Having trouble getting things done

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Do you ever feel like you just can't get yourself to do things that you know you have the full capacity to do? How do you deal with that? My room is a festering mess and I am far behind on all my work.

I've been told to change environments, but that has yet to be any help. I think this is a common problem. So for those of you who deal with it, how do you? The only time I can reliably function is when I'm surrounded by people also doing the same thing to help push me along.

oh believe me I can relate, here is a post I made about how I overcame a similar issue:

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt140132.html

I understand how that feels. It's really difficult to keep up with day-to-day chores, such as cleaning my room, going to bed on time and practicing good hygiene (showering, shaving, brushing teeth). Sometimes I say "screw it" and really let myself go. When that happens,, I get stressed out about being messy/dirty/exhausted but the stress causes me to be even less motivated to fix it. It's a vicious cycle.

However, I've found that taking a little time out of my day to complete these things is a lot easier in the long run than having to deal with the unpleasant aftermath of days of not doing them.

I have trouble getting the simplest chores done. When I do get those chores done, I wonder why I've been putting off something that's so simple.

I don't have trouble keeping up with chores, paying bills etc. cuz I have a bit of OCD and I like for things to be in order.

But I have SERIOUS difficulty motivating myself to do anything. I basically need to create schedules for myself so that I know I should be doing such and such at such and such time.

We have this problem with our 14 year old and studying. He does fairly well with other stuff, but school -- man, that's getting harder and harder. He was supposed to study for a test as we drove home from a trip today. He had three hours to study, and only got a tiny bit accomplished. So we broke the studying down into chunks, and gave him a relatively small time limit to complete the chunked tasks, and he did MUCH better.

I was discussing this very thing with him -- how many people on the spectrum have a hard time gauging time and how to do things that are unenjoyable (studying, etc.). It's very odd that, after completing this studying session with him, and having it feel very much like pulling teeth, he completed a different homework assignment in good time without any help. I just wonder if there has to be some kind of pressure in order to finish certain things, and if one can apply that pressure to oneself, i.e. using timers or something like that. If anybody has any additional answers to this conundrum, I am all ears!

I have some advice, similar to schleppenheimer's. Message me if you have questions.

Firstly, breaking the tasks into small parts helps with continual motivation. The first part is easy to do, and once you've gotten into a task you may go far into it with much less trouble.

The other aspect is the motivation to even start a task, whatever it is. This is good advice if you can apply it.

As you said, you have the full capacity to do it. So try this:

Stop thinking about it. Do it.

Think of what you're doing as you do it. Literally, think of your body movements, your thought process... Think of the next step and instantly begin doing it. Make your thoughts directly connected to your body's actions. There are many things in life that don't need to be planned. They just need to be done, and your brain will work out the next step as you're doing it. Once your body and mind have both become 'immersed' in the task, you might find it easier to do, and even to enjoy. After all, productivity is satisfying, but the idea that satisfaction will come later isn't always an adequate motivator. But you can motivate yourself. You can control your body to a large extent, so utilize that ability.

Try that whenever you can. When it's not an option, break the full task into shorter goals, and/or reward yourself in a small way when you reach certain goals.

For example... you can simply stand up and stretch after reading a paragraph, or do 10 jumping jacks, or eat a chip.

The 'reward' doesn't necessarily have to be pleasant, but it should be desirable (like exercise, or if you're exercising/cleaning the 'reward' can be studying for a few minutes). Basically you'll be setting one goal which leads to another goal, which leads back to another goal, and the reward of each will be the accomplishment itself. Set limits for each task, maybe 10 or 20 minutes, or 1 page, etc. so your brain will recognize that it'll be over soon and each period completed will be an accomplishment.

The last advice I have is to be sure that during each period, however you define the periods, you actually accomplish something. The 'reward' can be whatever you wish, as long as one segment of the process is devoted to productiveness. But be sure the reward doesn't take up too much of your time. You don't need a long rest, I promise, just have a brief reprieve.

Now, take it step by step and do it. Set a short goal and accomplish it, followed by the next goal to be immediately accomplished. Follow your progress as it occurs and become immersed, body and mind, in the action. I think you'll understand what I mean when you've begun. Starting is easy; you know it. As soon as you finish this you can start.

Do as much as you can in this way, then take a longer break and eat something for energy or just relax. Set a time or condition when you'll start again, and start at that point. At the end of the day, your reward will be sleep or whatever form of enjoyment you'd like, and the satisfaction of a productive day. Don't worry about working 12 hours a day either, but try to set a fairly high goal and reach it each day.

This is not in the rule books, but it works for me: I consciously allow myself to put off a major task as long as I am doing lesser ones. It's much easier to, say, clean up my room as long as it allows me to put off having my wisdom teeth extracted. In fact, I will probably search for or invent tasks once the room is done so I can continue putting off the extraction. Now, I know that eventually I'll have to force myself call the dentist, but when I do it will be with the satisfaction of having all the lesser stuff under control.