Procrastination and dread

[lollipopspot]

When I have to do something tedious (like, work on taxes) or unpleasant (like, confront someone) or overwhelming (like, attack a project that feels huge to me, often with tedious or unpleasant elements to it)...I have the worst procrastination.

 

I will do anything other than the thing I really need to do. Sometimes I'll just do nothing at all and waste a lot of time.

 

But of course the thing doesn't go away. It weighs on me terribly.

 

Sometimes when I finally get to the thing, it goes very quickly, and I'm irritated at myself that I couldn't have just moved myself to do it and get it out of the way earlier. Sometimes the thing goes terribly, but I still get through it and go on.

 

Rationally I know I've just got to keep moving forward through these things that are part of everyone's life. But the dread and procrastination keep me much less productive than I should be. I think some of it is tied to perfectionism too.

 

For people who have struggled with this, or those who have observed this within themselves...What do you tell yourself and how did/do you get through your procrastination and negative emotion to become more productive? I can think of canned answers of what you're "supposed" to do, but any creative ideas or insight that have really worked for people?

[gaius]

Saw this post yesterday but I'm just getting around to responding.

 

I don't think you can really do much of anything. When I was in school sometimes I'd be up to 3-4am in the morning finishing something that was due that day. Even though I had weeks to do it. Always kind of took pride I could hammer it out right before the deadline and ace it. And if I tried to do it earlier my mind would fight me every inch of the way. I think fighting against the deadline brought something interesting and challenging to an otherwise incredibly uninteresting task. Some people don't operate well when there's no challenge and there's nothing wrong with that.

 

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

[xxoo]

I schedule it. I make an appt with myself to do that thing on a certain day, and then I feel pressured to do it that day. I have a day scheduled to finish my taxes--this Sunday, in fact. And I'll do it that day, because it's on the calendar. Scheduling it helps me relax in the meantime, because I have a plan in place. It'll get done, on Sunday.

 

For big projects, break it down into components and schedule the pieces.

 

For confrontation....yuck That's tough for me, too.

[d0nnivain]

I struggle with those same issues on a daily basis. So far not much has worked.

 

 

Sometimes I just make myself do it then feel silly cause it wasn't as bad as I made it out to be in my mind.

 

 

Others recommend building in a reward. If you do X you can have the afternoon off or an ice cream.

 

 

In school, I "trained" myself to do my math homework first because I hated it the most.

[Leegh]

There is a saying that nothing is particularly hard if it is broken up into small tasks. In other words, it can help to "break up" the job into small parts. Speaking for myself, I try to do an unpleasant task soon after I wake up, when I am the freshest. In addition, I think procrastination drains more energy than doing the actual task.

[JourneyLady]

Oh boy, that's a biggie for me. I have ADD as well as a tendency to procrastinate. I feel like it's a reduced reward issue. In other words, most people can feel ahead how much better they will feel once their taxes are done, for instance (more so if they are expecting a refund). For me , the job is excruciating and the only reason I do it at all is because of the risk I take if I don't.

 

So what I end up doing is using a reward system to get it done. I keep raising the amount I reward myself until I find something that works. For instance - in counting up deductions, I set a task to go through one month of the year for each day to work on. I'll reward myself with a certain number of dollars for getting one month done. If I find I am still procrastinating (which is true) I'll up the ante a bit more until there's a good balance.

 

I was trying to "save up" rewards, but again, that doesn't work too well. So maybe $10 to spend for each month right away will work better. After all, if I was paying someone else to do it, it could cost as much as $400 or more... So if I spend even half that to get it done myself, it seems worth it.

 

Other small things - craft items, chocolate mini-chips, $ in Second Life (pennies on the dollar), things like that. I haven't perfected the system yet, but it manages to keep me going -- even through depression and grief. So that's something anyway.

 

I think perfectionism and procrastination are inextricably linked as well.

 

When I have to do something tedious (like, work on taxes) or unpleasant (like, confront someone) or overwhelming (like, attack a project that feels huge to me, often with tedious or unpleasant elements to it)...I have the worst procrastination.

 

I will do anything other than the thing I really need to do. Sometimes I'll just do nothing at all and waste a lot of time.

 

But of course the thing doesn't go away. It weighs on me terribly.

 

Sometimes when I finally get to the thing, it goes very quickly, and I'm irritated at myself that I couldn't have just moved myself to do it and get it out of the way earlier. Sometimes the thing goes terribly, but I still get through it and go on.

 

Rationally I know I've just got to keep moving forward through these things that are part of everyone's life. But the dread and procrastination keep me much less productive than I should be. I think some of it is tied to perfectionism too.

 

For people who have struggled with this, or those who have observed this within themselves...What do you tell yourself and how did/do you get through your procrastination and negative emotion to become more productive? I can think of canned answers of what you're "supposed" to do, but any creative ideas or insight that have really worked for people?