that the pros minus the cons of doing my task do not outweigh the pros minus the cons of whatever I'm currently doing. As the deadline gets closer, the cons of doing my task decrease, making me more and more likely to do it.

Sometimes it feels really good to get in there and get the task out of the way before the deadline. But that really good feeling is clearly offset by something, or else I'd be doing that all the time. In my case, I run up against a crippling amount of stress/anxiety, so much so that I can't for the life of me break through it. I don't even really know what it's about, honestly. It's kind of a problem.

Anyway, I've observed that this explanation works in all of the cases I've seen of so called "lazy people" or "procrastinators".
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I may or may not understand your situation, but feel you have this gift of doing something well at the last minute under stress. However, I do know lazy people; people that seem to not want to do anything to better themselves that lay around waiting for someone else to do what they should have done or should be doing. Your reasoning may possibly be your problem, should you wish to call it that, but you may very well enjoy a good challenge and go out of your way looking for one.
 
dissonance said:
In my case, I run up against a crippling amount of stress/anxiety, so much so that I can't for the life of me break through it. I don't even really know what it's about, honestly. It's kind of a problem.
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Yeah, that's me too. I wish I knew where that fear came from! :ohwell:

The absolute furthest I ever got with it was when I was in college writing a paper. I had put it off a lot. Like, it was due that night, had to be submitted online before the stroke of midnight. It was around 10:30pm or so, and I was actually feeling nauseous from the anxiety I was experiencing when I thought about working on the paper. As I was trying to convince myself to write I struck up a dialogue with myself. "Come on, you can do it." "No." "Why not?" "No." "Come on, I'll help you." "No." "Why not?" "... I'm scared..." It went on a long time, back and forth. It was probably the first time I actually dialogued with my inner child, and children really can't formalize why they feel a certain way. Anyone have any insight into this fear source? I'd love to get beyond this, but I feel pretty helpless about it. :(
 
Most things overwhelm me.

Cleaning
Laundry
Going to the store
Knowing I have to attend a gathering with a lot of people
Currently packing

Most times I put it off until the last moment. Once in awhile I will just up and do it.
 
I procrastinate terribly on anything that I don't know how to do or that I have to turn in like a paper. Well, there are some exceptions and I've been getting better at it, but for the most part I have a real problem with it. For me, it goes along with being a perfectionist.
 
I am procrastinating reading and doing my homework as I write this. Yes, I can be such a procrastinator, as I demonstrate now.
 
Me too and a lot of the time it pays off for me because things end up working out better if I don't do anything. I usually can become too rash if I don't take my time. Patience for me is a virtue now lol..
 
I saw this thread when I first joined the Forum, but I kept putting off posting until now.


I'll get to answering the questions: "are you a procrastinator? if so, on what things? what are the things you continually try to put off?" later.


...probably. :D
 
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Yes, but I think I get off on the challenge of deadlines. So I don't beat myself up about it.. pressure makes beauty.
 
EloquentBohemian said:
I saw this thread when I first joined the Forum, but I kept putting off posting until now.
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Heh, you don't ever procrastinate, do you? :lol:

JustNickey said:
Yes, but I think I get off on the challenge of deadlines. So I don't beat myself up about it.. pressure makes beauty.
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That works for some, but not for me. I procrastinate out of fear. And looming deadlines only increase that fear. My kind of procrastination isn't healthy. :(
 
I used to actually be really terrible with procrastinating. But a lot of inner discipline and drive helped me over come that (oddly enough, this drive also brought about a change in my MBTI--I went from INFP to INFJ).

If ANYONE has trouble with procrastination and other sorts of productivity problems, I recommend this website.
http://www.43folders.com

It is run by Merlin Mann, who is actually a pretty cool guy. And knows just the right things to say to give your creative arse a kick in the rear.

Read this essay "Better" for a good taste of his stuff and what 43folders is all about.

http://www.kungfugrippe.com/post/48588149/better
 
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