Hey all it's steve. I came across this forum one night while working on an assignment I had procrastinated beyond belief. It seems that every time it just
gets worse and worse. Now in my last year and last semester of high school, the pressure is mounting. My workload has exploded and I've found that my old
work habits have become detrimental and destructive. All my life, especially my high school life, I was a chronic procrastinator. But until now I didn't
have a problem with it. Sure I was assigned homework every night, but I didn't feel the need to do it back then. I would understand new principles quickly
and could adapt to any curveball thrown my way. I did fine and achieved high 90s in math and low 90s in chemistry, physics, and other science courses. This
last minute work schedule however, did not mix well with essay-heavy courses like english and history where I scored high 70s. Overall, I did well and was
confident I would gain acceptance to the university of my choice the following year. However...I was unprepared for the quantum leap from grade 11 to grade 12
and my marks plummeted. I did not score nearly as well I expected in my best subjects: math, chemistry, and physics. Now, my average is borderline for
university acceptance and I am depending on a semester of essays and social science courses to raise my average. The semester started 2 weeks ago and so far it
has went well. I was doing every assignment early and had so much free time but since then I have reverted back to my old self. I fear for the worst and I have
about 2 months until midterm when my marks are due. I know I'm not as bad a student as shown in my report cards but I can't seem to get my work
schedule in gear. So here I humbly stand before you, at rock bottom, weary from another sleepless night, asking for your support and guidance. HELP. Steve
Yet another doomed procrastinator
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 Gurrensteve |
Yet another doomed procrastinator |
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Posts: 1 (02/19/08 18:50:59) |
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To each his gnome |
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Posts: 6 (02/19/08 20:44:31) |
Yea, I'm in grade 11 currently and I am behind in all my classes. I'm one of those who say I'll do it later and I never do it. It gets easier to
guess on tests the more I put off studying.
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nick pagan |
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Posts: 6 (06/04/08 21:50:32) |
Hi Steve,
Human beings spend a lot of time focused on just one primary objective: instant gratification, which means spending as much time involved in pleasurable things and as little time involved in painful things as is possible. This is primarily a survival response. In the general way of things, if you avoid pain as much as possible, then they probabilities of you surviving (but not necessarily thriving) are greater. Whenever you sit down with a complex job to do but only a vague idea of how to do it, this is a 'painful' task. Although on a conscious level you know that this is important and urgent, the more primitive and primeval part of your brain can only perceive pain and it responds by throwing out all manner of suggestions of easier things to do that are immediately possible and more fulfilling, in that moment. Because these reactions are such deep rooted survival responses, they are incredibly difficult to overcome just by using conscious willpower. What normally happens, is that eventually the consequence of not tackling the urgent thing that you have to do rises up in the rankings of pain in the perception of the mind. Eventually, it becomes more painful not to do the task than to do it. However, we are at heart practical creatures and we must always submit to reality at some point. If what you have set yourself to do is impossible (perhaps because of a time limit, or simply because you don't have the personal capability to do it), then sometimes the primitive brain will accept failure, because it perceives even that disastrous outcome as less painful than attempting what it perceives as impossible. It is never enough of the conscious mind just to set a difficult and yet vaguely described objective and expect the rest of the brain and body to 'make it so.' In order to avoid procrastination, you have to describe your objectives very clearly and you have to make them possible. You have to break down a large task into smaller, highly detailed parts. You cannot stop here, you then have to define a process for carrying out the work. A 'to do' list is too vague, so instead create a 'how to do' list. If you do this for the things that you have to do, then you will find that your primitive mind will not resist you and you can get things done. Resistance will occur again at points of 'impossibility' where it is not clear how to proceed. When this happens you must stop, solve the problem, break it down and make it easy and doable so that resistance fades away and you can continue again. To continually work without resistance, you must set small, short, momentary objectives that are clearly defined and wholly possible for you personally to do at that time. Whenever you encounter resistance (which makes itself known through procrastination and indulging in distractions), then you have to go through that process. For fun, you can try out my Procrastination Analyzer. It identifies the common problems with procrastination, what causes them and how to set about overcoming them. If you want some more in-depth explanation, then you can go on and download my free e-book that explains why you have so much internal mental struggle and how to overcome it.
Nick
www.nickpagan.com - fundamental insights on how to overcome procrastination, solve-problems and increase your personal productivity |
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