[Daemos]

I was wondering if procrastination is a typical INTP thing, maybe a general P thing? I can't seem to motivate myself to do anything (uni, housework, etc..) if I a) receive no immediate gain b) it is absolutely necessary c) I genuinely enjoy doing it. Right now I should be preparing for midterms which are coming up and I have a paper to write which is due this week but I just can't motivate myself to do either.

Granted I did work on the paper a little today but compared to what I need to do for it the comparison is pale. I know I'll end up a day before the deadline working like a maniac and turning it in with like an hour to spare. Why can't I seem to motivate myself, does anyone here have tips? What do you use to motivate yourself to do something you dislike?

 

[LadyJava]

I think it's a P thing. The thing that really helped me was to time the tasks that I dislike and put off. I used to put off unloading the dishwasher for as long as possible. Once I timed it I realized it took less than a minute. It's still a chore I dislike, but now that I realise that it will only take me less than a minute it doesn't seem like a big deal anymore.

 

[Linesky]

I wish someone chased around my butt all day long , & telling me when the deadline is and give me candy because I did well or money.

Sometimes I have no idea what to begin with. => I obviously think about it too hard. Feeling tired is another reason to put things off. Sucky lifestyle eh: school, coming home late from it, having to do homework and make decisions about it while trying to figure out the rest of your life. Send me off to some place more productive plzz. I want my friggin diploma already.

 

[Daemos]

Oh I love deadlines, this quote sums up my feelings about them quite adequately:

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.
-- Douglas Adam

 

[Pathless Way]

So I just joined this group and submitted my introduction and now I am checking out my first discussion "procrastination." This is one of my worst traits where a close second is being lazy. I must mention I am currently hot on renewing my skills and knowledge about the shadow and these two traits are showing their ugly heads already. I suppose that is good. After all how can we fix or modify our shadow trait or thoughts unless we become aware of them. Often I have read that most of us are unable to see our own flaws but have no trouble seeing flaws in others. So what I'm getting at is that reading your confessions is providing me with reflections of myself. Thanks.

 

[slowriot]

I think you can say that this is a trait that can be really bad for ya! Im just saying

 

[Happy]

I agree it might generally be just an NP thing. I don't know about anyone else here, but I work better under stress. I can't think straight when I'm not being forced too. :crazy:

 

[helmetel]

I think that procrastination is probably more of an NP thing – absent-mindedness and disorganisation aren’t a good combination, but it could really be attributed to any type. I know I’m certainly a procrastinator – I’m a fairly strong NP, and the fact that I’m an NT perfectionist affects it too.

 

[thewindlistens]

Whoosh whoosh, they fly by...

 

[Psilo]

I have a bad sense of time. I'll have the full intention to do something, and then all of a sudden it was due yesterday when I thought I still had weeks.

I also know tasks become much less monumental when I start to work on it rather than just knowing I have to do it. Honestly, I dread the thought not the action. I can't shake the feeling, though, that I'd rather not do it at all.

I'm an awful procrastinator. I see very little urgency in most anything.

 

[Roland Khan]

Well im ISTP but borderline N and procrastination is a seriousflaw of mine as well.

I will almost wait until something is needed before going about it. If i need some smokes i will wait until i smoke my last one and then when i want another i will finally walk up to the store, even if i know its going to rain i still put it off.

And java, im same way about the dishwasher, lol. I use it as a secondary cupboard that holds everything. Ill just take things out of it as needed then put dirty ones into sink and wait until the dishwasher is almost emptied that way then unload what little is left when i need to run another load.

If theres no immediate payout or sense of satisfaction of doing something then im in no hurry to do it. It is nice tho when theres somebody around to ask (not order around) me to do something then ill go ahead and do it since theres a kind of satisfaction in getting them off my back before they get upset and bug me even more that way.

 

[Chilln]

I used to do this where I would work on something only the day before it was due, or even hours before it was due and finish it just on time. This bad habit has persisted until one day I realized why do I even care to do this at all? And I reached a new horrible level of procrastination which more resembles apathy and not being able to get a lot of things done on time if at all.
As Deimos quoted about deadlines, I "just let them whoosh by".
Currently I'm trying to motivate myself to write a few overdue papers, any suggestions to get me started are welcome. :dry:

 

[Ventricity]

I used to do this where I would work on something only the day before it was due, or even hours before it was due and finish it just on time. This bad habit has persisted until one day I realized why do I even care to do this at all? And I reached a new horrible level of procrastination which more resembles apathy and not being able to get a lot of things done on time if at all.
As Deimos quoted about deadlines, I "just let them whoosh by".
Currently I'm trying to motivate myself to write a few overdue papers, any suggestions to get me started are welcome. :dry:

i can very much relate to this. i breezed through the first years of university by doing papers 1 day before deadline - papers that we were supposed to have been doing the whole semester. but that didn´t work when it was time to write my master thesis. fuck it. what´s the point, right? i mean, i am interested in the subject and can keep writing for a while, but i can´t keep the spark up.

the worst thing is that i don´t think there is a cure for it. all suggestions to this problem is just that it´s about priorities and scheduling. sucks

the only time i ever did an effort was when i had a great teacher, who i also think was intp. he gave me alot of space and was never pushy, but inspiring in his calm ways. i loved the way he saw through all the bullshit, like formalities. too bad he quit, because i wrote a really good paper that semester.

 

[Ben]

I always start working on a project or an assignment almost two or three days before it's due when it was assigned weeks in advance. It's the same with homework -- if I've been stuck working for more than an hour and a half, I will suddenly decide that I don't care about the work and not do it, especially if it's a subject I don't like.

I haven't really done anything to stop the habit, but I have toned down on the procrastination this school year. I think it's because of a small deal I made with my dad. For every A I get, I'm allowed to buy a song from iTunes off his account. That's really my only motivation to stop procrastinating, and it doesn't always work.

 

[mrkedi]

i procrastinate too, my folks always like "omg you are so not motivated and sloppy" but really sometimes i work and work and work and i dont feel the result, so then i feel discouraged and starts procrastinate.

 

[Chilln]

A day later and I have barely progressed at all, why do I even bother....will I ever learn my lesson?

 

[luckycharms]

i prcrastinate terribly. For example, today's the last night of my winter break and i didn't start reading the 400 page book and wrtiting the 3 page essay we have to do until two days ago. its really bad. I think part of my problem is that if i finish homework too early i get anxious about how i could improve it or if i left anything out, so i procrastinate until the last possible minute so i have to turn work in as is and can't worry about improving it. Also my mind wanders constantly...i don't have a work and play mode. I just start daydreaming and lose track of time.

 

[Stephen1]

Whoosh, whoosh.. Another procrastination thread.

 

[MarxistMusketeer]

I have not gained a single study point in 6 months, I have not cleaned up in 4 months, I have not washed my clothes in 3. And as Ventricity said, there really is no serious advice. All the "advice" seems to be: "Lol ur lazy, get oof ur azz and do stff..." I mean, death to them! If it were so easy I would have done something about it aeons ago. It's really insulting when people just tell me "Ur life is disorganized, do stuff", as if I had not tried already. It's almost as if they think I have just not realized something really basic thats obvious to everyone else, and I'm being lazy just due to some philosophical quirk.

And to give some perspective: Your procrastination still sounds somewhat light. Thats because you still get things somewhat done by deadline, whereas I have about a gazillion assignments that are months past their deadline, and I have not even started them. How do I feel about this? Well, not very stressed out as I'm writing about it in PerC. Only on a very rational level do I feign any kind of interest in this. Actually, I have a deadline for a 300 page book within 9 hours, it's 1 a clock in morning, and I have still 200 pages to read. What do I do? PerC! \o/

Honestly, I need help... :dry:

 

[amycanada11]

I'm so glad there's those out there who feel the same way I do when it comes to procrastination!

A couple of days ago I randomly asked my all-knowing math teacher his though on procrastination, and he drew me a chart that looks somewhat like this ;


Important
Not important
Urgent
Now
Break
Not urgent
Tomorrow
Never
(chart can't show up, or the picture of it :S)
www dot maccoby.com/Articles/IMAGES/TimeManagement.gif

He says to focus on the IMPORTANT AND NOT URGENT stuff asap, so that the IMPORTANT URGENT things never become so important and damn urgent. Personally, I write my isus the night before or the morning of, and though I haven't had a master thesis yet, I'm dreading of it.

Another technique is to try trusting yourself.
Like quiting smoking and the like, give yourself small goals at set timelines and do them. Gradually, you're trust yourself on completing a larger and larger task, and hey, maybe one day that master thesis might just get done TWO days before the deadline, versus one!
Once you've completed one thing ahead of time, you'll want to try another.

Just my two cents, hope this helps!*

*All of this comes from nothing even close to personal experience. At the moment I'm supposed to be studying for a finance exam, though I've divulged into learning a song on my uke and recently joining this forum. All is well. Whoosh on.