[Mara Mountain]

Help..I am procrastinating and I am supposed to be working on a presentation for tomorrow. I waited until the very last night to type it up and instead I'm posting this thread. Need support from my PC Pals. How do you break through your distractions and start being productive??

I'll get back to you on that later
Seriously... I make a conscious decision to stop screwing around and do what needs to be done. Then I block everything else out. It works great. Sometimes.
Good luck.

George is right. It has to be a conscious decision to actually do what needs to be done. Otherwise, I could procrastinate so much that things sometimes feel like they've gone beyond the last minute.

[optimize990h]

yes, but I find that I get to obsessed with things to be done or I micromanage. In the end I am still dragging my feet to the goal.

[Yoda]

I wish I could offer help but looking for help with procrastination is what brought me here in 2006. And I still procrastinate.

[tinyrabbit]

I find doing a bit of work, then stopping for a little bit, repeat x however long is needed, can really help.

I don't have an exact answer for you, but I know I have been procrastinating my whole life because I am afraid of failure...and you can't fail if you don't try. All my college papers were done the night before, but I don't think they would ever have been better had I started them sooner; I would have been too anxious. I need the pressure to put the anxiety away and really focus, and that is when I am able to do my best work...then I have no option and don't worry about failing...I have a "job" to do, no matter what it is! I hope your presentation went well.

[Mara Mountain]

Thanks everyone for your replies, I actually typed up a good presentation and wrote decent material. Next time I will practice in front of a mirror though and start preparing the writing earlier so I have more time to practice the presentation part of it.

[Neversolost]

If I didn't procrastinate I wouldn't be in this predicament.

[StrongerMan]

That is my middle name. It is as part of me as my hair and eye color. In college I would write papers the night before and print them out an hour before class in the computer lab (yes, few had their own PC's back then. But everything usually turns out fine in the end, albeit, more stressful. Which leads to another question... Do procrastinators live shorter, less healthy lives due to increased stress? Here is an article that extolls the virtues of procrastination.

Why Procrastination is Good for You | Science & Nature | Smithsonian Magazine

[Belmore]

Yes I think I was first in line when it was dealt out!

[Travelinglady]

Well, I am finally getting around to responding to this question.......

I was sometimes a procrastinator when I was in school. I was blessed that my assignments got turned in on time and I could do well with just one draft.

[Harley47]

I'm weird in that I weave my work and procrastination together. I actually have my term paper for a class open in my Word tab right now. I'll type for a few minutes, mess around for a bit...type, goof off, type, goof off....

I generally think it works...usually, it helps me get past writer's block in a manner that isn't me starring at my last sentence for 10 minutes.

[Inedible]

Yes, I procrastinate. No, I don't suffer from it. If I don't get to something, that proves it didn't really need to be done.

[Beautiful-Love]

OH I AM DEFINITEING SUFFERING FROM PROCRASTINATION.

I don't know how to relieve my body & mind to work. I'm actually to be studying right now but lately it's been harder than ever to get myself down to cracking those chem notes. I always find myself trying to distracted self so I don't have to do it...Then the whole entire time that I do something else I don't even truly enjoy it because I have this conscious notion in my head that I shouldn't be doing something else beside what I need to get done.

So I am definitely SUFFERING from it.

[CharactorAssassin]

i dont really understand that word othr then meaning less motivated. I try not to curse myself with negatives like lazy. I tend to think that word procrastination means you are selective with what you do even if its less active. but to me. no I'm not a procrastinatorf full time or a full time lazy but I am confused.
I feel I would be abusing myself to say I procrastinate. I'm hard on myself already.
I often think cleaning the house is a good thing because it creates some energy. but I don't give it much thought. I prefer to be in a relaxed state of mind when doing difficult tasks. Not in bunch of noise brought about by shame.

[viryan23]

PROCRASTINATION is a very difficult foe. It is like having a battle with your own self. How many times did we say to ourselves, "Finishing this work is my top priority." But right after that, we indulge our self to texting, surfing, or chatting. And as a result, our work is delayed and our schedule is ruined. The ONLY way to defeat this formidable foe is WILLPOWER and INSPIRATION. We have to discipline our selves not to fall "again" to its sweet trap. We also need to constantly think of the reason why we need to finish the work...