Procrastination

[Dimensional Transition]

Procrastinating very badly at the moment. Fucking exams.

 

[Cogwulf]

Part of my problem with procrastination is that if I finish something a week early, I spend the rest of the week worrying about it and going back and changing it.

I've just about finished some work today that I started Friday, It is due in on Tuesday and I've had the entire christmas holiday (4 weeks) to work on

 

[crystaleyes]

I used to have a huge problem with procrastination, and I still do, but not to the same extent as two or three years ago. I genuinely don't know the reason why I postpone doing the things that I have to do, and what is particularly ironic is that if I know that I HAVE to do a certain thing, I don't do it, even when I would have voluntarily done it if I didn't have the obligation to do so. I'm not proud of this, as I believe procrastination is the reason why many good ideas get lost, and people like me have a hard time reaching their potential. It saddens me to realize that the things I do at the last minute could have been so much better if I had started doing them earlier. Procrastination is the curse of us all, I swear.

 

[x Loki]

I procrastinate all the time, especially if the task is something I find uninteresting or mundane. I think for tasks like that, the added pressure towards the end of a deadline is critical for me.

 

[perkins]

Once upon a time, I had to choose a self-help topic and write a report on it. I chose procrastination. I did it at the last minute.

Spoiler

I got an A and a sticker!

 

[Peripheral Visionary]

The thing that keeps me from procrastinating is that I don't feel I can really do it justice. I can't really settle my mind on whether it is better to wait to the last minute, or if I should start at the one before the last minute--the penultimate minute, if you will.

One of these days, I am going to sit down and work out an algorithm or procedure for achieving optimum procrastination. I feel I need to do more research first.

 

[chatvite]

I need help. I have a job interview for a promotion and I have to put together 2 presentations. Everything is in my head, but I need to get it out. I know this topic is old and has been done a gazillion times, but does anyone have some advice on actually getting something done early?

 

[nedenom]

I need help. I have a job interview for a promotion and I have to put together 2 presentations. Everything is in my head, but I need to get it out. I know this topic is old and has been done a gazillion times, but does anyone have some advice on actually getting something done early?

What's the point of getting it done early?


If you have more time than last-minute, you could try to start with a small, open-ended goal. For example just 10 minutes to create the presentation files and type a few bullet points and nothing more. Who knows, you might even get carried away...

 

[MissQuote]

While researching procrastination some time back, obviously as a means to procrastinate something, I came across this amusing essay about procrastination.

 

[Ex-User (5841)]

I need help. I have a job interview for a promotion and I have to put together 2 presentations.

Get them to me by next Monday (e-mail) and I'll tell you what I think of it.

 

[chatvite]

While researching procrastination some time back, obviously as a means to procrastinate something, I came across this amusing essay about procrastination.

Most excellent! This is how I spend my days. Hence my appearance on this forum!

 

[MissQuote]

His other essays are amusing as well.

 

[Procrastinating]

I think I have now spent a good six hours looking at various mbti sites, forums etc. instead of studying for my sac on wednesday the practice of which I haven't done but was due on Friday, and exams in less than two weeks. I am a terrible procrastinator. I will procrastinate going to bed when I'm tired and eating when I'm hungry. Yeah, this is a real issue.
I think I could run a school dedicated to teaching its students to procrastinate. There would be no course outline, as the writers would be too busy procrastinating to write it. If the teachers taught anything, it would have nothing to do with procrastination as they would be procrastinating that. And that would be even if they showed up! I think a lot of the teachers would end up procrastinating showing up for class until it was too late. Actually, I don't think there would even be a venue due to procrastination.

 

[electra]

From a book I read: Procrastination is the soul rebelling against entrapment

 

[BigApplePi]

From a book I read: Procrastination is the soul rebelling against entrapment

No one is going to make me do it now ... including myself.

 

[EnigmaticMan]

STORY OF MY LIFE

(It frankly is the only reason I get marks less than I would like, other than making stupid mistakes)

 

[LcDel]

I'm a horrible procrastinator, to the point where I get no homework done and have grades in the upper Cs and Bs (for the most part) despite getting As on most of my tests and essays in every subject.
It's really troublesome. I wonder if procrastinating is a big INTP thing. I can definitely see it.

 

[mu is mu]

Good job, Moocow. I don't procrastinate either--after being burned by procrastination more times than I can count, I finally had to admit to myself just how stupid it is. INTPs are supposed to be competent and logical about everything they do, but to be blunt, we really can be completely illogical in this regard.

I actually wrote an exposition a few weeks ago about a concept exemplified in the social and animal world that I called "intellectual shortsightedness" and had this to say about procrastination, being a former procrastinator myself:

"And then there is the example of procrastination in whatever stupid forms it manifests as. A person will be observed to receive some task, errand, or assignment whose deadlines and expectations are clearly explained, only to persist in delaying its progress or completion until his discomfort induced by its incompletion proceeds to outweigh his desire to participate in other, usually more enjoyable, tasks. Subsequently, the person will eventually single-mindedly take on the task with a huge burst of energy, perhaps even forgoing sleep and other basic needs in an attempt at countering the self-induced lack of time. Of course, by-products and components of such foolishness can be stress, overlooked details varying in significance, irritability, sleep deprivation, an incompetent final result or project, selfish or dishonest pragmatism, inconvenient and unforeseen social unavailability, financial loss, or even the failure of completing the task. If the person would only exhibit wisdom, maturity, and self-restraint and so complete the task in a more time-conscious and logical fashion, then all of these undesirables could be either completely avoided or largely minimized. But this person allows his short-term impulses to skew his reasoning to rationalize his laziness, or he may not even consciously consider the issue of procrastination at all."

Follow-through does not come naturally to INTPs, but once you objectively analyze the habit and acquire the belief that you really can stop procrastinating, then you can kick the habit for good. Keeping a daily planner/checklist can also help immensely. And again, I don't speak from some type of theoretical "I think this would work..." standpoint regarding the problem of procrastination, but as a former procrastinator (a big one) myself.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

"And then there is the example of procrastination in whatever stupid forms it manifests as. A person will be observed to receive some task, errand, or assignment whose deadlines and expectations are clearly explained, only to persist in delaying its progress or completion until his discomfort induced by its incompletion proceeds to outweigh his desire to participate in other, usually more enjoyable, tasks. Subsequently, the person will eventually single-mindedly take on the task with a huge burst of energy, perhaps even forgoing sleep and other basic needs in an attempt at countering the self-induced lack of time."

This is the only way I can actually get any work done, especially when it comes to writing papers. My brain is just goop, until those final hours of action.

I am used to the sleep deprivation by now.

 

[mu is mu]

This is the only way I can actually get any work done, especially when it comes to writing papers. My brain is just goop, until those final hours of action.

I am used to the sleep deprivation by now.

Lol, that's interesting. For a long time I did things the way you do and even defended that position, because that ridiculous surge of last-minute energy can cause us to perform almost superhuman feats. But now that I no longer procrastinate I'll never go back. The self-discipline it takes to reverse that habit and that "brain goop" mind state you mentioned (I've been there) is definitely worth it.

And sleep deprivation is just... so unhealthy.