Procrastination

[Dissident]

Re: Recommended reading section?

Unless I'm really interested in it, I can never get any work done until I have to get it done in order to meet the deadline. A few months ago I realized that my free time has to come before any boring work I have to do, because otherwise I'll still get the same amount of work done but I won't have any free time. Whatever work I have to do, it always takes from when I start trying to do it up until the deadline.

Trouble is, my dad doesn't seem to understand that, and he keeps saying things like, "No, you can do other things when you finish your work." and "You keep telling me you don't have that much work to do, so why isn't it done?"

So, does anyone else here procrastinate? Does anyone here not procrastinate? Anyone have any ideas as to how I can explain this to my dad?

Related link:
http://www.structuredprocrastination.com/

Somewhere in the literature section maybe?
Anyway, thanks for that link. Im such a big procrastinator, that tecnique (if it can be called that) could help to get something done

 

[Jesin]

Yes, I thought that one would fit the people here pretty well.

 

[Wisp]

Re: Recommended reading section?

Wow... just wow. Now, what am doing on this forum? Oh right! Not doing more important stuff! Once this becomes a big deal to me, I won't do it!

 

[Radioactive_Springtime]

Re: Recommended reading section?

I take it most people on the forum are the "I procrastinate because I'll get at least a B anyway" type people

 

[Ermine]

Re: Recommended reading section?

I take it most people on the forum are the "I procrastinate because I'll get at least a B anyway" type people

I'm that way in every class unless I genuinely care, like English, history, and art. They all interest me so I have more motivation.

 

[Radioactive_Springtime]

I just never cared for all the busy work between the learning part and the test

 

[alierae]

That busy work is for people who don't care at all about doing well in school. It is the teachers attempt to make the learn even if they don't want to.

 

[Wisp]

Yeah, but it sucks for people like us who can absorb knowledge as we hear it...

 

[Dissident]

Hey! its my first thread and it wasnt even me who posted it

On topic: I always saw procratination as a flaw i had, but i think having a job as an employee partially fixed it. My boss gets pretty pissed off if i dont do things on time (or asap), so im getting used to just doing things, not thinking that i could do it later or something, but just doing it.
I guess you guys are right maybe it all comes from school, i didnt have to study much either, i read stuff the morning before the tests and i did just fine (not top of the class, but i didnt care about that)

 

[mindovermatter]

i could be the poster child for procrastination- seriously

 

[Wisp]

I think we all could, really...

 

[creepingcharlie]

Re: Recommended reading section?

I take it most people on the forum are the "I procrastinate because I'll get at least a B anyway" type people

Reminds me of when I was in algebra in highschool. Tests were 90% of the grade and the homework took so long that I never turned in any assignments. I still got a C+/B-

I'm not really proud of it, but it's the truth.

 

[mindovermatter]

never did homework either unless it was a science project or something that i actually wanted to do.......homework seemed a big waste of time......not doing it did affect my grades some, but after spending all day in school bored to death, i felt it was ridiculous to have to sit on my ass all evening doing more school, my teachers gave tons of it.......did suffer a bit of humiliation when the teachers kept chastising me in front of the class for consistently failing to do it......
i studied for tests by skimming the chapters the few minutes before the bell rang for class to begin and still passed....not particularly proud of it but not really ashamed either, it worked out OK

 

[Jesin]

Yet another thing on procrastination has popped up on HN (Hacker news, also known as news.yc):
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=188932

That is the page with all the comments on it. The title of the article at the top of the page is the link to the actual article. The article itself contains several also-relevant links, but I won't post those here as you can find them yourself.

Several of the comments were interesting enough that I decided to link to the comments page. This one looks very INTP:

Personally, I love finding solutions to problems that are new to me. I will work for 20 hours straight on a coding problem, but once I actually solve the problem I lose all interest. If, in the course of finding the solution, I didn't fully implement it, there's a solid chance that if I'm not given a deadline for finishing that implementation it will never be done; I'll have already moved on to the next interesting puzzle.

 

[FishSpeaker]

Temporal Motivation Theory, explained on this page (http://webapps2.ucalgary.ca/~steel/Procrastinus/theories.php), is a mathematical explanation for procrastination that I think has particular appeal to INTPs.

 

[Oblivious]

I procrastinate when I am going to forget it anyway and the effort is largely futile for any sort of theoretical or practical purpose.

 

[Jesin]

Looks like PG has written an essay on this topic. It's worth reading.
http://www.paulgraham.com/distraction.html

 

[mm1991]

Original poster has it dead on.
I think only us INTPs know what each other means.
Everyone else thinks we're mad.
(Or, at least, they think I'm mad at my logic for procrastinating!)

 

[alierae]

Sometimes I find it easier to get things done when I procrastinate because I work harder and more quickly when I am in a hurry. For example if I have a paper due soon and I wait until the night before to write it, I get it done a lot more quickly than I would if I did a little bit a night. The pressure forces me to do this, I guess I just work well under pressure unlike many people I know...

Is anyone else like me and work well under pressure?

 

[Ermine]

Yeah, I've made my best work under pressure, be it self imposed or deadlines.

 

[Frosty]

I'm an inveterate procrastinator. I find that I work exceptionally well under deadlines. During a typical working day, the bulk of my productive work will be achieved between 3pm and 5pm. Over the years I have gradually taught myself to be systematic about things, because I used to be rather disorganised ... now I make lists so that I don't forget things ... but my procrastination can sometimes drive me to "fiddling with the lists" rather than actually working on the task at hand.

 

[Linsejko]

I am not so much a procrastinator (I know my mom would look shocked if she saw that I said that, she'd disagree to the grave), as a distracted person. I don't intentionally, subconsciously put things off- I just am so distracted by whatever I am doing that I forget there is anything else in the world to be done.

In HS, that was a different story. There was just no reason to do what was expected to be done, so I never got around to it. I turned in 3 busywork homework assignments in all of my HS career... Passed ever single class on the tests, except for one class, my favorite of all the HS classes I took- Government. I got a 69.

But that teacher loved me, so it's all good.

.L

 

[zxc]

I'm an epic procrastinator.

I would imagine that this has a lot to do with my perfectionism, and simply laziness. At school, I do zero homework, unless it's a little bit of preparation for a test that counts, the night before. I also find that I work really well under time pressure, completing last-minute A+ essays that most people (non-INTPs I would imagine) could only dream of writing so well with weeks of work and research.


This year, being my last year of high school, I've found that the mathematical subjects are far easier, simply because I can't complete anything written - let alone an essay - under exam conditions in just an hour or hour and a half. I'm flying through physics and chemistry with a minimal amount of work, and I'm not even doing a maths subject because I did it last year. History, International Studies (politics) and History are far harder, because all the tests are in the form of essays written in exam conditions. I can never get anything done, even though I know the subject matter inside-out usually.

My teachers have recommended that I do tons of practise essays under test conditions.


...


...


LOL!!!!111!111oneoneonefiveone1

 

[October]

Oh my, I'm such a bad procrastinator. All members in my family know that and they always get pissed off at me because of that. I always leave things for tomorrow, and etc.

Procrastination has affected me quite deeply as it has affected my grades at school. I'm just too lazy to work harder and study more or when I try to I'm like "Oh, that's too hard, not in the mood right now" and you get my point - or even with things I like.

 

[Ogion]

Ah, overlooked this thread till now. Well, needless to describe it again. I am a procrastinator too.
Like for example this week and the next i have to write some 10 pages for a course in university, and i know, i really should begin. But then, the internet is such a great place for procrastination...(And even if it is an avoiding behaviour, the things i can learn while doing it, are much more interesting than the things i avoid^^).

Ogion

 

[fullerene]

I didn't realize how bad I was with this until this past year (first of college). In one class (basically philosophy of physics... haha my two majors mixing together) I actually waited to start writing a 2-3 page paper about an hour and a half before the deadline. The kids in my dorm thought I was insane, but I finished it with about 20 minutes to go. It's just how I work.

In one extreme case I actually flat out blew off a minor paper just because I was so distressed by something that I couldn't summon the motivation to write. It was only in a writing class, at a pretty defined technology and art/acting university (so everyone there sucked at writing), but that's still pretty bad. It's the only time procrastination has ever sunk into blowing an assignment off though... usually I can get the stuff done in time just fine. It just doesn't happen until the day before... ever.

 

[Ogion]

Oh yup, that is so familiar with me. It seems, that i can get to work only with strong external pressure. I am still not sure wether this is a good thing or actually a bad thing...The only problem with it is, that before i do it, i always tell myself that i am behaving bad and that i seriously need to get some discipline. But afterwards these thoughts vanish into thin air, till the next time...Maybe i just have to give up telling myself it were a bad behaviour?

Ogion

 

[fullerene]

haha *shrug* I came out with straight A's last semester. Play and let play until I have to change, in my opinion.

 

[Decaf]

I've had it described to me as a justified counter-reaction to our own tendencies. Do you keep much of the work you do after its been graded and returned? Do you feel that when you finish with a paper, you could do it better if you just started over again (not that you would)? I don't keep any of my old work and I have that feeling all the time, and I think its directly related to my procrastination.

As extraverted perceivers we know there is always more information to gather, more skill to develop whenever we work on a project. Because of that it is often difficult to feel like we are ready to start work. There is no "Just do it" unless we know that a deadline has cut off our ability to further prepare. The end result is procrastination if we don't develop good habits of cutting ourselves short of all the preparation we would like to do. The problem is that most of the people accusing us of it, or trying to help us become more "responsible" are extraverted judgers who start working on a project as soon as they get it. They tell us to get started, but we already have. We just haven't put it down on paper yet.

Its a difference in perspective, but it can definitely lead to behavior that doesn't help us succeed or accomplish the things we want to. I'm still working on mine.

 

[Ogion]

Hm, interesting new perspective. Have to consider that as an argument (against my parents for example)

Ogion

 

[IfloatTHRUlife]

I absolutely love this topic, i have been called lazy by basically every person i have known more than a day. I have accepted my natural tendencies of procrastination and find it kind of humorous. Even at this exact point in time i am procrastinating multiple things. First of all i have been up all night, the sun is up and i have to go with my mother today to apply for a job i absolutely don't want, i should have been in bed hours ago but i cant stop thinking about a lot of the things going on right now in my life(getting a job..insurance...looking into colleges....basically transcending into an adult) so i just cant sleep...Second i have a friend who gave me money to cut his grass and i was paid Friday, here it is Wednesday and i have to go to this interview and find the time afterward to cut his grass. The odd thing is i dont care about cutting the grass, i even find it sort of relaxing with all the noise and i feel like nobody else can bother me(lol all high and babbling let me get to the point) but anyway i have just put it off for the past 5 days for no reason.

 

[Agent Intellect]

why put off to tomorrow what you can put off to the next day? i'm definitely a terrible procrastinator. from waiting until the next morning to do my dinner dishes to surfing internet forums to put off other things i should be doing all the way to living at home until i was 23 years old (finally moved out a few months ago lol) i put off just about everything. its a terrible habit that i wish i could break, and i've tried to by sheer willpower before, but i can't. in some instances (the dishes and other smaller things like that) i'll literally forget about it by just getting caught up in things. i have a constant, almost incessant inner monologue that causes me to forget things like that, or going all the way to my car and realizing i don't have my keys because i walked out the door thinking too much about this or that. but for the most part, i can't make too many excuses, i'm just a procrastinating sunuvabitch.

 

[lemonsunite]

I find it easier to write essays and stuff like that if I'm under pressure. But I also write a better essay if I'm pressured to do it in 30 minutes than several hours.

If you tell me that i have 10 minutes to do something, I accept it as a challenge, not a task.

And I'm also writting this because I'm putting off an English essay for juuust a bit longer...

 

[Saturnine]

I have never not procrastinated.

 

[Wisp]

My parents are convinced I'm lazy. I'm convinced I'm brilliant.

 

[Saturnine]

haha...I hate using the word lazy to describe myself, I think it's something much deeper that keeps me from getting shit done, but I'm told that I'm lazy all the time. Especially by my parents....

 

[Wisp]

Of course it is, but THEY don't know that.

 

[fullerene]

sigh... the problem of my life this summer.

Just a week left til college... just a week left til college...

 

[Kuu]

Oh shit. Now I'll need to pull an all-nighter tomorrow. Err.. today that is...

Is there a way to procrastinate procrastination?

 

[icywindow]

http://www.structuredprocrastination.com/

I like this guy's approach to procrastination: just delude yourself into thinking the least important thing on your list is on the top of your list. Then, everything else will get done.

 

[Wisp]

already seen that one.

 

[Jesin]

Umm, yeah. That link was in the original post in this thread.

 

[icywindow]

Ah, sorry, carry on.

I find I procrastinate when I don't have deadlines, and when I don't have enough pressing things to do. If I operate on a schedule, I tend to get at least 60% of the things that I need to get done done.

 

[Shaz]

well, there's worse : here is a procrastinating J

Trying hard to fight it though... With moderate success I must say.

 

[Agent Intellect]

i think one of the bigest reasons i procrastinate is because i want instant gratification. if i can't have it now then i don't raelly feel like working for it all that hard.

 

[severus]

I procrastinate a lot with school projects. I put it off thinking I'll have a burst of inspiration and know exactly what I want to do. Unfortunately, when that burst of inspiration doesn't come, I have to cram in a week-long project into one night.
Though if it's not a really huge thing, I would probably do it all at once anyways. Once you start you might as well just get it over with. It's the starting part that I don't like.

 

[tmtaylor]

I am too. I ask myself questions like why make the bed when I will just have to do it again tomorrow and do I really care if its unmade seems like a waste of time and effort to me. Don't get me wrong being hygenenic is important but some things just don't matter to me. I remeber where everything is so why organize.

 

[Artifice Orisit]

I am too. I ask myself questions like why make the bed when I will just have to do it again tomorrow and do I really care if its unmade seems like a waste of time and effort to me. Don't get me wrong being hygenenic is important but some things just don't matter to me. I remeber where everything is so why organize.

I haven't made my bed in years, well I do just before I hop in but that’s different.

Hygiene is just something that you have to do but I refuse to organise my room unless I have a good reason. Does anyone else hate it when people move stuff so that it's "organised", but makes it impossible to find.

 

[Agent Intellect]

the time spent organizing things could be better spent reading something interesting, or sitting around thinking about how great it would be to do something interesting.

 

[Ogion]

Me too. I mean, if i can start organise the thing i'd be likely to procrastinate away, then i might as well start doing it itself.
But with me that results in another thing. If i start at last a project (like homework, a paper or so), i write it through and complete to the end and then stop. But i couldn't recheck it. I mean, if i would start to check it i would end up rewriting it again.

Ogion