# Incredible procrastination



## Mollusk (Nov 12, 2005)

Does anyone have an extremely hard time getting anything done? I know I have to do something (usually schoolwork), but i will focus on any minutia that isn't what i have to do. Cigarette, bathroom break, eat, email, another cigarette or even just sit and think about that i don't want to do it. Hours will go by and I will get zero done. I will even start doing work that isn't t what i have to get done. I'm even here when i have less than two hours to write a paper. I have always been a procrastinator, but now that i have dp (i think) i lost the sureness that i used to have. I used to know I had to get things done. Now I'm not really sure of anything.

Can anyone relate?


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## Martinelv (Aug 10, 2004)

I couldn't agree more. Absolutely. I have so many things to do, but I simply cannot be bothered except spark up a cigarette and worry about all the stuff I haven't done.

Agree entirely.


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## chiara (Nov 5, 2005)

sometimes I think this whole thing is just caused by plain ole boredom and laziness.
I also tend not to do things but Im working on it and so far I get stuff done most of the day.


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## Scattered (Mar 8, 2005)

urbn8 said:


> Does anyone have an extremely hard time getting anything done? I know I have to do something (usually schoolwork), but i will focus on any minutia that isn't what i have to do. Cigarette, bathroom break, eat, email, another cigarette or even just sit and think about that i don't want to do it. Hours will go by and I will get zero done. I will even start doing work that isn't t what i have to get done. I'm even here when i have less than two hours to write a paper. I have always been a procrastinator, but now that i have dp (i think) i lost the sureness that i used to have. I used to know I had to get things done. Now I'm not really sure of anything.
> 
> Can anyone relate?


You hit the nail right on the head, completely. Anytime I have a paper to write, a test to study for, or just any general unpleasant task that has to get accomplished I"ll literally look for the stupidest thing to catch my attention so I don't have to work. I'll go have something to eat, get coffee, play a videogame, watch a TV show that I normally find boring and pointless with amazing interest. Its like my mind goes into autopilot, trying to find any insignificant excuse to not have to do work. I think I may also have ADD but haven't been diagnosed.


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## Guest (Nov 14, 2005)

I get this alot also and then when I end up doing what I put off. It's usually something so simple and easy to do and I wonder why I just didn't do it right away. The next thing will come up and I do it all over again. My kid's will go " Can we go swimming?" and in my mind it seems harder sometimes than if someone said " Can we go walking through landmines.?"


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## Guest (Nov 14, 2005)

Yes, I also have major motivational issues. Though it is my personal belief that this is related to my depression, rather than any underlying predisposition to ADD.

I posted about this not too long ago. One technique which I have been using lately was suggested to me by a female friend of mine. It centres around procrastination, ironically. Here's what to do:

Put on some fucking good music. Start whatever task or assignment that needs doing for about thirty seconds, take a break for two minutes. Return to the work for a minute, take a break for one minute. Keep progressively lowering the amount of time you spend taking a break from the work until you have effectively 'integrated' your attention into the task. Of course, you should still take breaks after working for longer amounts of time, but self-discipline is key. Try rewarding yourself once the task is done, too.

The bottom line is that motivational behaviour will perpetuate itself given effort, just as non-effort will perpetuate amotivational behaviour. It's almost like a power-dynamic.


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## peacedove (Aug 15, 2004)

Yes... like right now. The washer stopped 5 mins. ago. I should go put the clothes in the dryer now. For some reason I haven't gone to do it yet and for some reason I am really dreading it.


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## sleepingbeauty (Aug 18, 2004)

what you guys are describing IS in fact the same thing as ADD. you cant focus, your have a deficit in your ability to pay attention thus Attention Deficit Disorder. i dont know why people shy away from this diagnosis. im actually glad i was diagnosed as attention deficit because at least now i know what is going on. unfortunately, i have yet to find an effective treatment. meds dont do squat. i had some results from taking adderall but that was very short lived. unfortunately the only way to cope with this is to COPE with it. ADD people have to live their lives much differently then everyone else. thats just the way it is. we have to keep things as simple and consise as possible. cause chaos only confuses us more.


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## Scattered (Mar 8, 2005)

I dont understand how taking a drug like ritalin, which is chemically similar to cocaine, is any type of long term solution. Doesn't the long term use of any stimulant, in high dosages, cause brain damage? Or perhaps I'm just ignorant but it doesn't seem healthy.


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## Guest_ (Sep 17, 2005)

.


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## Mollusk (Nov 12, 2005)

hmm.. I took an aderol once it made me really want to get things done and live my life. I wonder if getting it prescribed would help me. I don't know if a drug is the real answer though. You are probably right sleepingbeuty. The best way to cope with this is probably just to dive in and *cope* with it.

I will try your advice dawns highway. I seems like a very logical way to ease yourself into a habit of getting things done.


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## fingertingle (Sep 29, 2005)

Yeah, that's why I'm on this website and I'm... sitting on my statistics book.


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## Brainsilence02 (Jan 29, 2005)

> I will even start doing work that isn't t what i have to get done


I know this, very well. And if I think that the other thing is what I must do, then I can't keep it up.

"Must". A powerful word. "I must do this". I think that for some people it works like a map, and for some other, it works like an undesirable obligation. Or maybe it's connected to a bad psychological condition.



Scattered said:


> Anytime I have a paper to write, a test to study for, or just any general unpleasant task that has to get accomplished I"ll literally look for the stupidest thing to catch my attention so I don't have to work. I'll go have something to eat, get coffee, play a videogame, watch a TV show that I normally find boring and pointless with amazing interest.


...I do those stupid things, without the "amazing interest" 

Motive is dead.

I should be studying to get my degree on economics.

I should memorize what people say to me, instead of thinking of nothing is important (I am forgeting).

I should be more trusting, especially with women.

I should be patient.

I should tidy up the house.

I should learn how to use that computer program.

I am trimming a few other things that I do and don't, in order not to cause a "depression" condition to my self (selfist).


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