Procrastination and motivation to get work done...

[Pocket10s]

Hi all,

This is something I've suffered with for a while; and I feel with a new job I've started it's hit its worst.

This new job is everything I wanted in terms of difficulty, industry and pay. I always start new jobs well as I want to make a good impression. Sometimes the procrastination kicks in later but it's kicked in so early into my new job I'm actually appalled at myself.

The problem is not that I don't know what to do at work; I'm very capable once I get going - it's that I feel I have absolutely no desire to. I will just sit there and honestly feel like the very last thing I want to do in the world is that task.

It's a horrible circle as instead of logging off and feeling like I accomplished something - I feel incredibly guilty every evening. Then each morning I'm anxious about all the tasks I've left un-done. I'm constantly anxious that my colleagues are noticing and want to get rid of me - it does leave me mentally exhausted.

It's easy to say "just get the work done" but honestly, each morning I try and I just end up giving up/ I don't see where the time goes.

When I do get the work done; I always get praise so I feel this is a massive problem for me that is just getting worse.

Has anyone else been through this?

 

[Pocket10s]

Thank you everyone for the replies.

I have been told I suffer greatly from imposter syndrome but I am not doing the basics in my job and I have people chasing me for stuff I know I have to get done/ I have the time to get done.

I've taken the following steps so far - again thanks for the help:

- Downloaded Cold Turkey and blocked YouTube; I'll block other websites if I find myself lurking on them
- Setup a meeting with my manager to ask about my performance/ am I doing what is expected

More to come

 

[Pocket10s]

Who told you?

Work Counsellor/ HR department at previous companies and an independent counsellor.

The real problem though in my head is that I'm not getting any of the work done - I can't bring myself to do it. Today is better but I really need to get stuff done.

 

[Pocket10s]

Good start. There are millions of people out there who never get even close to achieving this.


The problem is not that I don't know what to do at work; I'm very capable once I get going - it's that I feel I have absolutely no desire to. I will just sit there and honestly feel like the very last thing I want to do in the world is that task.
It's a horrible circle as instead of logging off and feeling like I accomplished something - I feel incredibly guilty every evening. Then each morning I'm anxious about all the tasks I've left un-done. I'm constantly anxious that my colleagues are noticing and want to get rid of me - it does leave me mentally exhausted.
It's easy to say "just get the work done" but honestly, each morning I try and I just end up giving up/ I don't see where the time goes.
When I do get the work done; I always get praise so I feel this is a massive problem for me that is just getting worse.

I'm going to disagree with jsmoke - this sounds like a genuine case of procrastination.

Procrastination is a self-fulfilling cycle.

You need to do something (what it is, is unimportant)

If it does not have a set deadline, it just does not get done and the cycle stops at this point.

If it does have a set deadline, you will be aware of this deadline, but do very little to work towards it. Generally you convince yourself as the deadline looms that you have everything in hand and you can pull it off with an all nighter or something along those lines. You will instead waste your time, disappearing down a black hole of Wikipedia, or YouTube, or whatever.

When the deadline really hits home (if we are talking a single task like an email or a small document, it could be an hour before the deadline. If the task is larger like a project it will likely be earlier, but quite often not a lot!) then panic mode kicks in and all distractions are swept aside - you plough everything into the task because the prospect of not completing it is more terrible than the prospect of having to actually do it - particularly when you know it's a critical task - it's often at this point that you start thinking about ringing in sick, or inventing a dying relative, or deliberately having an accident to injure yourself.
By the end of that you probably really do feel physically sick, maybe you won't have to invent something at all!
You then think through all these plans and realise they are not credible, you knuckle down and get the task done.
Everyone gives you praise because the work you did was great, you receive a monster dose of endorphins and normality resumes.

Until the next important task.

And then your brain tells you that whatever you did last time worked perfectly, so you just repeat the above cycle.

Does the above sound about right? If so you are not alone, but you do need to set yourself up with some coping strategy because after an extended period it can be mentally exhausting and you are constantly on the edge of failure (in your mind) so your overall productivity as a human really drops.

Great TED Talk on true procrastination here:

https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_urban_inside_the_mind_of_a_master_procrastinator?language=en[/QUOTE]

Thank you for this; that sounds like me to an absolute T. Ive seen that ted talk but will watch it again.