procrastinating

Hi there. I was wondering whether you have the same problem, namely procrastinating. WHenever i need to do sth, i establish a conveniet time to do it, well in advance, and i promise to myself that on this particular occasion I'm gonna be dilligent, self-diciplined and well-organized, with systematic being high on this "agenda". Depending on what it is, I divide the material/amount of work to be done, so that the plan is perfeclty viable.

Unfortunately, the plan almost never comes off, especially now, that computers exist and the devilish device consumes my precious time. Of course, most of my tasks which are so nagging and urgent need to be done at the comp, so the routine is as follows: I sit at the comp to get down to work, but nned relaxation, or a little mental warm-up, and as I've heard that doing crosswords does wonders for activating your intellect, I start off with a game of scrabble on kurnik. As you may suspect, the game absorbs me so much that one battle extends to a couple of them, after which i';m exhausted and need a break.

SO, there's another attempt, and this time I notice sth riveting on gazeta wyborcza, must read it, muts write some comments, get involved in the debate, and another 2 hours are gone, at which point I'm naturally given out after having been exposed to the harmful radiation.

Then i need a walk to air my brain, but i meet some pals on my way, so i go to have a nice conversation with them, and if it happens to be in the evening we end up in a pub for a coffee. The aim of drinking this pick-me-up in the evening is obvious, i wanna be able to work efficiently when i return home.

The coffee somehow turns out to be a beer, or a couple of them, so there i am coming back home after midnight, completely drunk... so i get up the following morning and wonder why the hell the work hasn;'t been done, as this time its load has probably increased.

Later,
KOciamama.

I reallly admire your rich social life - you should be proud of yourself, so many friends and opportunities;))))))))))))))). And being more serious: you should do crosswords and play scrabble after, not before the work needed to be done.Tell yourself that it will be a reward for your dilligence and a great sense of committment:) This method is neither new nor very original but it works!!!!You can also promise yourself a beer or a coffee with friends but only AFTER. The same concerns your evening strolls.One week of such disciplined life can work wonders!!!!!
Best wishes and a lot of perserverance instead of procrastinating:)))))))))

Hey,

Well, my social life is average I'd say, the thing is I live downtown, so it's much easier for me to meet poeple in my disctrict as everybody needs to come down here to arrange sth, you know what I mean. Nad I happen to know people (unfortuantely?) who are always as easy to postpone their duties till later, as me, and i noticed that I lawyas have most fun when i really need to do sth urgent, so feel remorse, I'm not actually doing it. Maybe it's a sort of masochism?

As for the advice;) Thanks, but... I'm really deprived of strong will as for my responsibilties are concerned;( It' much to easy to go back on my strong promises to keep on the top of things. But maybe, one day it'll change, who knows?

Rgds,
KOciamama.

I could have written you post (the first one) myself! I came to accept myself as I am - Me the Procrastinator - because I can't fight it anymore. I've always been procrastinating and always will be.

Last semester I had four papers due on four consecutive days. Each one was about 5[tel]words (15 pages or so) and each took me about 12 hours to write (there were graphs and tables and statistics and all that crap). I had plenty of time to do them well in advance, but did I? Of course not! I did each of them the night before. Luckily I did all the readings during the semester and had all the bibliography ready, otherwise I would not have been able to do them as well as I did.
It was awful though. I hardly slept during those 4 days. I also had a child to take care of at the same time.
You'd think I've learned the lesson. Think again :)

Eva, I think it's a rule that when we have loads of work to do, we wait till the very last moment. i was usually better prepared for a couple of exams with a shorter time to prepare than for one exam and, say, a whole month.

I do believe that when we have way too much time on our hands, we tend to think we can wait.

Getting back to procrastinating. Life is too short so there's no point in putting off those little, but enjoyable things. Why should I 'torture' myself with saying 'sth mundane first, the thing i'm really looking forward later'

Even now i'm supposed to be correcting my students' tests which are sitting expectantly on my table. They can wait (i don't suppose they love me, though:)

:))

So here I am, totally deserted and severly criticized but unflaggingly on time;)))) Perhaps I am an oddity or an exeption to the rule but...I will continue doing what is the best for me. By the way, I'm not sure what I would do if I lived downtown- it's a huge disadvantage for anybody forced to work for a living:)
Hovewer, I must add that I do understand you pretty well...but if it wasn't for day-in-day-out regular effort I would't have learnt English...because my parents couldn't afford sending me to a private school or abroad.And you must admit that learning a language demands some kind of discipline.
Next time you're out, drink a beer for me!

yeah, blame the parents :))))
Anyway i was surprised how many websites there are about procrastination!!!! Put that on google and maybe you will find sthg good for use.
I am procrastinator as well - and not without any reason!!!! Once i was preparing for the entry exams to uni thing ;P - i was preparing for months, taking the courses etc etc. My friend started preparation 3 days before the exam. And guess who failed and who passed? My friend is a happy geography student now.... while I still have very bad thoughts about justice.... :) well, that was the first and the last time :))))

Poor Kasiool...there's no justice in the world...but your experience proves that these stupid uni entrance exams can eliminate a good candidate and let go a bad one...in my opinion procrastination is bad all the same, there are just exeptions to the rule...and lucky devils:P

hehe it's just because for me there is nothing better than books, and somehow i always have something good to read lying around, getting dust and screaming - READ ME!!!! I WAS WRITTEN FOR YOU!!!!!

I'm always putting off things.............

>Eva, I think it's a rule that when we have loads of work to do, we
>wait till the very last moment.

Not always, not always - I know people who have loads of work to do and do it immediately after lessons/work - but let it alone ;)
But I tend to procrastinate things, too :)
When I have loads of work, I subcounsciously find a reason not to do it :) Out of the blue I am hungry, when I go to the kitchen I notice a delicious ginger cookie, which I must eat, next I am convinced that I should drink, next - that I should wash up... and this is a real vicious circle.
But I can't help it, this is my charakter :)

>But I can't help it, this is my charakter :)

ooops, it should have been "character", sorry :)

When I was younger I was really disciplined kid,I came back from school,eat sth and start to do homeworks and learn for class tests but I grew out of it!Now I resemble a student from text from first certificate gold titled 101 ways to avoid studying,have you read it?

"Procrastination"tell me about it...Procrastination is my middle name! ;)

Yeah, I know this text. Its a good one. Pictures the reality in such an accurate way;)

rgds,
kociamama.