Is there anyone else here who doesn't procrastinate?

[Trebuchet]

The consensus here is clear: INTPs procrastinate. It is apparently what we are best at, and we never finish anything.

The trouble is, procrastination is not efficient or effective, so I can't really afford to do it. I might put off doing something I really hate or that has a low priority, and I used to leave term papers till the last minute, but that isn't exactly the pathological behavior people are always talking about here. It's kind of a low-to-average amount of procrastinating.

Last week, I got a bathroom painted in one day (plus trips to the hardware store the day before). I've set several important things in motion today so I won't run out of time next month. As much as I dislike scheduling and planning, if something is my responsibility and needs to get done, I don't see that there is much choice but to go do it.

So, anyone else here actually get things done?

 

[Sparrow]

Perhaps you're not an INTP? INTJ maybe?

And INFJs are the best procrastinators ever.

 

[Trebuchet]

Perhaps you're not an INTP? INTJ maybe?

And INFJs are the best procrastinators ever.

No, I'm definitely INTP. Besides, my husband and several other people dear to me are INTJ, so I can see the difference. (And they procrastinate more than I do, but they call it "research.")

Maybe it is just because I am a mom.

 

[KazeCraven]

Depends on what you mean by "doesn't procrastinate." Everyone procrastinates in some form or fashion, it just depends on in what way.

Procrastination is just an obstinate inertia towards anything that is interfering with what we feel is actually important.

I've finished lots of things far in advance in some times of my life. (Cue acusations of SJ-ness.) Hell, when I took the test back in high school I tested very strongly J (as in INTJ), though I attribute that to a hyperactive (and yet so woefully undeveloped) Fe. Once I stopped following the expectations of other people, I started procrastinating a whole lot more.

So yeah, I'm pro-procrastination. If I actually genuinely cared, I'd do it. Eventually I figure out which things can be safely ignored and which things are going to bite me if I procrastinate on them again.

 

[Ermine]

I procrastinate as much as the next person. But it's definitely not to the point that I'd call myself a procrastinator. It also really depends on how much I'm juggling at once. If there's only one assignment on cue, I probably will procrastinate. If not, I can be pretty good at managing my time. But in any case, I never miss a deadline.

 

[Trebuchet]

Depends on what you mean by "doesn't procrastinate." Everyone procrastinates in some form or fashion, it just depends on in what way.

Too right KC. I should have said, perhaps, "doesn't procrastinate pathologically." I've seen a lot of posts that boil down to "I procrastinate so much I am useless and this is why INTPs suck."

I don't really care if others procrastinate, and this isn't meant to be a judgment. I just found it weird that in so many posts on this forum, procrastination is almost treated like a primary trait of INTPs.

But you are absolutely right. Everyone does procrastinate, and I do too.

 

[KazeCraven]

Hmm, yes. I must also concede that my first post was a little tongue in cheek, what with saying that everything is a form of procrastination. I suppose a lot of it has to do with the fact that people who type INTP (by the test, which is where we probably get the most of our fanbase) will have had to have answered highly on procrastination-type activities.

Even then, check anywhere in the US (and I guess the modern western world) and you'll find most people have some problems with procrastination. It's almost a fad in the universities I've been to (I've spent a year at two, one prestigious, one state, with the same cries to procrastination fame). I'd estimate that it's about ten times worse than false ADD diagnosis and on par with reveling in laziness.

Once you've gotten past all that, it's pretty easy to see why people who would spend time on an internet forum after typing INTP would nearly all be procrastinators. The non-procrastinating INTPs are probably the same ones who would take a look at the MBTI, give an argument against pseudoscience in general, and then go back to developing the next advancement in biotechnology. I would be too, if I weren't so focused on understanding human nature. Not that I think MBTI is even mostly accurate, though I'd guess there is some truth to what Jung originally came up with...

 

[Cavallier]

I don't procrastinate...much at least. Mostly I just hesitate if for some reason my gut tells me to. Also, I tend to prioritize things by how interesting they are to me. If they are lower on the list then I don't do them very often. Although, when it comes to practical things that need to be done regularly in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle (laundry and the like) I generally just set up a schedule that works around what I really want to do.

 

[Synthesis]

I used to not procrastinate very much (did things in advance, when I realised it needed doing ,etc.), but that has faded in the past few years...I just can't bring myself to care about some things that don't interest me (Currently hoping that it isn't arrogance driving that state of mind...that would not be good). Then again, I'm not an INTP so might want to count this as invalid to the OP, eh?

Overall though, I've found that motivation comes differently for people in general. Or, perhaps it's merely a sign of some version of maturity not to do so? (no offense meant to anyone, merely tossing an idea around)

 

[snafupants]

if on the forum, theres probably an ample amount of procrastination going on, yeah

 

[IndigoSensor]

I'm INFJ, but I am somewhat inbetween procrastination. For the most part I don't procrastinate. Some things I will push back quite far, other things I will get done extremely early. There is one common theme, I am never late with anything, and I have an absoulute coniption fit I am late (in any strech of the word). It is by far my worst pet peeve and vice.

If I get swamped with homework, projects, or something else that I simply do not want to do. I will push it off for quite a while, but it does get done on time. I will freak out in the middle of it and cut corners to get it done on time though if needed be.

Other times, in particular when I am in charge of something, I will want to start it ASAP, and will do backfips inside my head if I can't start it for some reason. Then I will want to get it done as quickly and efficently as possible.

I feel extremely unconfortalbe (as it largely goes against my nature) while I procrastinate as well, and will do it more frequently when I am depressed in some way.

 

[Minuend]

I don't too much. I usually try thinking "I'll do this" and then I try avoid thinking about how boring it will be, how I'd rather do something else etc.

Like when I'm going to exercise. I just get changed and go outside without thinking about how tiresome it will be and so. Makes it easier to actually do it.

I am fairly organized, I'd say. I like effective planning, because it involves strategic thinking. As long as it don't get too much. Especially when there is some form of responsibility involved. Then it easily gets draining to constantly change strategy depending on how the situation unfolds. And everyone and everything I have to consider.

It depends on my mood as well. Sometimes I just can't be bothered to do any chores at home, and everything looks quite messy quickly. Other times I feel like a bit of organizing. I'd say I'm fairly balanced in this area. I am not bothered by a little mess, but I won't let mold grow freely either.

 

[EditorOne]

I don't put off things that need doing. Never missed a deadline in almost 40 years of journalism, for instance.

I've had to learn patience, just the opposite of procrastination. I've learned that sometimes it is better to let things ripen before the harvest, as it were. My problems often came from rushing through something that really wasn't ready to get done, like a construction project that required maybe a couple of hundred more dollars than I had. So I cut corners and pay for it later. I think rushing through is the alternative to not doing it at all for some people.

For any project, work or home or writing or people, I've found that if I immerse myself in information about the thing, one day soon after I wake up ready to go. At some level that data from immersion is getting processed and translated into ideas I can act on. Naturally it's hard doing that with several things at once, so the real procrastination comes in putting off assembling information on projects. I can't multi-task creativity. And I can't stay with one thing for really long periods of time, either. So yes, there are some unfinished projects around here, writing and otherwise, but I'm not procrastinating, I'm acting sequentially.

That's my story, I'm sticking to it.

 

[RubberDucky451]

I always feel the need to do things I dislike first.

I also cannot relax if there is something unfinished.

Not sure how INTPish these traits are.

 

[ApostateAbe]

I'll write my thoughts on this later.

 

[nexion]

I wish I had the objective motivation to procrastinate less. God knows I have stuff I need to do, and I know doing that stuff would make me less bored than replying to a thread about procrastination while listening to music at 2:00 in the morning.

I admire you, for seeing past the glory in procrastination and looking at it entirely rationally, seeing it to be neither "efficient nor effective." Very good observation. I hope I can make that a truth in my life. A week from now.