procrastination is a different problem... [Archive]

pro

12-08-2005, 05:50 PM

I'm a big David Allen fan. I have his "Getting Things Done" book in both print and audio form, plus I bought the "adapting Outlook" booklet on his Web site and found that very useful. I tried the GTD plug-in that the other guy sells (forget his name) but didn't like it - overcomplicated. I wrote my own Outlook plug-in to add project management to the Outlook Tasks module (I'm a programmer) and used that for a while, but for my particular situation, there are better tools. I found an outline utility (with an Outlook integration option) to supplement the Tasks component and I use that instead - works better for me. All of which is to say...

Following David Allen's suggestions was very useful in improving how I organize my life, but it did nothing to help my chronic procrastination problem.

There are procrastinators and then there are PROCRASTINATORS. I'm a PROCRASTINATOR, and I'm not alone. For some people, procrastination is due to a practical problem relating to temporary situations or skill deficits. But for others, it's a very serious addictive disorder with no rational basis. No amount of "figuring out why" can get an alcoholic to stop drinking. Similarly, no amount of "figuring out why" can get a chronic procrastinator of the serious type to stop procrastinating.

Some people occasionally drink too much when something crappy happens in their lives, and when they solve the problem they stop. Some people drink too much because they are alcoholics - they have addictive personalities, and alcohol is their drug of choice. It's the same with procrastination. Some people procrastinate now and then because they need to clarify their tasks better or whatever. And some people procrastinate because they have an addictive personality and compulsive task avoidance is their "drug of choice" - that's what they do to escape unpleasant reality.

It sounds like you are not a chronic compulsive procrastinator - you are fortunate. I am, and I'm not the only one. Lawyers have been disbarred due to procrastination. Small business owners have gone bankrupt because they procrastinated on sending out invoices. This is not a "task clarification" problem. For some people, something much more serious is going on.

I'm an extremely well-organized person. I'm a programmer, my thinking is orderly, and everything in my life is orderly. My home is neat and orderly, my files are orderly, my time management systems are efficient and orderly. And yet I still struggle to get myself to do what I need to do because I have an extremely addictive personality, and compulsive task avoidance is my (current) "drug of choice".

For people like you, time management tips and tricks will be enough to cure passing procrastination. But for people like me, they are not. I posted my message for others like me who are desperately seeking answers, and keep getting told it's a time management problem. For chronic procrastinators, this is not a time management problem, it's a compulsive task avoidance problem - an addictive disorder.

This is not a "one size fits all" world. The information on procrastinators-anonymous.org (http://www.procrastinators-anonymous.org/) will be uniquely helpful to people who struggle with chronic compulsive procrastination. That isn't you, but I'm sure this describes many people visiting this forum. We're out there and desperate, let me tell you. Until now, no one has had good answers for this problem, and it's an extremely serious, life-destroying problem. What I learned, I learned the hard way. The insights and solutions I posted on procrastinators-anonymous.org (http://www.procrastinators-anonymous.org/) are original - you will not find this viewpoint or these recommendations anywhere else.

Note that I'm not selling anything - the model for recovery is based on the 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous, which has no dues or fees.

Day Owl

12-08-2005, 06:00 PM

Thanks, pro. I agree with you that DA's definition of procrastination, while well intended and undoubtedly true for many, does not reach deeply enough. One can be excited about the outcome -- indeed, fired up -- but still have intense resistance to taking the next action, however well defined it may be.

I've visited your site and registered there (under another screen name). Good site. I hope it flourishes.

pro

12-08-2005, 06:19 PM

Hi Day Owl,

I think the problem is that someone without an addictive personality simply cannot understand the experience of addiction. I've been clean and sober in AA for nearly a decade now, and it's notoriously hopeless to try to explain the compulsion to self-destruct with drugs and alcohol to someone who doesn't have an addictive personality. People who don't have this tendency simply do not have the capacity to understand this. They can't relate - there's nothing inside them that resonates with the problem. They say stuff like, "If it's causing you such serious consequences, then why don't you just do it" (or "not do it", as the case may be). They can't understand what it feels like to have no choice (which is the essence of addiction and compulsion). Trying to describe this experience to a "normal" is like trying to describe sight to someone who has been blind from birth (except that knowledge of addiction is something that people are blessed NOT to have).

Most researchers in the area of procrastination are not, themselves, procrastinators, and this is a major reason why the research in this area is so weak. I was corresponding with a researcher last night, and he said that he (like everyone else I know) researched it but didn't do it. I know a lot of people in this field because I have graduate degrees in psychology. I didn't finish my doctorate because my procrastination problem kept me from writing the dissertation (I left ABD), but now I want to go back and do it because I think, truly, that it "takes one to know one", and having dealt with addiction first-hand as I have, I can offer a uniquely useful perspective.

I very much hope the site takes off. It's been up less than a day, but already there seems to be a fair amount of interest, which encourages me. There is a long 12-step tradition in helping yourself by helping others, and that's what I hope to do with this Web site. I have many more articles I want to post, but I have other things to do and I don't want to use the Web site to procrastinate. ;)

andersons

12-08-2005, 06:35 PM

I agree with you that DA's definition of procrastination, while well intended and undoubtedly true for many, does not reach deeply enough. One can be excited about the outcome -- indeed, fired up -- but still have intense resistance to taking the next action, however well defined it may be.
I have procrastinated on many a well-defined Next Action that I perfectly well knew how to do.

And "not being excited enough about the outcome" is in many a cases just another description of the problem -- not a solution. I'm never gonna be excited about the outcome of getting my taxes filed. And there are plenty of other actions and projects that are almost as non-exciting.

pro

12-08-2005, 06:51 PM

I'm never gonna be excited about the outcome of getting my taxes filed.

Oh GAWD... Filing tax returns is the bane of my life!!!! I once got five years behind because I didn't keep up with my accounting (I have my own business), and didn't have the information to give to my accountant. I "time binged" (as defined on the PA Web site (http://www.procrastinators-anonymous.org/)) to get it done. It was hell.

And after going through that hell, do you think I think kept up with entering receipts and statements in Quicken so I didn't have to go through this hell again? Noooooo.... As I sit here today typing this message on December 8, 2005, I have not yet filed my 2004 tax returns. I kept up with my accounting for about five months, then fell behind, and now here I am with nearly two years of receipts and statements to enter into Quicken. Again facing hell.

I posted several polls on the PA Web site (http://www.procrastinators-anonymous.org) - one of them about what area(s) of life people procrastinate in. Also how serious a problem it is in people's lives, and some other polls. It's interesting to watch the patterns of answers as people vote.

warren_t

12-08-2005, 06:52 PM

Hi Pro,

Thanks for this posting. The site you've set up is great and when I read your "characteristics of procrastinators" article, I found myself nodding and saying out loud, "Yes..Uh-huh..that's me...." (Good thing no one in the office noticed!).

The "addictive personality" you talked about strikes a chord with me also. While I haven't abused alchohol or drugs, I used to be addicted to coca-cola!! Sounds totally lame I know, but I was drinking 1-2 litres of this stuff a day and would get edgy when we'd run out at home. The wake up call came when I found out that I had a "fatty liver" and poor blood test results. I've been free of this stuff for 291 days now, have lost 6 kilos and have started to be more active to get my liver back in shape.

I came to the realisation that it had a lot to do with how I saw myself. I was choosing to see myself as someone who wasn't as good as the other guy, or who needed to avoid tasks I dread or as someone who's world would end if others found out I wasn't perfect. Alot of this was about getting confidence in myself back. Too many times I've held my worth as a person to be based on what others think of me, rather than what I thought of me.

I've tried time-management techniques and alot of it has helped me get the things done I needed to, but I've always felt like there still was something that wasn't quite right. I'm reading Neil Fiore's "The Now Habit" and I'm getting a lot out of it I must say. I recommend it to anyone trying to meet the challenge of being a procrastinator.

Pro, as we say in Australia, Good on ya mate. Well done on a great initiative. I'v registered at your site and look forward to particpating. Time to stop suring the web and get back to the real world!

Warren

pageta

12-09-2005, 05:48 AM

I think David Allen summed it up nicely when he said that procrastination means you haven't defined the next step clearly enough OR you are not excited enough about the outcome.

Well, for me, it was clearly the former in the above statement. I've found that if I can break the step down small enough, I can get started on something and then it will get done. For me, that was revolutionary. For years, I've gotten all fired up about outcomes and then not taken a single action because I was overwhelmed by what needed to be done. DA's Next Actions have truly been revolutionary for me.

Am I saying that is the solution to everyone's problem? No. I'm just saying that I understand the problem of procrastination because I've been there, and I also understand the joy in finding something that solves the problem. There may be those who need the information shared on the site the OP originally shared, and there may also be those who read this thread and have a light bulb moment with the solution I quoted. Either way - we all gain victory over procrastination. So let's celebrate!

Cheers!

Arduinna

12-09-2005, 09:05 AM

I've procrastinated my entire life. Most of my accomplishments have been things I've done because I was avoiding doing other, more important things. I'm procrastinating right this minute, writing this post to avoid shoveling the drive--which I have to do, to get to a doctor's appointment. Is this an addiction? I don't think so. I was addicted to nicotine, am currently addicted to caffeine. I'm not addicted to procrastination--it's not something I have to have in my life without having a horrendous headache or feeling like I'm going through the roof with anxiety that only a cigarette will fix.

Nah, procrastination is a behavioral response to my high need for pleasure without pain. I'm sitting here because it's cold outside and I have to switch the sweeper thingie from brush to snow blower mode, which involves retrieving the manual and a tool--and even though I know where both are because I've gotten organized, it's all work toward the grand prize of slogging 700 square feet or so of snow out of my way. Ugh. But in avoiding this necessary but decidedly unpleasant and difficult task (I have a physical disability that makes it that much harder), am I really "seek[ing] excitement and attention through the negative attention generated by passive aggressive behavior" that "comes from not knowing how the person [I will] have 'wronged' will react when [I] see him/her again"? No again. It's not other-directed, it's highly personal, a matter of pleasure economy. Who knows, maybe I have a loopy limbus, and I have to apply more kick-butt to myself to get going than others do. That "fixes" the problem, and I'm going to do that now, but I did want to beg to differ on yet more pathologizing of a trait that is remedied exclusively by behavioral change. It's not a "disease" if it goes away when you get off your duff and get something done, and if it's an "addiction," banishing it would engender more psychic pain and discomfort, not less. In my experience, the opposite is true--procrastination withdrawal leads to immense personal satisfaction, accomplishment, and feelings approaching euphoria, and I don't think the addiction/disease model is legitimate. JMO.

Off to shovel.

Desultory

12-09-2005, 10:37 AM

Here's another procrastinator chiming in, even though I don't really have anything to add on the subject. Maybe later I'll come up with something after some more web-surfing. ;)

avrum68

12-09-2005, 11:36 AM

procrastination is a behavioral response to my high need for pleasure without pain.

What a wonderful description of why I do what I (don't) do. And if you grew up in this type of family i.e. an environment where pleasure was chosen over pain, even to the determent of family, business, and self growth, you can bet the struggle will be compounded.

I'd like to add to Arduinna's msg that the rush one gets from delaying/avoiding is addictive and pleasurable.

BTW...read both The Now Habit as well as GTD. Neither of which did much to reduce procastination. It seems that unless I:

1) Have a deadline...
2) For something I truly enjoy doing...
3) With a partner(s) who I truly I enjoy doing it with...

I'll put if off and off and off.

cornell

12-14-2005, 09:08 AM

I agree with the others who said it so well - it's a task avoidance problem, and indicates either something that's not clear enough ("What's the next action?") or not motivating enough ("What's the successful outcome?"). However, I often find there's more to it that those two aspects. One thing that helped me was applying the "STING" method [1]:

S - Select one task.
T - Time yourself.
I - Ignore everything else.
N - No breaks.
G - Give yourself a reward.
Also, sometimes I find I'm just not ready for action. For example, I need to get some dental work done, and for the longest time (months) I just could not pick up the phone to schedule an appointment. All I could do was to acknowledge the need to wait, and to tickle myself in a month to revisit.

matt

[1] I detail it in Use the STING method to stop procrastinating (http://ideamatt.blogspot.com/2005/11/use-sting-method-to-stop.html).

pro

12-14-2005, 09:43 AM

I think it's important to recognize that "procrastination" isn't a single thing with a single solution. I'm reading Time Management from the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern, and she defines three broad reasons for procrastination:

1. Skills issues.
2. External obstacles.
3. Psychological problems.

David Allen mainly addresses category 1, but skill in organizing time is not the only factor in procrastination. In category 3 Morganstern lists the usual fear of success, fear of failure, etc. She doesn't mention addictive compulsion (no one does), but it's a big factor for many people. The Procrastinators Anonymous (http://www.procrastinators-anonymous.org/) Web site focuses mainly on the addictive aspect since it's literally addressed no where else, but we also talk about other factors that can cause or cure procrastination.

David Allen's suggestions are excellent as far as they go, but they assume a level of skill in some areas that I do not have - for example, estimating how long a task takes. I like the Morgenstern book because it addresses nuts-and-bolts problems such as these. Her general approach is very similar to David Allen's, but she starts at an earlier point - doesn't assume a pre-existing level of knowledge or skill.

-----------------
Procrastination is the grave in which opportunity is buried.
www.procrastinators-anonymous.org (http://www.procrastinators-anonymous.org/)

pro

12-16-2005, 06:28 PM

I was thinking about the three categories of procrastination in the Morgenstern book, and I think she left off two. I posted an article about this on procrastinastors-anonymous.org (http://www.procrastinators-anonymous.org), if anyone's interested:

The Five Main Types of Procrastination (http://www.procrastinators-anonymous.org/node/25)

lifeprint

01-01-2006, 03:49 PM

I'm glad someone has brought this topic up. Procrastination has been on my mind as to why I don't just do something. For awhile I was thinking, I just quit a job that is very task oriented with a lot of work to be done, so I owned a lot in my work and had to work quickly but accurately and get more things done, so I thought with anything else that needed to be done, I put it off. I was so tired of being "on" all of the time at work that when I came home I turned "off". The basic house work would get done, buy groceries, read a little, but I felt there was so much more I want to do and read, but I just would not do it.
Now I quit that job to go to a job in the same industry, but I'm 100% commission. This may be good or bad.... but there are fears I have that keep me from making phone calls and increasing the odds of me getting business. I know that isn't all procrastination, but I think there is a lot to the psychological aspect of fear in regards to procrastination. But I am curious about the addiction to the feeling of not doing the tasks.
I'll read more and hope more is posted on this subject.
Thanks.

tim99

01-03-2006, 09:17 AM

flexiblefine

01-03-2006, 01:44 PM

This may be good or bad.... but there are fears I have that keep me from making phone calls and increasing the odds of me getting business. I know that isn't all procrastination, but I think there is a lot to the psychological aspect of fear in regards to procrastination. But I am curious about the addiction to the feeling of not doing the tasks.

To get back to making those calls, I think you'll need to get past those fears. It's easy to say, but a lot harder to do. Even if things don't go well on one call, you always have more calls to make, more sales, to make, and everything will be all right.

I've been reading Neil Fiore's "The Now Habit" to help me work against my procrastination, and I agree with Fiore that procrastination is not a problem in itself, but a reponse to other things, like fear and anxiety about tasks or performance. Working to relieve those fears and anxieties is an effective way to overcome procrastination.

I don't want to hijack a thread that started with a pointer to another procrastination resource, but I started a Yahoo Group where we talk about procrastination and ways to overcome it, including the Now Habit strategies. Feel free to join us and see what you think of the group.

ThomasDerwin

01-03-2006, 05:23 PM

lifeprint

01-04-2006, 09:47 AM

I noticed that you said you may have some trouble with avoiding making calls. Google for "12 Types of Call Reluctance". Maybe it would help you to identify your specific call reluctance. But, even though I think I know and understand my types of procrastination and call reluctance, I still do not feel like I am heading toward solving them or finding a good way to live with them.
I checked out one of the web sites that come up with the Google search of "12 Types of call reluctance". The first site lists the 12 types... I can identify with a few of them. I feel uncertain as to how to remove the big part of my call reluctance. It would be nice to see a class like this one in my area in San Francisco, maybe there are some... it gives me something to look up.
Thanks for the information.

lifeprint

01-04-2006, 09:54 AM

I've been reading Neil Fiore's "The Now Habit" to help me work against my procrastination, and I agree with Fiore that procrastination is not a problem in itself, but a reponse to other things, like fear and anxiety about tasks or performance. Working to relieve those fears and anxieties is an effective way to overcome procrastination.

This is a great topic. I'm glad to have found more information on procrastination. I can see how it is a response to other areas that pose difficulties in getting things done. The "Getting Things Done" time management system has helped me some, but I can see where I've slipped in not keeping a list of projects and the next actions, but resorting to a task list which can be seen as overwhelming which I avoid overwhelming.
What steps has anyone here taken to help with their procrastination?

flexiblefine, I will look into your forum as well. There is another book that I need to read first... so I will resist the urge to buy another one before I finish this one. :)

avrum68

01-04-2006, 02:14 PM

David posted a link to a great essay on this very subject in his Jan. 1 blog entry:
http://www.davidco.com/blogs/david/archives/2006/01/great_essay_on.html

Paul Graham's writing helped to start my new year on an inspiring note.

Enjoy,
Tom

Superb article. Seems to debunk much of the advice offered by Covey, Allen, etc. Moreso, the advice jives with my experience with successful folks, mostly artistic/creative, who don't have time for "time-management" articles, books. They DO the most important projects allowing "delight" to guide their decisions.

flexiblefine

01-04-2006, 02:57 PM

What steps has anyone here taken to help with their procrastination?

My main method of procrastination is surfing the web. I check personal e-mail, check a list of sites, and keep up with a stack of Bloglines subscriptions, and it's easy for that to eat up a few hours a day.

I used to do all that stuff at the beginning of the day when I got to work. Sure enough, a bunch of web surfing sets a non-productive mood, and I would get very little done.

So I changed how I start my day. Instead of "settling in" with my online pursuits and amusements, I start with work -- and save my daily tour of the web for after lunch. My mornings have become more productive than whole days used to be.

(Sure enough, this week Gina at Lifehacker suggested a similar approach: http://www.lifehacker.com/software/feature/geek-to-live-ban-timewasting-web-sites-146448.php -- I got the idea from The Now Habit.)

What people do to fight procrastination depends on how they procrastinate. My tactics may not work for someone whose procrastination causes different behaviors. I'm certainly not done fighting procrastination, either...

QCB

01-04-2006, 03:43 PM

Arduinna

01-04-2006, 04:45 PM

Superb article. Seems to debunk much of the advice offered by Covey, Allen, etc. Moreso, the advice jives with my experience with successful folks, mostly artistic/creative, who don't have time for "time-management" articles, books. They DO the most important projects allowing "delight" to guide their decisions.

This is one of those great pieces of thinking that alters the way you perceive an issue. Graham's crystallized something I knew, but avoid thinking about. Viewing NAs as "doing errands" vs. "doing real work" provides that prioritizing device that's eluded me in GTD.

There may be types of work that can only be done in long, uninterrupted stretches, when inspiration hits, rather than dutifully in scheduled little slices. Empirically it seems to be so. When I think of the people I know who've done great things, I don't imagine them dutifully crossing items off to-do lists. I imagine them sneaking off to work on some new idea.

Conversely, forcing someone to perform errands synchronously is bound to limit their productivity. The cost of an interruption is not just the time it takes, but that it breaks the time on either side in half. You probably only have to interrupt someone a couple times a day before they're unable to work on hard problems at all.

Errands are so effective at killing great projects that a lot of people use them for that purpose. Someone who has decided to write a novel, for example, will suddenly find that the house needs cleaning. People who fail to write novels don't do it by sitting in front of a blank page for days without writing anything. They do it by feeding the cat, going out to buy something they need for their apartment, meeting a friend for coffee, checking email. "I don't have time to work," they say. And they don't; they've made sure of that.

Gold.

Busydave

01-05-2006, 05:19 AM

Be careful of what you mean when you say you are procrastinating on something. Procrastination has bad associations – an implication of failure – that may not be correct.

For example, I thought I was procrastinating on getting some jobs done around the house on weekends: I seemed to be just hanging around the kitchen with my wife and son, getting nothing done.

Then I realised that I was actually fulfilling my number one priority – spend any available quality time with family after having to work a stupid number of hours during the week.

My problem therefore is not procrastination; it is a lack of balance in my life.

Dave

Cuffy_Meigs

01-05-2006, 09:02 AM

I, too, have a real problem with opening up a surfing black hole first when I sit down to start my work day. I must check a handful for business sites for breaking news related to my job, but that quickly and seamlessly morphs into blog surfing. Next time I look up it's closing in on 11 AM & lunch is right around the corner---why get started on something big now? Sheesh.

So here's what I just did after reading some posts above:

1. Create a new favorites folder called AFTER LUNCH (yes, use allcaps)
2. Place it at the bottom of your favorites list
3. Put all "fun" sites in that folder

It's just an optical trick to remind me these sites are verboten in the morning. My hope is that this works so well that all blog surfing is consigned to my home PC after work.

Unfortunately, all my GTD bookmarks now reside in AFTER LUNCH as well. If you ever see me posting here in the AM again, feel free to harangue me without mercy!

bmd

01-05-2006, 11:06 AM

Busy Dave, you added a lovely and poignant note to a very engaging and helpful thread. If more busy parents could come to this realization, how different things could be. Your family is lucky.

Busydave

01-06-2006, 01:02 AM

Busy Dave, you added a lovely and poignant note to a very engaging and helpful thread. If more busy parents could come to this realization, how different things could be. Your family is lucky.

Thanks for the support bmd; it took me a while to reach that realisation. Without priorities it can be hard to really say when we are procrastinating.

Dave

Busydave

01-06-2006, 01:04 AM

I guess it is not all that surprising that many seeking of us, seeking to develop personal time management skill, suffer from some form of procrastination.

My procrastination habit is nearly identical to Flex ... Every morning, I sit down at my desk with the best of intentions, to review and clear email, briefly read todays news, review websites of my active organizations, and BAM ... it is lunch time. Even when I "get organized" and gather up everything in a "collection basket," it sometimes feels like I have no energy or interest in moving forward on anything. Sometimes the funk lasts all day, and I leave the office feeling just ... defeated.

I am just starting to work through the GTD system and implement it. I am hopeful that I can address procrastination problems by developing a system to manage my time, caseload, work assignments, and active life outside of work ... I am reading with interest but skeptical that I will EVER account for everything I have to do. And of course, a part of me is concerned that I am just engaging in ANOTHER procrastination activity!!

Also, when one is his or her own boss, it is sometimes hard to create the type of short-term accountability necessary to "get off the dime" and be productive ... it is not until we experience the long-term consequences of our actions (when it is too late) that we make an effort to be productive. In my case, I often wait until I am staring at a drop-dead deadline before I become productive ... It is like a game of chicken with automobiles, and even at 40 years old, I am waiting until the last possible moment to make the right move and get out of the way of danger.

So I guess this time management process (GTD) is my first step in addressing my procrastination. Hopefully, when the dust clears, I will be able to see more clear what I am anxious about, and what I am hiding from.

I read a good point somewhere that may have some relevance to you: the topic was leakage: where the barrier between your working life and your social/recreational life has broken down. In effect, you are trying to experience social/recreational pleasure by surfing during the hours when you should be in heads-down-working mode. The dangerous thing is that we can convince ourselves that surfing is somehow relevant to our jobs. But when we disconnect from the web and look at the desk again, we find we have achieved nothing through surfing. We have managed to blur the distinction between wok and leisure, to our own advantage.

Try treating surfing as a strictly personal, recreational activity. If you restrict surfing to personal time, you will notice that you are much less inclined to spend that many hours of personal time at it – yet you have no problem spending many many hours per month of office time on the web. Surfing during working hours is the same as reading a novel or watching TV during working yours - it’s just not work!

Dave

bmd

01-06-2006, 08:28 AM

Which Wise Forum Poster said this in the past?

"Would anyone looking at you know what you're working on right now?"

I have that on a table tent on my desk. I can be reading and thinking great stuff, but where's the evidence that I'm completing the grant application that's due in three weeks?

Many thanks for all the wonderful posts.

Rainer Burmeister

01-06-2006, 10:24 AM

There is something inside my head that reacts to specific events that leads me to think about those events in such a way that I am driven, in a non logical way, in a non productive way, and sometimes in a distructive way, to do something else instead of the very thing that not only do I need to do but that I know would feel wonderful if I accomplished. Over time it has become a habit for me to respond to specific events by doing something else to avoid the feeling that I get when faced with those events. And often I know that the something else is wrong, non productive, and destructive.

Sounds like disgust to me; disgust recruited to defend the self against psychic incorporation or any increase in intimacy with a repellent object (though the object or work may look harmless to other people).

Rainer

sonia_simone

01-06-2006, 10:41 AM

The analogy with depression is a sound one, and just as you probably won't find a way to cure clinical depression by reading a forum, you probably won't be able to address procrastination that is a serious disorder by poring through these topics.

It's tricky to find a good therapist for this, but I have seen in my own life how "procrastination disorder" can be as damaging as any other form of addiction. One thing I have seen work is drug therapy for ADHD -- there is a form of ADHD that makes the brain all but incapable of translating intention to action. The resultant life chaos can create truly disabling anxiety and depression. I've seen plain old Ritalin work true miracles in such a case.

This isn't a plug for Ritalin so much as a plug to go see a pro and take the problem seriously. People tend to think procrastination is a simple issue that just calls for a little will power. Sometimes that's true, but sometimes it's much more serious.

sonia_simone

01-06-2006, 10:43 AM

On the other hand.

Sometimes there really is wisdom in that old "it hurts when I do this," / "quit doing that."

QCB

01-06-2006, 03:07 PM

I read a good point somewhere that may have some relevance to you: the topic was leakage: where the barrier between your working life and your social/recreational life has broken down. In effect, you are trying to experience social/recreational pleasure by surfing during the hours when you should be in heads-down-working mode. The dangerous thing is that we can convince ourselves that surfing is somehow relevant to our jobs. But when we disconnect from the web and look at the desk again, we find we have achieved nothing through surfing. We have managed to blur the distinction between wok and leisure, to our own advantage.

Try treating surfing as a strictly personal, recreational activity. If you restrict surfing to personal time, you will notice that you are much less inclined to spend that many hours of personal time at it – yet you have no problem spending many many hours per month of office time on the web. Surfing during working hours is the same as reading a novel or watching TV during working yours - it’s just not work!

Dave

Dave:

A very insightful and perceptive comment ... and true on several levels. But in some ways, it leads me right back here after a 360 degree turn. I am definitely taking time at work to pursue "recreational" activities ... one of the bigger ones currently relates to coaching (i.e., I coach several soccer and basketball teams for my children). It starts with an email to parents about something (practice, game times, whatever), checking the league website for something, communicating with another coach or referee or whoever, and surfing coaching related sites for more info and help. Next it is on to personal finances, checking banking statements, revising my budget. Then it is a stop by another online community ... and on and on.

So there is no doubt that a part of my problem is misdirected use of my time. I have lost the proper boundaries between work and everything else in my life, to the point where I almost do whatever I feel like doing during the day, unless there is a metaphorical gun pointed at my head to get something done!!

But if I peel back another layer, I think that one of the reasons I do this stuff at work is that I have no time to do it at home. Seriously, I often make it home 30-60 seconds, before I have to run off to a practice or a meeting or some event for one of my children. After the kids go to bed, my wife would like to have some adult communication rather than see me with my face in a laptop ... besides the fact that I am exhausted. The next day brings more of the same. It is like setting the goal to "get up by 6:00 a.m.," and then going to bed at midnight, knowing that I generally need 7-8 hours of sleep to function.

So my hope is this ... If I can master my time, at work and at home, with the GTD method, I can put everything back in its place and build up the barrier between work and recreation again. Along the way, I need to learn to delegate, say "no," accept help, stop trying to be superman, be more of a manager than a doer, and regain some self-discipline in my daily work habits. Of course, now I am not sure whether to add "Stop by GTD Website" to the list, before it becomes another well-intended recreational pursuit!!

Thanks again for the advice. I will keep you posted ... I am on about page 100 of the book and committed to finishing it this weekend.

flexiblefine

01-09-2006, 01:09 PM

I did not have a bad childhood. This does not come totally from my parents. It comes from myself. My reaction to what might have been viewed by others as success. My own perfectionism creates very strong memories when I feel that I have failed, and weak or no memories when I succeed. You would look at my success and think that I should feel good about myself, when instead I am thinking about this and that that did not go well in my view.

So, I am working on viewing life in a more truthful way, and thinking about the stuff that I have done well, and how good it feels to experience a successful outcome.

Tim, I know exactly what you mean -- I had a job a few years ago (working for a startup) where everyone else thought I kicked ass, and I felt like I was working long hours and seven-day weeks just to keep up. Two people can really see the world completely differently from each other.

Are you also much more forgiving of others? I'm willing to let everyone else be imperfect, but not myself. I still have a fair amount of changing to do, but I've come a long way so far. It'll be nice to see myself and my life the way other people do.

GTD helped me get control over the things I had to do, and it brought my procrastination into sharp focus. I found recommendations for The Now Habit, and I'm working my way through it again. I really need to learn to get off my own back, and I think the Now Habit methods will help.

iainp

08-01-2007, 04:58 AM

Bump

I'm "Bumping" this as I have a teenager with serious procrastination and issues of 'getting lost while researching for school'. After 6 months I finally stumbled upon this thread again.

Great topic!!!

Iain

flexiblefine

08-01-2007, 10:24 AM

Aside from "The Now Habit," which was recently released in a revised edition, here are a couple of other books about procrastination people might be interested in...

-- Rita Emmett's "The Procrastinator's Handbook"
-- William Knaus's "Do It Now!"

I'm reading "Do It Now!" at the moment, and I think it's thorough and complete -- the procrastination book I would have written if I had enough research. Knaus's "The Procrastination Workbook" is also on my reading list.

Desultory

08-02-2007, 06:52 AM

Having read through this thread, I am appalled at my own extremely unhelpful post nearly two years ago. I've learned to deal better with my own procrastination since then. The Now Habit did help me examine my feelings about unpleasant tasks, but it only went so far. We've already discussed how much GTD principles will help.

I am easily distracted and will spend hours pursuing immediate pleasures to avoid unpleasant tasks. That's probably why I found the formula here (page down to TMT) (http://webapps2.ucalgary.ca/~steel/Procrastinus/theories.php) most illuminating. Basically it says that it's perfectly rational to choose activities that are very likely to give immediate rewards, over those that have a low chance of paying off in a distant future.

The best way to structure your time so that even scutwork gives an immediate reward is to break it into short chunks and insert your own reward at intervals. Also known as the (10 + 2) * 5 Dash. (http://www.43folders.com/2005/10/11/procrastination-hack-1025/) There's a very cool meditation timer called PocketDoan (http://www.freewarepalm.com/clock/pocketdoan.shtml) that handles the intervals. You will probably want to adjust the intervals to suit the tasks you're tackling. For example, I usually do (15 +5) * 3. Don't skip the breaks; it feels extra satisfying to play a round of (insert game you don't want to admit you play) guilt-free.

There's lots of great stuff at 43folders, but currently I find Zen Habits (http://zenhabits.net/) most helpful. Things like establishing a daily routine, and knocking off one "Big Rock" as early as possible. Check out his series on ZTD!

Hope this helps,
Pam

Howard

08-03-2007, 11:28 AM

One thing that helped me was applying the "STING" method

Just wanted to say thanks for this Matt. Absolutely brilliant.

I'm not so much a procrastinator as just chronically overworked (my own fault - it's my business). I tend to allow myself to get diverted as my concentration ebbs so I've stuck the acronym on my laptop and it's actually helping!

Have a good weekend.

theorganizedartist

08-04-2007, 12:11 PM

In case anyone here is a procrastinator and needs help with that different (but related) problem, there's a new Web site with some innovative ideas and suggestions for a solution.

http://www.procrastinators-anonymous.org

I would join but I can never seem to get around to it... :mrgreen:

Barry

08-27-2007, 11:03 AM

This is a great thread. I wanted to give it a bump and add that I agree that procrastination is a different problem for some of us. GTD helped me get things organized and off my mind, but not necessarily DONE. Getting organized is essential to productivity, but I have come to the realization that organization is not the only thing needed for some of us. Implementing GTD did increase my productivity, but I still struggle with procrastination which continues to be a significant obstacle for me.

"The Now Habit" was recommended several times in this thread and elsewhere in GTD resources, so I finally got a copy. I am not quite all the way through it, but it has been helping me already and I can give it a hearty recommendation. It is addressing the procrastination problem at a practical level with techniques that are easy to implement and not just advising me to buckle down and be more disciplined (that method does not help most procrastinators).

The book is available as an audio book, which makes it easy for me to get through while commuting rather than having to set aside extra time for reading. There is also an audio copy in my local public library, so you might check yours. However, I bought a downloadable copy because there is a long waiting list at the library.

By the way, the techniques in the book are not only applicable to procrastinators, but anyone who would appreciate an increase in productivity or just making both their work and free time more fun and rewarding.

I think that "The Now Habit" along with the GTD book would make a very complete and complimentary 2-book set of essential work skills for virtually anyone.

dal1mdm

08-27-2007, 04:48 PM

Thanks, pro. I agree with you that DA's definition of procrastination, while well intended and undoubtedly true for many, does not reach deeply enough.

Its overly simplistic. I mean how excited an outcome is 'the bill is payed"?

dal1mdm

08-27-2007, 04:52 PM

DA has said that the folks who embrace GTD most are those who need it the least. The converse is also true. Those who need it most have a hard time embracing it for the reasons that place them among the list of those who most need it.

kewms

08-27-2007, 05:07 PM

Its overly simplistic. I mean how excited an outcome is 'the bill is payed"?

That is true. However, "bill is not paid" can lead to all sorts of exciting outcomes: "bank has foreclosed," "IRS has garnished wages," "sheriff's deputies have seized office furniture," etc.

Katherine

Barthox

08-28-2007, 04:01 AM

Dave:
But if I peel back another layer, I think that one of the reasons I do this stuff at work is that I have no time to do it at home. Seriously, I often make it home 30-60 seconds, before I have to run off to a practice or a meeting or some event for one of my children. After the kids go to bed, my wife would like to have some adult communication rather than see me with my face in a laptop ... besides the fact that I am exhausted. The next day brings more of the same. It is like setting the goal to "get up by 6:00 a.m.," and then going to bed at midnight, knowing that I generally need 7-8 hours of sleep to function.

Alleluia, I'm not alone in this world! ;)

I'm experiencing exactly what Dave said, but also the fact that I can't find the slightest trace of satisfaction in most of the things that I should be doing ...

Brent

08-29-2007, 09:12 AM

Fantastic thread.

I've been helped by recent realizations that procrastination is:

a) Natural, that is, everybody does it (in different amounts)
b) Often externally caused, by unpleasant pressures from other people
c) A habit, which means it can be changed
d) A symptom of some deeper fear or frustration or exhaustion or what-have-you

Now, just because it's a symptom, doesn't mean that you have to unearth and deal with the deep psychological cause. However, recognizing the problem can free you to search for solutions.

Gah, I'm explaining this poorly. It's not just about deciding to act differently. It's about a deeper priority change. But frustration with procrastination is the first step in priority change. If you don't like your procrastination and are looking for fixes, you're halfway to stopping your procrastination.

Or: I'm learning to stop worrying about how hard a habit is to fix, and pay more attention to my attitudes and behavior.