Procrastination and deadlines

[Alex]

I admit I do procrastinate and then when a deadline approaches I get anxious. I use deadlines to try and get myself to do certain things, and I always used to do things before the deadline. Then, when I was low I found it difficult even though the deadline was looming and thought it would give me an incentive, but I ended up missing the deadline and having to pay the penalty. I couldn't really use my depression as a reason even though it was because people wouldn't understand.


It happens less these days, but I know it could. Has this happened to you to and how do you cope? Sometimes I get angry when at myself when I do miss a deadline, but now I try to force myself to get things done as soon as I can. I nearly missed the deadline for renewing some domains and I was so anxious the whole transfer time (5 days) and was annoyed I had left it until the expiry date, but it did work out okay in the end.

 

[NormaD]

I used to procrastinate a lot too, just to avoid the pain of the moment of doing certain things, only to experience more pain later when the deadline loomed and now I had anxiety to add to all that stress. I found a way to deal with this by asking myself: "If I don't do this thing now, how much more pain will I experience later?" This never fails to get me to get up and get things done.

 

[MissTea]

My way of dealing with procrastination involves using the Pomodoro technique. I tell myself that I will only put in 5 minutes of totally focussed attention. If I manage to trick my brain into thinking that it's only going to be five minutes, then it's easier for me to start doing the thing, and when I do, what usually happens is that I find myself able to carry on and before I know it, I'm done with the task and on to the next one.

 

[fuzyon]

I used to deal with procrastination quite a lot when I was a teenager, I didn't have any work experience so it was quite hard for me to focus for hours upon hours. I convinced myself to do work by simply thinking about my future and how everything needs to be in a balance. Doing tasks that I'd been putting off feels really good and can become addicting, I make a to-do list and a schedule everyday and it feels liberating to tick off the tasks from it.

 

[justsayyes]

I'm probably the biggest procrastinator out there. I seriously put off doing things unless it's absolutely necessary. I normally do things right before it's deadline and i always end up cramming. I've read that procrastination is due to the fact that one is afraid of rejection or failure and it's true in my case sadly.

 

[AlysBunny]

Sometimes I try to figure out why I'm delaying a particular task. Why is it so daunting? Then I try to make it less scary however I can. For instance, if I need to write a paper for a class and I'm delaying, I might decide that I don't have to write the paper now but I should do some research. Then I'll tell myself to just write it. It doesn't have to be good writing or good enough to turn in. I just have to make the words happen because I can change it later. Once it's written, I'll take the editing in chunks too. Does it make sense? Fix the spelling. Fix the grammar. Polish the structure and get the formatting right. If I focus on the nuts and bolts of something rather than the overview, I seem to do better. Often, I find the larger picture scary but if I focus on one detail at a time, I can handle that so it gets done.

 

[CVanOeveren]

I agree with Alys above, breaking a task into parts seems to help, whether you put it into practice or not. Starting small tends to get me going, and once I'm going I realize whatever I was so horrified of doing isn't actually so bad, I'll often end up finishing the whole task at once just to get it done.

 

[kgord]

I can be quite the little proscratinator myself, but sometimes I will do things before I have to, because the feeling of having things hanging over your head or looming in the background are not good either. In general, I will do things if I really need to do them, but other things I will really put off. I have been cleaning out a room forever,,,but part of the reason, I am proscratinating on this task, is I don't know what to do with the stuff that is in the room. I just have no where to put it.

 

[abonnen]

I try not to procrastinate but I do have to admit that some of my best work comes from those stints of procrastination. However when I do not procrastinate I feel a lot more relaxed and not anxious, procrastination can bring out the worst in my sometimes so I try to refrain from it.

 

[Panic57]

I'm a horrible procrastinator when I don't want to do something or I know it would take forever to finish. What i've done to fix that is to find the real dead line and either cut it in half or a third and make that my real deadline. With the new deadline set, I panic early and get the majority done. Then I can spend the rest of the time fine tuning what I'm supposed to do. It's easier to finish when you have the majority of the work done. It's easier to mentally trick myself than to panic at the last moment to get something I don't want to do done.

 

[kelden]

I used to procrastinate a lot when I'm set to perform a difficult task, since I really can get pretty lazy to think in a way to solve it. It helps to set your mind into it and try to do your tasks BEFORE doing something more entertaining, like browsing social media, youtube or just lay videogames. The more fun stuffs will drain all your willingness to do harder but necessary tasks for your improvement, like studying or practicing a skill. I suggest to leave entertainment after you finished, also don't try to go ironman and pretend you are going to devote 6-8 hours a day at the beginning, you need to take it slow and easy (45 min to 2 hours a day) and build a habit out of it or go all in (doing that thing all day long and nothing more). The latter has a insanely high rate of failure, but is the only way to achieve it within that amount of time.

 

[ReadmeByAmy]

When I was still younger I used to procrastinate sometimes especially when I was still a student. When ever there is an upcoming examination I will not study until it is the last minute. And I remembered I was always having late night sleep if the our test day will be the next day. My parents used to be angry because the next day I lack sleep and so how I will be able to perform well and to make it right to take the examination in our school. But I am glad even though I always passed. But when I grew to be a mature person already I had learned how to do things in the right way and in the right time. I knew already how to managed my schedules and time for my daily activities and I am not procrastinating anymore.

 

[rz3300]

I have gotten to the point where I actually question whether or not the deadline is my only motivation to get things done with certain assignments. We all know that whether it be at work or at school, we have to do some things that we do not care for or have any interest in, and for those it is tough to stay motivated. That means procrastination for me, and it can get pretty bad. I always get my things done when they need to be done, but I am the person who waits until the very last minute to finish it up. Thanks for sharing.

 

[nikkishea21]

This is me: I do not take deadlines as serious as I should and I know that this is a nasty habit. I am always putting off and saying to myself, it can be done tomorrow and I let time slip right by. In the end I am bombarded with a large work load to be completed over a short period of time and it is usually not done to the best of my ability. I am really disappointed in myself at times and it gets embarrassing when you are faced to face with the issue and your superiors and you know within yourself that you could accomplish the task, but it was just a sore issue of procrastination.


I was doing a really serious course and I was always putting off my assignments to do stupid things that were not as important as it is, now I am left with having to redo my research along with another course. I feel just awful about it.

 

[amy88]

I've always been a planner, really - I think my anxiety plays into that - so I don't really procrastinate. I would say that I'm probably the opposite - I like every little detail planned out, I do a ton of research on everything, I don't like anything being left up to chance or circumstance. I often wish I was more go with the flow...

 

[thecorinthian]

Oh yeah I'm a terrible procrastinator. I put off my driver's license renewal for four months, I got caught and I paid a big penalty because of it. I regret it because of the cost but also because my brother was with me at that time and he got to witness how irresponsible I was. I don't recommend procrastination for anyone because it will cause you deep anxiety and extended problems in the future.

 

[MVLaHearse]

I have to be really careful about procrastinating because I know I have a bad habit of being a perfectionist which causes me to miss deadlines and procrastinate. I get frustrated if it's not up to my standards which I realize can be ridiculous and less than realistic sometimes. I also have ADD so I switch around quite a bit when I have more than three things to do. I can multi task but then I end up getting distracted because I'm doing several things at once. I've learned to limit myself to no more than three personal tasks. It's strange because when it comes to my job I don't have any issues with delaying and getting distracted. I figure it's because I'm getting paid and that helps set my goals. I've gotten better about it but I definitely have to pinch myself and get back to business or I'll get more anxious When I'm anxious the ADD and perfectionism kicks in so the cycle continues. I started making lists, setting alarms, and using a couple of synced calendars and refusing to move onto another task or set of tasks until I'm done with at least the majority of one task or I've finished one or two.. Now to figure out how not to be late all the time with a husband who also has anxiety and two young kids...

 

[sidney]

I'm also such a habitual procrastinator, and I find it difficult to do things way earlier than the deadline even if I'm not depressed. If I'm depressed then there is a huge chance that I might not even do the thing that I'm supposed to do. But luckily, even if I procrastinate, I still get things done at the last minute.

 

[NormaD]

I wanted to make a post on this forum about procrastination and deadlines today, but then I decided to postpone it till tomorrow...

 

[Laneorexorcist]

I actually don't tend to procrastinate a lot, especially when it comes to things related to school... I'm always looking when is the deadline and I try to accomplish the work before it, but sometimes there's so many things going on and I can't really accomplish them on time, and when that happens I became really stressed and sometimes even I feel really disappointed with myself and I end up feeling really sad. I guess that accomplish things are a really big part of how I perceive myself... and I don't really have any mechanisms to cope with the bad feelings when it comes to that.