How can i deal with Procrastination?
Ideawizard
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

Joined: 4 Sep 2010
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 58
Location: United States
Seems like every time i have a deadline for a project I wind up doing it at the last minute.
Not sure if its an anxiety issue, a time management issue, and organization issue, or D) all of the above. Banking on the latter at this point.
If you struggled with the same problem and are now super productive im all ears to how you did it. If you have Aspergers Syndrome like me, so much the better. I really need to stop this, as it is affecting the quality of my work and can damage my grades.
So tell me; how do you deal with procrastination.
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devilSpawn
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: 15 Feb 2017
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 74
Location: Oregon
Yep... I am especially susceptible to this when other pressures are added on top of having deadlines.
Perhaps, my best weapon against this is intentional ignorance... I have to intentionally ignore that I know the deadline. At first, I tend to judge that I don't need much time to do the assignment and so I have way more time than is needed. This allows me to prioritize my assignment as low priority, "for the time being". If I do this, I am likely to procrastinate til the last minute, so I try to approach assignments as "due-ASAP", knowing that I have more than enough time than is needed, "due-ASAP" gives me no particular deadline except "when completed". This causes me to prioritize my assignment as high priority, where I am able to associate much of my activity to something pertinent to completing the work and I also have freedom in how I go about that. I have freedom to take breaks (even plan breaks) and plan various methods of study for certain times. With my assignment "due-ASAP" in my mind, there is a sense of urgency to getting it done. This is probably my best means of combating procrastination. I ignore the deadline. I ignore having "plenty of time" to do my assignments and approach them with more urgency and devotion.
Doesn't always work, particularly difficult assignments add pressures to "f**k off" more than I should but generally, ignoring deadlines greatly reduces my tendency to procrastinate on assignments... in fact, replacing deadlines with "due-ASAP" seems to work best for me.
I'm diagnosed level 2.
I lie to myself about due dates. My memory for trivial things like that is not the best and I use a day planner to track everything from school and homework to friend events and important memories.
When I am given the due date for an assignment I put it in my planner as being due 3-7 days ahead of the actual due date depending on the level on perceived difficulty of the project and I mark exams as being a day or two ahead of the actual date.
My anatomy professor did that to me last semester, conveniently the first two exams were pushed back a day short notice so I would get a perceived extra day to study. I started incorporating it into life and use it to trick myself into being timely. It works so long as I keep to my planner and don't try to get cocky about my plan.
Hello.
Yeah I suffer from the same problem. What I find is that different solutions work for different kinds of procrastination.
If the task is just menial and boring, rewarding myself usually helps me get something done faster. For example: I give myself 5-10 minutes of video game playing time for every email I answer. This makes me answer emails much faster than I usually would.
For things that I have come to fear, like doing homework, I find that rewarding myself doesn't work so much. For those things I find that it is better to vividly visualize the process of starting what I need to do. For example: I visualize the location of where I'm going to do my work, then I visualize getting the materials I need and typing the login information or search queries for the digital things I need.
Doing homework just feels like I'm trying to get through to station 9 and 3/4 but unlike for most people, the fear of ramming into the wall never goes away. Eventually I get so stressed I don't want to do it anymore even though I know that each individual step of the process is actually rather easy. Visualizing the other side of the process grounds me to reality where otherwise I would get distracted or spiral into a series of frustrated, inner monologues.
BetwixtBetween
Veteran

Joined: 25 Feb 2014
Age: 41
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,543
Location: Mostly in my head
I used to set myself mini-deadlines when I was in school.
I'd figure out how many days from assignment to due date. Then I'd set aside a certain number of hours to get a certain amount of work done. Ex: find and check out or print out or photocopy relevant materials on the first night. Second night, scan materials and highlight good quotes to use. Second or third night, come up with some sort of thesis and outline. Fourth night, type up all quotes I intend to use. Fourth or fifth night, organize quotes. Fifth night, flesh it out a bit- just work on one paragraph or add a few sentences around each quote. Sixth night, flesh it out a bit more. Repeat until I have a paper. Finally a night or two to edit the work for grammar, punctuation, etc. If possible swap papers with someone else in the same boat after editing own work. Fresh eyes may see something I've missed, and an outside mind will not automatically complete familiar thoughts.
Having so little work to accomplish each night eased my anxiety substantially, and it was harder to put it off when I thought of it as only photocopying, or highlighting, or an outline, or a statement, or a paragraph, or editing.
AnonymousAnonymous
Veteran
Joined: 23 Nov 2006
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Posts: 68,922
Location: Portland, Oregon
I have the same problem! It's comforting to know I'm not in this alone.
This Spring was my first semester of grad school, and my first time in school since 2012. I put a LOT on my plate: two courses while working full-time, 40 hours per week. By the time my final assignments were due, it was too late for me to start and finish my assignments on time, and really I should have started the moment I first learned about them. Thankfully, my instructors gave me a grade of "I" for both courses "and gave me till December to finish the assignments. That's a long way off, so I'm eager to know what I can do to stop procrastinating & creating stress, and being more proactive with my schoolwork. Any suggestions besides meeting a tutor?
I have a problem with procrastination as well - you can tell by my signature.
For me, the problem is starting an assignment. But once I start a task, I have to finish - otherwise it feels like wasted effort. I also try to figure out how to put the least effort possible while still getting a decent grade (B or C) - which I know is something I shouldn't be doing, yet I do anyway. It usually involves intentionally skipping about 10% or so of assignments, and handing in several others late.
If it wasn't for this, I would have a near-4.0 GPA and not the rather mediocre 2.8 I have now. I think for me it's a motivation and time management issue.
_________________
Constantly flip-flopping between brutally efficient and procrastinator.
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