Procrastination.

mattyjim123

mattyjim123

mattyjim123

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254
It's coming up to my AS Level exams soon, and I need to do a load of revision/past papers etc etc.

My one problem is though, I am a big procrastinator. I find any excuse possible to not do any revision.

So my question to you is, do you procrastinate, and how do you stop yourself from doing so?
 
It's not really laziness, it's actively doing the wrong tasks to avoid the one you should be doing. Finding the motivating point of the task, if indeed there is one, usually snaps one out of it.
 
I'm a terrible procrastinator, I just have to find the hook to get me into the work then I'm fine it's just getting there that's the problem.
Like right now I've got some work to do but I know it's a pain in the arse and I can't find a solution to a problem I'm having with it so I just don't want to!
 
Christ, When i was studying Psychology, i would find anything to distract me. I hate writing, i have illegible handwriting and it hurts me hand :( I could easily fiddle with a piece of string for two hours instead of reading a book. But when it came to computing i liked reading the book because i was actually interested in it. Im still not sure if I have changed.

I used to eat and drink a lot of crap as well when studying at home. Then just paced myself and drank lots of water, helped me focus a bit.
 
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Procrastination is my middle name, I have so many ideas/ projects I want to then I start playing Wolf:ET and then it's another 5 hours later.
 
mattyjim123 said:
It's coming up to my AS Level exams soon, and I need to do a load of revision/past papers etc etc.

My one problem is though, I am a big procrastinator. I find any excuse possible to not do any revision.

So my question to you is, do you procrastinate, and how do you stop yourself from doing so?
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Procrastination is a failure of metacognition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbolic_discounting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_inconsistency
http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/10/27/procrastination/

All worth a read (if you can find the motivation).

It helps to understand the mechanics which underpin our behaviour - as the thing which needs to be changed is how you think about the present vs the future.

Surprisingly early childhood experiences are predicted as being a key factor in determining how good many of us end up being proficient at correctly valuing future events over present rewards.

iamtheoneneo said:
Isnt this being called Lazy....or has that word changed in modern times to make people feel less like worthless scumbags?!
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Ignore this dumb post.
 
mattyjim123 said:
It's coming up to my AS Level exams soon, and I need to do a load of revision/past papers etc etc.

My one problem is though, I am a big procrastinator. I find any excuse possible to not do any revision.

So my question to you is, do you procrastinate, and how do you stop yourself from doing so?
Click to expand...

You stop it by considering a future where you serve McFlurries to chavs who openly mock you because even their life is better than the awfulness yours has become.

Later in life - and no one in hindsight is surprised, far less concerned - you throw yourself off a bridge and into a river somewhere in Wales, the stones you'd place in the pockets of the overcoat pulling you down despite your last pathetic struggles.
 
Every time you feel yourself getting distracted from doing your school work, just think about what you could end up like.

julian-assange2.jpg
 
[FnG]magnolia;26122258 said:
You stop it by considering a future where you serve McFlurries to chavs who openly mock you because even their life is better than the awfulness yours has become.

Later in life - and no one in hindsight is surprised, far less concerned - you throw yourself off a bridge and into a river somewhere in Wales, the stones you'd place in the pockets of the overcoat pulling you down despite your last pathetic struggles.
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:D

It is said one method is to consider everything from multiple time perspectives so in essence this is a good suggestion, think forward seven days - will you be glad you did it today, or miserable you still have to do it?.

Seven days from now will arrive & you will be in a worse situation than you are now - obviously you know this, but it's another things to bring it into your decision making process.
 
This little extract from the article puts it best.

"Capable psychonauts who think about thinking, about states of mind, about set and setting, can get things done not because they have more will power, more drive, but because they know productivity is a game of cat and mouse versus a childish primal human predilection for pleasure and novelty which can never be excised from the soul. Your effort is better spent outsmarting yourself than making empty promises through plugging dates into a calendar or setting deadlines for push ups."
 
Thanks for all the replies/info/jokes ;) It's not just laziness, I can tell you that for sure because I'm hard working when I feel either somebody will be on my back (like at work) or when Im actually passionate about the subject.

Like today I'm doing maths. I hate maths. Once I get myself started it's ok, but actually sitting down and starting is the hard part. But with other subjects, like physics for example, I find its not such a problem, because I'm actually interested in the topic.

I'll read that article later when I've finished doing my god damned maths...

With the looking at it from a different time perspective, ie in a couple of days, I've never really thought about it like that before. It's like getting yourself in a good mood to do it, because you know you'll have done it.
 
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