I just do it immediately. I had a boss who was a pathological procrastinator and he made sure to always pay every bill and employee at the very latest or “tomorrow”. I wasn’t that much of a procrastinator before him, but when I finally left that job, I started working for a guy who would pay his bills immediately and made sure I was paid at exactly the same time every Friday. I want to model him in my life, not the former piece of shit.
I visualize what a first step in the task could look like in concrete terms. I give myself permission to stop the task once I work on it for a set amount of time if it is painful.
The two fallacies of procrastinators: “it will suck and be awful” and “once I start I’ll have to work on it for hours.”
Honestly, when I think of the thing I need to do…. I do it then and there. Over time, you train yourself not to push things off and you begin to realize that it’s often not as bad as it seems if you just take care of the thing right away. Then once all your responsibilities are done, you can chill in peace without the weight of the procrastinated thing looming over you
I got a book called “Getting Things Done – The Art of Stress free productivity” about 12 years ago. I haven’t read it yet, but I think it’s supposed to help
I theorize that people that never procrastinate have a narrative person that provides so much support for their priorities and that they really like f**, and that makes them feel like not wanting to procrastinate. On the reverse, people procrastinate because there is no support there. As in, they don’t go to the next step because there is no initial step that makes them want to go forward.
Create a tight schedule and make yourself stick to it. Will power is key initially – once you get into the stride of action, procrastinating becomes annoying
If I know I have to do it I just want to get it out of the way then relax or do some other activity that I want to do afterwards.
However, that will backfire at work. If you go ahead and get your work done, your only reward will be more work.
I still procrastinate often, but I’ve quickly learned that I feel better after The Thing is Done than from the pressing anxiety of it NOT being done. I also found it was impossible to sustain during my engineering degree and during my job now. Trying to get some things done now rather than later keeps my sanity together and prevents the stress from building.
Procrastinating is a counterproductive reflex to anxiety. With the smallest amount of mindfulness, when you realize that this response amplifies anxiety, it’s easy to be repulsed by the idea of procrastinating.
Also, procrastinating is inefficient. It’s stupid if your goal is to be productive, but it’s REALLY stupid if your goal is to be lazy. If you procrastinate you are ultimately doing MORE work to get less done. If you are going to be lazy, at least be good at it.
I just love the feeling of getting things done ahead of time, or on time, and then I don’t have to worry about it. I don’t always like the actual doing of something, but having it done is wonderful!
I treat tasks like future me is a completely different person—and honestly, I don’t trust that guy 😅. So I just get it done now because I know if I wait, I’ll regret it. Also, I break things into tiny steps so it doesn’t feel overwhelming. Finishing one small thing gives me momentum to keep going
I call it Reverse Procrastination. I am wildly lazy in a large part. All I want to do is relax. Except when I chose to relax first, it’s not the full effect. The shit I gotta do hangs over my head and I’m freaking out the whole time I’m “relaxing.” So if I can juust knock it out as fast as possible (and do it well, so it doesn’t come back and bite me in the ass) then I get to be a truly lazy sack of shit without also the stress that comes with it
One concept is sneaking past resistance. If you have a task, ask yourself how long could you do it and not feel resistance. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 3 minutes? Like cleaning your office for example. How long would you be willing to start on it KNOWING you could leave in 3-5-10 or 20 minutes? Select the time, and set the timer. Let’s say you told yourself you could work in there for 5 minutes and not panic. You work for 5 minutes. You can quit OR if it’s not feeling as bad as you thought, you can work for however long you feel comfortable and quit without guilt either way. We are psychologically wired to resist unpleasant tasks. So, if you can figure out how long you could work feeling okay knowing that you get to quit if you want to without guilt, you bypass the resistance. When I do this exercise, most of the time I realize the job isn’t as bad as I thought it would be and I work longer. But I’ve quit, too, at the time and do it again the next day.
Another idea is you do one thing each day that you really don’t want to do. You get more comfortable being uncomfortable.
An organized lawyer friend says she does the thing she most doesn’t want to do first thing in the morning when she gets to work. Then the rest of the day is always better.
Gotta do it sometime. Might as well do it now. Well, maybe not all of it… but might as well get it started.
I find that I get best results when I think about things over a span of time. Which means working on it a little, then putting my mind on something else. Come back to it later that day or the next day, and I have a new perspective and probably better ideas. Rinse and repeat.
Cramming at the end means I just come up with whatever pops into my head that 1 time in a “panicked” state of mind.
It feels so much better to have already done the thing.
Plus you get to be smug that your house looks nice/the sheets are crisp/there are no dishes lying in wait to stress you out. Everything you do is a thing you don’t have to do again that whole evening.
I think it’s just practice pulling the trigger on shitty tasks. Bite that bullet once or twice, then really pay extra attention to that wonderful feeling of no longer having to deal with that thing again, possibly ever. I now only find myself being mad I have to empty the dishwasher, but I realize this halfway through emptying it because starting that task is autopilot, so I may as well finish. Then poof I am done and safe from dishes for a time.
Nothing feels worse than procrastination, and I think once your body has felt the truth that it has the power to choose an alternative, it gets easier and easier to bypass the horrid wallowing which lasts twice as long as the task would.
The secret is how adaptable the human brain is. You can build new habits within 2 weeks, your brain adapts and restructures easily. The first week of discipline is hard because it’s a change. Then all of a sudden it is just your routine.
Comments
Anxiety
procrastinate the procrastinating
joking aside, it’s the fear of immediate consequences
anything not immediate, I’d still procrastinate
I might have adhd but I don’t want to self diagnose
Discipline
Not procrastinating
I’ll tell you later
I cut duties instead of doing them way in advance.
It feels worse afterwards (anxiety) to have procrastinated than to have accomplished a task
Don’t think, just do it !
Let me get back to you on that…
I know what I want
I just do it immediately. I had a boss who was a pathological procrastinator and he made sure to always pay every bill and employee at the very latest or “tomorrow”. I wasn’t that much of a procrastinator before him, but when I finally left that job, I started working for a guy who would pay his bills immediately and made sure I was paid at exactly the same time every Friday. I want to model him in my life, not the former piece of shit.
I visualize what a first step in the task could look like in concrete terms. I give myself permission to stop the task once I work on it for a set amount of time if it is painful.
The two fallacies of procrastinators: “it will suck and be awful” and “once I start I’ll have to work on it for hours.”
I need more time to stream at night, so I make sure to do all my chores/things that need taken care of during the day
Edit: But for a more straightforward answer, organizing what needs to be done and mapping them out to get done efficiently
I’ll tell you later
I give myself permission to do whatever I want. Turns out I actually enjoy being responsible 😆
The goal is to be lazy… later.
Plan ahead. Make a schedule. Break down tasks into parts.
No secret. Get off your ass and do it.
Future me is always grateful when I do stuff early.
I’ll tell ya later.
Honestly, when I think of the thing I need to do…. I do it then and there. Over time, you train yourself not to push things off and you begin to realize that it’s often not as bad as it seems if you just take care of the thing right away. Then once all your responsibilities are done, you can chill in peace without the weight of the procrastinated thing looming over you
I got a book called “Getting Things Done – The Art of Stress free productivity” about 12 years ago. I haven’t read it yet, but I think it’s supposed to help
I theorize that people that never procrastinate have a narrative person that provides so much support for their priorities and that they really like f**, and that makes them feel like not wanting to procrastinate. On the reverse, people procrastinate because there is no support there. As in, they don’t go to the next step because there is no initial step that makes them want to go forward.
Create a tight schedule and make yourself stick to it. Will power is key initially – once you get into the stride of action, procrastinating becomes annoying
adderall tbh
I don’t let myself enjoy X until Y gets done
Do it before you think about the details and how exhausting it will be
Keep a ‘done’ jar where each completed task buys 10 mins of guilt-free TikTok doomscrolling.
Idk, I’ll tell you later.
If I know I have to do it I just want to get it out of the way then relax or do some other activity that I want to do afterwards.
However, that will backfire at work. If you go ahead and get your work done, your only reward will be more work.
Buttplugs help me focus
I still procrastinate often, but I’ve quickly learned that I feel better after The Thing is Done than from the pressing anxiety of it NOT being done. I also found it was impossible to sustain during my engineering degree and during my job now. Trying to get some things done now rather than later keeps my sanity together and prevents the stress from building.
Adderall
The madness. I think I’m very obsessed. My body shakes and my mind feels very stressed when I haven’t done what I was supposed to do.
I have done alot of research on this and a top common thing people do is not have ADHD for sure.
Keeping a timely schedule helps me regulate my mood swings.
Procrastinating is a counterproductive reflex to anxiety. With the smallest amount of mindfulness, when you realize that this response amplifies anxiety, it’s easy to be repulsed by the idea of procrastinating.
Also, procrastinating is inefficient. It’s stupid if your goal is to be productive, but it’s REALLY stupid if your goal is to be lazy. If you procrastinate you are ultimately doing MORE work to get less done. If you are going to be lazy, at least be good at it.
I just do it.
Do it now. If you put it off things compound and things becomes more difficult to manage. Gauren-fucking-teed.
I’ll tell you tomorrow.
Be late enough on something really important so your life trajectory changes and then you forever refuse to make the same mistake again.
I just love the feeling of getting things done ahead of time, or on time, and then I don’t have to worry about it. I don’t always like the actual doing of something, but having it done is wonderful!
I really just don’t like having a to do list.
Hate yourself faster
Scheduling. Just kidding I procrastinate but it could be
Just do it
Type A, anxiety, compulsions of perfectionism. Ugh
I wouldn’t know.
I will tell you maybe later. 🤷
Bomb-collar
I treat tasks like future me is a completely different person—and honestly, I don’t trust that guy 😅. So I just get it done now because I know if I wait, I’ll regret it. Also, I break things into tiny steps so it doesn’t feel overwhelming. Finishing one small thing gives me momentum to keep going
Extreme lazyness, don’t want to have to remember to do anything later, I want to make it soon, fast, and forget about it.
I call it Reverse Procrastination. I am wildly lazy in a large part. All I want to do is relax. Except when I chose to relax first, it’s not the full effect. The shit I gotta do hangs over my head and I’m freaking out the whole time I’m “relaxing.” So if I can juust knock it out as fast as possible (and do it well, so it doesn’t come back and bite me in the ass) then I get to be a truly lazy sack of shit without also the stress that comes with it
Loads of guilt, shame, and anxiety
They must not have ADHD. The only way I accomplish anything is by procrastinating until I’m in a time crunch.
I’m lazy and just want to get it over with.
Not having ADHD
My father always told me- ‘Once you got a task to do, it’s better to do it than live with the fear of it’
Knowing that tasks het bigger and multiply like metal coat hangars on a dark closet if you don’t tackle them.
It’s an investment into my peace of mind, and my free time.
If I have something due, I think lemme do this ASAP so I can be the easy going oaf I want to be. You’re helping you, relax and succeed.
Although I still procrastinate here and there tbh.
If I don’t do something right then and there, I just forget about it and I don’t bother with it later.
One concept is sneaking past resistance. If you have a task, ask yourself how long could you do it and not feel resistance. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 3 minutes? Like cleaning your office for example. How long would you be willing to start on it KNOWING you could leave in 3-5-10 or 20 minutes? Select the time, and set the timer. Let’s say you told yourself you could work in there for 5 minutes and not panic. You work for 5 minutes. You can quit OR if it’s not feeling as bad as you thought, you can work for however long you feel comfortable and quit without guilt either way. We are psychologically wired to resist unpleasant tasks. So, if you can figure out how long you could work feeling okay knowing that you get to quit if you want to without guilt, you bypass the resistance. When I do this exercise, most of the time I realize the job isn’t as bad as I thought it would be and I work longer. But I’ve quit, too, at the time and do it again the next day.
Another idea is you do one thing each day that you really don’t want to do. You get more comfortable being uncomfortable.
An organized lawyer friend says she does the thing she most doesn’t want to do first thing in the morning when she gets to work. Then the rest of the day is always better.
Gotta do it sometime. Might as well do it now. Well, maybe not all of it… but might as well get it started.
I find that I get best results when I think about things over a span of time. Which means working on it a little, then putting my mind on something else. Come back to it later that day or the next day, and I have a new perspective and probably better ideas. Rinse and repeat.
Cramming at the end means I just come up with whatever pops into my head that 1 time in a “panicked” state of mind.
I got other shit to do than what I’m doing right now
I’ll get back to you…
Desperately scours the comment section for the secret
Give me a few and I’ll let you know.
I keep safe-search turned on in my internet browser.
Let me get back to you
It feels so much better to have already done the thing.
Plus you get to be smug that your house looks nice/the sheets are crisp/there are no dishes lying in wait to stress you out. Everything you do is a thing you don’t have to do again that whole evening.
I think it’s just practice pulling the trigger on shitty tasks. Bite that bullet once or twice, then really pay extra attention to that wonderful feeling of no longer having to deal with that thing again, possibly ever. I now only find myself being mad I have to empty the dishwasher, but I realize this halfway through emptying it because starting that task is autopilot, so I may as well finish. Then poof I am done and safe from dishes for a time.
Nothing feels worse than procrastination, and I think once your body has felt the truth that it has the power to choose an alternative, it gets easier and easier to bypass the horrid wallowing which lasts twice as long as the task would.
Medication
The secret is how adaptable the human brain is. You can build new habits within 2 weeks, your brain adapts and restructures easily. The first week of discipline is hard because it’s a change. Then all of a sudden it is just your routine.
The mindset of get work done so I can slack I’m peace later
Anxiety or a lack of ADHD.