Do not forget about the part where it constantly lingers overhead, and despite you thinking about it every moment and making every moment hell until you do it, you don't do it until that last minute anyway.
I used to be this way and saw it as a sign of significant immaturity.
Procrastinators often aren't just procrastinating, they never end up doing the activity at all or at least until there are significant consequences. It is inherently selfish behavior,really.
Woah woah woah... selfish behavior? What do you think you know about procrastinators?
I love that I procrastinate. It helps me to think about the issue/task for a longer period of time and allows for freedom to complete other tasks or relax instead of constantly stressing about getting things done immediately. I used to complete jobs right away and was rewarded with ever increasing workloads until I broke down from the amount of stress put on me daily. Procrastination isn't something done to spite or hurt another person/entity...you have me a deadline and I completed it before it was due. Shouldn't matter how I went about completing it.
Procrastinating has taught me how to work under intense pressure when it's absolutely needed, and I can respond in the moment with confidence in my ability. It helps me to find time to be more connected with my coworkers without being overburdened with an ever-increasing workload. If I don't take the time to be true to myself as a procrastinator, you will get less and less quality work out of me as my mental capacity becomes overloaded. It's selfish to abuse those that want/need to take their time while still working under last minute pressure to get it done.
Not everything is so black and white just because it doesn't fit with your style of working.
Two words. Group project.
Well that's a more specific situation. Personally I try to get things done ahead of time in group projects. That just feels respectful to the others. I can agree that it's a bit selfish to wait until the last minute when others can't get their stuff done until I do.
I just wanted to point out that procrastination shouldn't be considered selfish. Different people have different working styles that work best for them. It's a compromise to incorporate different working styles and the person who likes to do things right away and then relax should realize that there's other styles and not everyone can operate the same way as them.
I think something is wrong with me then. When I start something early it normally ends up with me losing momentum part way through, stopping for ages, then having to work like mad at the end anyway. That or I end up changing project idea and having to start again. Both of these ended up happening with my dissertation.
Like even when I start stuff at the right time it goes to shit. Somehow when I do stuff last minute it mostly turns out fine.
Procrastination is good, it takes you were you naturally want to be and what you intuitively think is right. Starting early and forcing yourself through things you don't care about is not productive.
But isn't that like making excuses for yourself tho? I usually did the same as the parent commenter did. But if there's an especially critical task that I cannot afford to ignore I use something like pomodoro timer to keep my attention span in check. Barring an external distraction -- getting more of this as I'm getting more senior in my current work + kids when working remotely (ノಥ,_｣ಥ)ノ彡┻━┻ -- this method usually works.
Do things like pomodoro timers actually work?
It works, although you need to really stick to only working during the work time. I tried it when writing my thesis and miraculously I managed to work on it basically the whole day, from morning till night. Since then I've been using it sporadically when there's an important work because for it to work for me I need to lock myself up so as to not get distracted by other people.
All things in moderation, including ~~moderation~~ procrastination.
I too like to live dangerously.
Nothing like the pressure of last minute to be productive!
I’ve often stated that Past-Me is always hassling Present-Me with reminders of things I’m supposed to do. That asshole just loves setting a ton of notifications to fire throughout the day, making me feel bad for being a lazy procrastinator.
You can try to convince me but my brain thinks that's some kind of propaganda.
Hi, dropping in to say that everyone who relates to this has undiagnosed ADHD. Getting diagnosed at 29 was life changing for me
Literally everyone relates to this.
If you believe something as common as this is sufficient to diagnose a mental disorder, you might've been misdiagnosed (or your diagnosis was explained insufficiently).
My friend, you think this likely because your family exhibits these traits (genetics) as do your friends(attracted to like groups). You're using two ADHD meme traits, like thinking everyone feels this way and using extra parentheses (for bonus content). I bet you've also been told that you're not living up to your potential (and that's true!).
If you want something objective, have a coffee or two at 6pm and see if you're still able to fall asleep that night. The neuro typical folks would be unable to quiet down their brain.
"Curse you, past me!"
The stress is what gives me the motivation to do the work. So no.
Future discounting bias
How'd you get a picture of me last weekend?
I'm closing this tab now. If you see me back on here in the next few hours, you have my permission to tell me to fuck off.
