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Procrastination troubles

Discussion in 'Self Improvement' started by scote73, Mar 15, 2016.

  1. scote73

    scote73 Fapstronaut

    Anyone have any practical advice on flipping the "I'll do it tomorrow for sure" mindset?
     
  2. ruso

    ruso Fapstronaut

    I've been here too many times before and still occasionally fall back into it. So I'll post my findings based on my own experience with procrastination. Overall #0 - #5. Have had the biggest impact.

    0. Find friends who do not procrastinate as much as you. We mirror the company we keep.

    1. Come to terms with the fact that if you don't write it down, or list it somewhere, you will not do it tomorrow. It just will not get done. Unless you do it today. There's no "switch" you are the switch, and you just gotta do it.

    2. Break the work in smaller chunks. This requires planning ahead of time. Learn to love planning because its the only way to have the convenience of breaking work in smaller chunks.

    3. Time yourself when doing the tasks. What I have found out is that often I procrastinated because I thought a task would take hours and hours, when in reality it took half an hour or less.

    4. Time is a resource and so is your energy. If you truly believed that what you are procrastinating from was truly important than you would do it. So truly believe that what you are doing is important.

    5. Reward yourself. Once you finally stop procrastinating and getting the work done you have to find healthy motivation to keep the behavior up. Otherwise you will revert. Finding healthy rewards is one of the most difficult things, hopefully you have better luck.

    6. Write the consequences of procrastinating somewhere, remember them.

    7. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over expecting a different result. Don't be insane. Try something else like not procrastinating.

    8. Embark on a journey to find out "why" you procrastinate. Try out all kind of apps, read all kinds of books. Wake up earlier. Get more sleep. Eat better. Keep going in circles trying to find to find the "Switch", app, and mindset to stop procrastinating only to realize that the only way to stop procrastinating is to just do it. So breath deeply for 30 seconds.... relax... and just do it.
     
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2016
    strugglemode and philstronaut like this.
  3. vulture175

    vulture175 Fapstronaut

    It's a very hard question. If you want a practical solution, try "5 minutes rule" or " 2 minutes ". This didn't work for me. I have depression which leads to procrastination much much deeper inside, not rational but emotional.

    This method sounds kinda crazy, bear with me.
    Method 1: don't think. Just do it. Once you think, it's very likely you're gonna delay again. This method applies for tasks which don't require too high cognitive functions

    Method 2: this method applies for tasks require higher cognitive functions. Imagine you take your soul out of your body, and put him into the subject, and then view around in the view of the subject
    For example:
    1. If you're working in a bank, imagine you were the numbers or policies, you're looking around in the point of view of numbers or policies
    2. If you're an engineer, imagine you were the machine, you're looking around in the point of view of that machine
    ...

    What ia the purpose of thia method? To connect us to the subjects. Procrastinatiom is a disconnection with what we want to do.
     
  4. IGY

    IGY Guest

    I think @ruso's advice is good. And that one comment really made me LOL! :D
     
    ruso likes this.
  5. philstronaut

    philstronaut Fapstronaut

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    I think this completely ties in with the NoFap attitude - procrastination is about instant gratification, you're obeying the base level instincts and just doing what you 'feel' like doing. Recognise that that isn't the best version of yourself. Ask yourself what it is you really want - do you want to waste time or be productive? It takes effort, but I always find when I've made the choice to get on with something, I feel so much better once it's done. Getting to the end of a to-do list is satisfying and relieves a lot of pressure.

    @ruso 's advice is great, breaking things into smaller chunks always makes a job feel easier.

    Take things one step at a time, and know that you'll feel great once you've got the hang of it.
     
  6. scote73

    scote73 Fapstronaut

    I've never really had much success writing down a "list" so to speak, but I'm open to maybe trying it again and again until it sticks.

    The rest of your post, ruso , did resonate with me. Breaking down my work into smaller chunks, and reminding myself that what I'm doing is important, could work wonders.

    But speaking to your 4th (5th?) point, the consequences to procrastinating...it was my biggest downfall in my college days, bar none. I see the cost of procrastinating manifested in my 2.6 GPA from college. Of course, during those days I was also heavily addicted to porn as well, but putting assignments off was the biggest reason why I didn't do as well as I would've liked. And, speaking of the addiction...

    ...it ties in well with the whole "pain avoidance - pleasure seeking" mentality. Getting comfortable with discomfort has to start becoming a priority in my life.

    So anyway, thanks for the thoughtful responses, guys. I shall try and implement these strategies immediately!
     
    ruso likes this.
  7. ruso

    ruso Fapstronaut

    @scote73: Glad my list helped a bit. I've been thinking about it and revised it. #0 - 5 have had the biggest impact, the rest not so much. If you don't like just lists than how about a task organizer? I use https://todoist.com that has a iphone and android app as well I think.. otherwise there is a whole industry dedicating to task management and "productivity" out there. Note: The app you choose will not make you magically stop procrastinating. Like all behavior conditioning it takes time. Don't go overboard with massively over-scheduling and listing. You'll become obsesssed with the scheduling and not doing the damn tasks. You'll burn out and revert. Imo schedule 2 tasks a day, slowly increment after seeing your progress. Schedule free time too (rewarding yourself). What all these apps do is usually make it easier and funner to break work down in chunks, prioritize whats actually important for you to finish, schedule things and have more control of your time ... The rest is up to your own behavior.

    This is very very interesting, I will try #2, seems silly but interesting. In fact when I was designing I do remember at times having a relationship with Photoshop and calling it "she/her" really connecting with the application Lol.
     
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2016
    vulture175 likes this.
  8. StewartSays

    StewartSays Fapstronaut

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    I always think about the age I will be at my next birthday and that gives me a kick up the butt!
     
  9. @scote73

    Hello Mate,

    check Pomodoro method.

    Let's say you start with 20 min. You set up a timer on your phone and those 20 min are just for you to learn.

    After that you can take 5 minutes to have some fine and then again.

    What I would suggest is to increase the period during the time...

    //

    The idea is not to force yourself into something but rather allow yourself to work on something for extended period... (as I understand it)

    //

    Also don't be too hard on yourself... If you don't mange to fully work every second of those 20 min...

    Positive thinking can do wonders for you...
     

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