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Procrastination!

Procrastination!2011-07-12T23:29:02+00:00
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  • #100212

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Post count: 14413

    Hi Johane,

    Congrats to you on supporting your husband in his work towards a designation! My husband was definitely an accounting widower for many years, and I couldn’t have done it without his support.

    I always saw friends who struggled to try to rewrite exams while they were studying new courses. The program I was in only allowed two extra years to finish (there was a 10 year limit), so it was really important not to get behind. I did take two years off and the $$ was very enticing in the job I was in, but I quit and gave it up to go back and finish my designation. These days it is even harder – my colleagues always said “make it hard for them because it was hard for us”.

    I’ll check your blog out – my husband is the cook in our household, again, I’m indebted to him, because I used to just exist on fast-food and frozen on the rare occasion I ate at home before we met. All I knew how to cook was hot dogs and Kraft dinner!

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    #100213

    nellie
    Member
    Post count: 596

    I’ve been thinking about this procrastination thing since the thread re-started . Being the queen of procrastination I figured I must have some advice :-) Well I think what has been very helpful for me was breaking things down into manageable parts as well as scheduling them. So in terms of studying – you need to look at the parts rather than the whole. “I have to read this Book” as a plan is a disaster but breaking it down into so many pages/day or week or whatever is much more doable. I can get through reading 50 pages a day if I schedule them. to fit into a certain time frame. i think that’s how I did it at the time I went back as an adult but didn’t realize it in my pre-adhd diagnosis days.

    Incidentally , the book The MAster Student should be on everyone’s reading list, It helped me tremendously and pretty well what got me through school. Looks like a new edition is about to come out: http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Master-Student-Louis-Bourrienne/dp/1111827532

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    #100214

    Cat Alberts
    Member
    Post count: 32

    I wish I knew I had ADD when I was at university. I messed it up…

    Recently I bought 2 rolls of flipover-paper.

    When I need to plan something I write on those and hang it on the doors to look at, add to and remember.

    Very helpful.

    Maybe good for studying as well: to learn standing up, or use it to memorize facts/dates/etc.

    And plan ahead, visualize what a finished product looks like (paper, project).

    And really look at what needs to get done before you start.

    Don’t get overwhelmed and dive in, but plan/chop/divide, schedule breaks with fysical activity and some fun.

    Eat healthy stuff, some protein and do sleep. Short nap in the afternoon if its going to be a late night.

    Not too much cafeine, because then nerves and cortisol are more likely to take over.

    This is how I would do it, with the knowledge I have now.

    Go for it, make us proud!

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    #100215

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Post count: 14413

    Nellie, now that I don’t have to read a book by a certain deadline (other than the due date at the library), I don’t beat myself up so much about not reading them. Some days I get a paragraph or two in, other days none. But you’re right, breaking it down into pieces is the way to go. When I learned more about study habits, I found out that I could approach the book the way it was organized, looking at the chapters headings first to get a general layout, reading the intro (which I would never had done before, too anxious to get into the book) which always gives a good overview, then reading first and last paragraphs of a chapter, then first and last sentences of a paragraph, etc. By the time I read the whole text I already knew what was coming and it was something like a review. And I took notes in an outline form, filling in more details as I came across them. I have to make notes or the reading is lost in space.

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    #100216

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Post count: 14413

    Hi guys, newbie here!

    Procrastination (or inertia as I usually call it- but a rose by any other name…) is the bane of my existence. It’s crippling in so many ways. It’s also a huge problem with time management. I’ve tried all the conventional techniques (breaking things down into smaller bits, yadayadayada)… they don’t work. I wish they would, because I would do anything to treat this. It seems once I try to start on a self-directed task.. my brain just short circuits. I might spend entire days trying to start/continue something simple and end up with a blinding headache and nothing done. All the constant “talking my self into doing something/positive self talk etc. is extremely tiring.

    The worst part is I *do have the motivation… a lot of motivation.. to get these things done, but I can’t seem to.

    It’s so severe for me that it extends to activities I enjoy/want to do… even the arty stuff that should be relaxing and therapeutic. it’s one thing to have trouble doing the dishes, and another to have trouble doing something you actually like doing. It’s tough for me to do any self-directed activity, and I can only function in environments with a lot of external structure and direction . I don’t know why, but the problem has only gotten worse over the years. I’m someone who loves to live life, grab hold of it, and I hate to be held back and constantly frustrated by something that seems… so needless. Unfortunately it seems there is precious little advice for inertia except to suck it up or try harder. That’s like banging your head against a wall.

    If anyone has any relatively new techniques or therapies that seem to allievate this, I would love to hear your advice/thoughts!

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    #100217

    Scattybird
    Participant
    Post count: 1096

    Hi oh-look-a-squirrel,

    I feel your pain. Unfortunately I don’t have any advice but I can empathize. I can only get going when the consequences become more scary than the thought of doing the task. I’ve tried the ‘breaking it into small chunks’ routine but it doesn’t work for me. It does if it is something like housework, but if it’s ‘work-work-related’ then small chunks don’t work because I forget what I’m doing. At least I don’t forget what I am doing, but I forget all the reports/paperwork I have read to get me to the end point so I need to get into the zone and stay there until it’s done or I am constantly repeating stuff. That means I put it off. So today I got up early because I have something to get done for tomorrow. I felt very positive about doing the task but so far I have emailed folk, surfed the web, drank 2 strong coffees and 2 Red Bulls in quick succession and now have a headache. It’s now 6 hours since I thought I’d start the task and haven’t. It’s just c***!!!! Maybe I’ll have a nap and start again…………………. :D

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    #100218

    Scattybird
    Participant
    Post count: 1096

    Hey guys….two hours on and I’m actually doing what I’m meant to be doing…..OK yeah I have stopped for a moment. BUT I’m breaking it down into chunks and it’s actually working. OK I’m now hyper on Red Bull but basically I think I am cracking on because I told you all earlier that I couldn’t get started. Yay…this site is great. Where else could I admit this stuff and find people who can understand. THANKS you guys!

    Off for another RB.

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    #100219

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Post count: 14413

    Good for you, scattybird! We were talking about web blockers in another post, I have found them really helpful for me, to keep me off the internet. Sometimes we have trouble prioritizing and the blocker keeps me in check.

    This one is for firefox browser

    https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/leechblock/

    This one is for chrome browser

    https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/laankejkbhbdhmipfmgcngdelahlfoji

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    #100220

    Scattybird
    Participant
    Post count: 1096

    Fantastic no_domamine – I’ll try these out! Thanks.

    :-)

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    #100221

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Post count: 14413

    One tip I have seen to help fight procrastination is to decide to simply start something. Make the start of it really small, and completely separate it in your mind from the bigger task at hand – like brainstorm ideas for an essay, or pick up all the safety pins from your sewing table and put them in their proper container. If you only accomplish that part of the task, then you have done what you set out to do and can feel good about it. But more often than not, you will end up doing more than you planned to initially, and will feel really good about it.

    I often find that I get such a feeling of dread when thinking about a task that I am doomed before I start. I tend to focus on the entire task and get overwhelmed. If I tell myself that I am just going to do a simple task, without even contemplating the bigger picture, then I am more likely to get my backside into gear and DO something instead of thinking it to death and getting stressed.

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    #100222

    billd
    Member
    Post count: 913

    >>One tip I have seen to help fight procrastination is to decide to simply start something.<<

    Oh, I do that ALL the time! In fact, I have SO many things I’ve started that I’ve got 2 garages of unfinished projects, and one of them is a 2-story garage. Then there’s my office – loaded with stacks of unfinished projects. Yes, I often decide to start something…….. it’s deciding to finish it that’s hard.

    Yeah, I’ll decide to do that tomorrow……

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    #100223

    Scattybird
    Participant
    Post count: 1096

    Hi KrazyKat – thanks. I see the logic there. I’ll try that. I think being overwhelmed is a big thing in all this.

    Billd, I laughed at your post – my other vice (like I don’t have more than two – yeah right!!) is I don’t finish stuff once I have started. Some things I start with great enthusiasm – like doing up my house. But instead of finishing one job in the house I got bored and started another. The result is a completely wrecked house……it’ll get done one day. My mistake was buying a sledge-hammer! The one good thing is my neighbors think I am crazy so they don’t hassle me anymore.

    ๐Ÿ˜†

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    #100224

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Post count: 14413

    Billd – I must admit that unfinished projects are the bane of my life. I have more than I can count. Like you, I get bored with the same old, same old. The one area of my life where it dominates is in my hobbies and home improvement (hubby sucks at that, so I am the one who changes washers, paints, puts up shelves, etc). Things that disrupt the running of the household tend to get finished (like changing washers and painting a room) but are usually not started until they can be ignored no longer. Other things either don’t get started, or get started but then only completed to the point where they are functional. The floors are the best example – I finished all the floor laying years ago, but have yet to complete the edging. It simply does not cause enough disruption to prompt me to do it – it’s a pain trying to clean down the expansion gaps that are supposed to be covered over by some form of edging, but even that isn’t the pain in the butt it could be, because I don’t clean there much!!!

    But I guess the same principle I suggested above can apply to unfinished tasks, because any task you have put down (to finish later) requires a “start” to get back into it. In other words, you have stopped the task, so must start it again if you are to complete it – the start does not have to be at the beginning of a new project. You can tell yourself that you will just do “x” bit of the unfinished project and see how things progress. I will not say that it is easy. My piles of UFOs (unfinished objects) will attest to that lol!! But any tip that gets me one step forward in life is better than nothing.

    Other people can be used to help too. Hubby has a real knack of getting me moving on certain projects (though other projects will remain the source of endless conflict). The best example is the painting of rooms. He brings home sample cards and we chose the colour. That’s the easy bit. Then he will buy the paint. So far so good. Then he will clear the room, get out the painting gear, and then ask me to remind him what he has to do before he starts to paint. I then freak, as he cannot paint for sh*t!! So I set him up to wash the walls, and putty the holes, by which time I have become resigned to spending the next day or two painting, simply so it gets done properly. I continue until the job is completed because I hate having the furniture everywhere (hubby just plonks it wherever, without thought), and because the result is immediately visible – seeing the look of the room change and improve as each coat of paint is applied gives instant gratification and keeps me motivated even though painting is a tedious job. Loud music helps too :mrgreen:

    So if you know where your sticking point is, then you can arrange for others to help (like my hubby does with painting :?). Another example from my life (gee, I am big on examples today lol) is shopping. I really don’t like going out to drag through the shops in search of something, like an item of furniture, that involves potentially going to multiple shops and comparing prices/features/appearance. It’s boring, most of the stuff I like is out of our price range, and I always seem to find heaps of other things I would rather buy instead of the planned item. So I give hubby my opinions, allow him the final say, and he will then go shopping and buy the item. He bought one of our lounge suites that way. It’s not something I would have chosen, but it suits the room, it was within our budget, the rest of the family like it (they all went shopping together), and IT GOT DONE, not put off!! If things are really important to me, then we buy them together, as motivation is not an issue when I have a vested interest in the outcome. I used to hate not having the control over what was bought for the house, but I soon learned that by giving control to hubby for most purchases, I then had the greater say for what mattered most to me. It also reduced the conflict caused by my desire for control coupled with my procrastination (not a good combination!).

    The other thing I have found really helpful is to make yourself accountable to others. I got some of my unfinished sewing projects done by posting on a sewing forum in a thread that was set up for that purpose – to finish the UFOs. I picked my smallest projects (cos I know what I am like – I need to work up to the big stuff, and didn’t want to shoot myself in the foot before I started) and posted my plans to finish them along with a set date. It got done, because I didn’t want to be the only one who didn’t accompish my goals!! There are threads here that are set up for the same sort of thing, and posting in them has helped me with other household chores, because let’s face it, who doesn’t like to brag about their accomplishments to others?!!

    I have to laugh at this thread though. All the advice is great, but I wonder how many of us will be able to put it to use!! As Dr Barkley says in one of his lectures (which I finally found on the CADDAC website), it’s not what you know, it’s how you use what you know, and in ADHD there is an impairment in using what you know. Many of us are great organisers in our brains, and can give others ideas galore, but when we assess our own lives, they are full of disorganisation and impairment ๐Ÿ™„ Gotta laugh at it (cos the alternative to laughing at ourselves ain’t good!)

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    #100225

    billd
    Member
    Post count: 913

    >>…..it’ll get done one day. My mistake was buying a sledge-hammer! The one good thing is my neighbors think I am crazy so they don’t hassle me anymore.<< ๐Ÿ˜†

    That’s a hoot. Want to be left alone? Buy a big hammer and start a few projects.

    krazykat – that last paragraph is SOOOO true! I’m a great person at solving the problems of other people…….. and really do know a lot, just can’t get it out so that others understand. The neur-psych doc person said that in several areas I tested in the superior range. Uh, math, english, and a few others. Hmmmmmm….. what the heck happened there….

    At one job, I was so good at seeing the big picture, and planning things for others to do, giving orders, making sense out of chaos, I was put in the role of architect of their corporate antivirus and computer security…….. for over 16,000 computers and 1200 servers and dozens of offices around the world. But my own computer and life – a mess.

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    #100226

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Post count: 14413

    Oh dear!! My last post was a touch long. Sorry!! One of my teachers was so right when she wrote “does not often join in with class discussions, but is like the ancient mariner once she gets going”!!! Lol :)

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Viewing 15 posts - 31 through 45 (of 63 total)