I need help on how to not procrastinate.

[IceBrand]

When there is something that I want to do/ have to, I do everything else(clean my room, play with my pets, sleep, etc) except the task at hand. I need to know how to get my work over with and enjoy my life.

[Nobody]

just accept you're a procrastinator and give up on your life

that's what i did, at least until next year

[Brendor]

basically you just do it. like if you know you have to do something, just start it

[NinjaMonkey]

Don't visit forums and ask other people how to stop yourself procrastinating.

[Nobody]

Don't visit forums and ask other people how to stop yourself procrastinating.

this is also a good advice

[IceBrand]

Don't visit forums and ask other people how to stop yourself procrastinating.

That makes it worse?

[Aleph]

What's wrong with taking things slow?

If breaking something into pieces doesn't help, break the process of simplifying access to the task into pieces. For example, you may not feel like doing X, but if you did you would have to do Y first. You can do Z to make it easier to get through or even skip Y. Try breaking Z into parts and doing that.

A more concrete example: I had some software I needed to write, but every time I wanted to get into it I'd have to open loads of folders and files to have all the information I was using in fornt of me. My "Z" was really easy. I just made a batch script that opens all of those things and named it "Session.bat". This skipped Y (opening all of the files and folders), so when I DID finally get to X (writing the software) it was much easier to just jump into it.

This is part of a bigger concept I've observed, which is that you will be more likely to get things done if you just leave the process open and in your face so that you can pick at it in the middle of things, such as during commercials on TV or when you're dead in some shitty FPS game. Work on bits of it because "it couldn't hurt", not because "I need to get at least this part done before this time". Once you've built momentum it will be resolved.

Also remember that any progress is better than no progress, and avoid taking this fact for granted by regularly identifying what progress you've made and verifying that you've actually made it. If you can repeat a test, for example, then do it and pat yourself on the back if it works again - then play some video games, because you will fry yourself if you don't take breaks.

Edited November 26, 2013 by Aleph

[Nobody]

What's wrong with taking things slow?

If breaking something into pieces doesn't help, break the process of simplifying access to the task into pieces. For example, you may not feel like doing X, but if you did you would have to do Y first. You can do Z to make it easier to get through or even skip Y. Try breaking Z into parts and doing that.

A more concrete example: I had some software I needed to write, but every time I wanted to get into it I'd have to open loads of folders and files to have all the information I was using in fornt of me. My "Z" was really easy. I just made a batch script that opens all of those things and named it "Session.bat". This skipped Y (opening all of the files and folders), so when I DID finally get to X (writing the software) it was much easier to just jump into it.

This is part of a bigger concept I've observed, which is that you will be more likely to get things done if you just leave the process open and in your face so that you can pick at it in the middle of things, such as during commercials on TV or when you're dead in some shitty FPS game. Work on bits of it because "it couldn't hurt", not because "I need to get at least this part done before this time". Once you've built momentum it will be resolved.

Well, when you can't get anything done and is about to fail half your college classes, it surely is a problem. that's my situation.

[Aleph]

You will just have to learn the information you obtain about dealing with procrastination to do so before it becomes a problem and learn to suffer the consequences if you don't.

Realistically, failing in college means jack shit. You are most likely not going to be murdered for it. Who knows? Maybe you'll flunk out and miss all of the excitement of the next school shooting.

I still get e-mails about all of the crime on my campus. Wish they were smart enough to realize I'm not a student anymore.

Also note that your environment may change, perhaps necessarily, if shit falls through. The result may be a less stressful environment that makes what was difficult before seem terribly easy, almost insultingly so, by comparison. You might want to look into improving your environment before it happens the hard way. I can pretty much guarantee you are enduring bullshit that you don't need to.

[Nobody]

Maybe you'll flunk out and miss all of the excitement of the next school shooting.

I'm not American haha

But seriously, your last paragraph is actually a very good way to see it, and I think I'm already kind of following it. This semester was a lost cause, but I'll try my best to do better next year

Edited November 26, 2013 by Nobody

[Aleph]

My classmates saw what the professors didn't and I got recommendations and found work easily. I kind of THREW IT AWAY (physical/mental health issues though) but for the most part I had a shit semester and it did not even matter even the tiniest little bit of an amount.

[NinjaMonkey]

That makes it worse?

All the time you are waiting for people to tell you how to stop procrastinating, you aren't doing the things that you are putting off.

[Steampunk]

Why do today what you can leave for tomorrow?

[Nobody]

Why do today what you can leave for tomorrow?

Why do tomorrow what you can not do?

[Sifer]

Do something every day: hundred words one lesson what ever.

Also get a 35+ hour job if you don't have one. This cuts on the time your going to slack anyways and gives you money too. Then you realize you can't push it off for the next day because 9+ hours work day is looming tomorrow so you realize you have to get this shit done tonight. That is how I do it anyways.

Edited November 26, 2013 by sifer

[Ϲharlie]

Disconnect your internet.

[Florete]

just accept you're a procrastinator and give up on your life

I did the first part.

I could never get away from my procrastination habits. I tried many things to do away with it; none worked. So I gave up and decided to just be a procrastinator, but told myself that no matter how much I procrastinate, I must get everything done. Surprisingly, that's when I started doing better than ever before. Yeah, I often wait until the last minute to get my work done, and I often waste a lot of time on the way, but it gets done, and that's what matters.

Additionally, ideas like these:

Don't visit forums and ask other people how to stop yourself procrastinating.

Disconnect your internet.

don't work, at least for me, because I'll just take a nap or find something shiny to look at.

[Aleph]

Fox, that's why I gave the advice I did (which sifer echoed a part of).

The truth is that you are probably just a procrastinator and will only injure your work flow even more if you try to be something you are not.

[Esau of Isaac]

A common tactic for procrastinators is to develop a schedule. Write down what needs to be done, and then pin when it will be done at a specific time on a specific date. If you do not leave it open-ended then you are at least less likely to dismiss it given that you have a great deal of time to get it done. Another useful method is to habitualize whatever it is you will need to do in the future by first pairing it with something you do normally. This is because studies have shown that a few weeks of a repeated action will cause it to become ingrained, and so if you put together something you need to do with something you want to do you can essentially cause yourself to want to do both. One of the ways I got back into running was to go on walks when reading. After that I transitioned to audiobooks and jogging. Now it's just plain running.

Edited November 26, 2013 by Esau of Isaac

[Aleph]

That's terrible advice. Procrastinators procrastinate BECAUSE they have a schedule. They see "oh, this isn't due until then" and put it off until then. Removing the concrete due date makes them feel more relaxed about it and more like they're doing it because they feel like it, not because they have to.

Doing things all at once is better anyway. Procrastinators do this anyway because they're forced to when due dates come around. The problem isn't doing it at the last moment, it's that extra bit of time beyond what you have that you couldn't have anticipated. The unbroken attention of doing everything all at once at the last moment prevents the issues associated with taking too many breaks and losing momentum for the task. If you procrastinate on something without overdoing it and do it all at once, the contiguous progress will produce better results and possibly still be done in time, and in the case of studying, the material will be much more fresh in your mind. The alternative is to start so ludicrously early that you have the serial repetition spacing interval long enough, which you generally can't afford to do - a semester is not nearly long enough.

Indeed, of the two possible routes of memorization, the more long term process is completely incompatible with the best process of producing something. Since most academic and occupational tasks are either studying/memorization/internalization of information or production of it, you'll want a system that complements both. The only sensible solution is procrastination. You're pretty much stuck finding that sweet spot of waiting long enough but not so long that your magnificent one-shot-kill ends up being late. Still...10% off for a day late assignment that would have scored a 100% is better than turning it in on time as crap with a 70% rating.

Edited November 26, 2013 by Aleph

[Axie]

I find myself to be way more productive when the deadline becomes dangerously close. I had four months to do my final college paper and I did most of its fifteen pages in the last three days. And I got an excellent grade!

Procastination isn't that bad if you still have a smidgen of responsability, really.

[Esau of Isaac]

That's terrible advice. Procrastinators procrastinate BECAUSE they have a schedule. They see "oh, this isn't due until then" and put it off until then. Removing the concrete due date makes them feel more relaxed about it and more like they're doing it because they feel like it, not because they have to.

Well, no, procrastination involves simply abstaining from performing needed work. The reasons can vary enormously, but it's just as easy to say that a procrastinator does so because their schedule is rather too loosely defined leaving them leeway to let the assignment hang until the last minute.

Doing things all at once is better anyway. Procrastinators do this anyway because they're forced to when due dates come around. The problem isn't doing it at the last moment, it's that extra bit of time beyond what you have that you couldn't have anticipated. The unbroken attention of doing everything all at once at the last moment prevents the issues associated with taking too many breaks and losing momentum for the task. If you procrastinate on something without overdoing it and do it all at once, the contiguous progress will produce better results and possibly still be done in time, and in the case of studying, the material will be much more fresh in your mind. The alternative is to start so ludicrously early that you have the serial repetition spacing interval long enough, which you generally can't afford to do - a semester is not nearly long enough.

Bullshit. The notion that term papers and activities that have a set date of completion months in advance are better completed at the last moment simply because you're remembering it all is ludicrous. While there is some merit to the idea that a worker will lose small chunks of time in returning to a paper and retreading footsteps, a judicious student that works consistently on their assigned activities is bound to produce a better result both because they become more associated with the practice of picking up from where they left off and also because they are able to more capably review the work and refine it.

This only time tactics like these work are when assignments given are ridiculously simple in entry-level courses. The entire point of these is to ease the student into an environment where they are more comfortable with working on a project over a long period of time.

Indeed, of the two possible routes of memorization, the more long term process is completely incompatible with the best process of producing something. Since most academic and occupational tasks are either studying/memorization/internalization of information or production of it, you'll want a system that complements both. The only sensible solution is procrastination. You're pretty much stuck finding that sweet spot of waiting long enough but not so long that your magnificent one-shot-kill ends up being late. Still...10% off for a day late assignment that would have scored a 100% is better than turning it in on time as crap with a 70% rating.

The most sensible solution would be a consistent schedule of constant memorization and refinement of data. No, you are not performing better by being lazy and putting off your work until the last day and cramming it all into one rushed, poorly thought out paper. What's more, the idea that you're most suited to memorization in the short term is the exact opposite of the entire notion of learning, unless you're arguing for simple regurgitation of data! Memorization of information requires a constant review of data. You might remember data pretty well the next day that you crammed for six hours the night before, but the student that reviewed it often every day will have solidified their base of knowledge far stronger than you and remember it more strongly in months to come. It's why the procrastinating students tend to fall apart as semesters come to an end and their grades nosedive: they did alright on isolated tests but as information from earlier chapters is required they've forgotten much of it.

[Inui]

why are people writing giant essays in the spam board

[Esau of Isaac]

why are people writing giant essays in the spam board

In this letter, I will do my best to make my arguments against Mr. Inui clear and articulate. I plan to utilize numerous examples and maybe even some occasional humor so as not to strain your patience as I delve into immense detail about how when workable solutions to a problem elude you, sometimes it helps to focus on what unites rather than divides us. You see, I unequivocally believe that it is time now for the polite chatter at fashionable dinners and cocktail parties to give way to hardheaded talk and plans to expose some of Inui's more dubious financial dealings. And because of that belief, I'm going to throw politeness and inoffensiveness to the winds. In this letter, I'm going to be as rude and crude as I know how, to reinforce the point that in my observations upon nosism, I have expressed no opinion thus far of the mode of its extinguishment or melioration. I will note, however, though I still have nothing to propose, that Inui is not a responsible citizen. Responsible citizens help you reflect and reexamine your views on him. Responsible citizens unmistakably do not wage an odd sort of warfare upon a largely unprepared and unrecognizing public.

While some of Inui's imprecations are very attractive on the surface and are definitely entertaining, they ultimately serve to contaminate clear thinking with Inui's disingenuous, deluded manifestos. If I am correctly informed, many insecure storytellers take their marching orders directly from Inui. In any case, it's often hard to decipher his unforgiving comments. Obviously, Inui flees clarity whenever it involves unpleasant shouldering of responsibility, but I feel that in this case, in a tacit concession of defeat, he is now openly calling for the abridgment of various freedoms to accomplish coercively what his ribald words have failed at. Does Inui do research before he reports things, or does he just guess and hope he's right? The reason I ask is that Inui motivates people to join his coalition by using words like "humanity", "compassion", and "unity". This is a great deception. What Inui really wants to do is steal the fruits of other people's labor. That's why I wish that one of the innumerable busybodies who are forever making "statistical studies" about nonsense would instead make a statistical study that means something. For example, I'd like to see a statistical study of Inui's capacity to learn the obvious. Also worthwhile would be a statistical study of how many pugnacious jargonauts realize that moralistic dolts often take earthworms or similar small animals and impale them on a pin to enjoy watching them twist and writhe as they slowly die. Similarly, Inui enjoys watching respectable people twist and writhe whenever he threatens to scupper my initiative to unite rich and poor, young and old.

Although Inui has managed to avoid indictment, or even a consensus that he did anything illegal, we must decidedly establish a supportive—rather than an intimidating—atmosphere for offering public comment. Does that sound extremist? Is it too lackadaisical for you? I'm sorry if it seems that way, but that's life. He will do everything in his power to extend his fifteen minutes of fame to fifteen months. No wonder corruption is endemic to our society; Inui presents himself as a disinterested classicist lamenting the infusion of politically motivated methods of pedagogy and analysis into higher education. He is eloquent in his denunciation of modern scholarship, claiming it favors gloomy, fickle parvenus. And here we have the ultimate irony because I have a scientist's respect for objective truth. That's why I'm telling you that Inui insists that his blandishments can give us deeper insights into the nature of reality. Naturally, he gives no evidence whatsoever to support that parti pris. Perhaps that's because some people believe that one day Inui's underlings will restore the temple of our civilization to the ancient truths. Such people are doomed to disappointment, especially when one considers that if Inui is incapable of discerning the mad ramblings of narrow-minded unenlightened-types from the wisdom and nuance embedded in a sage's discourse then I seriously doubt that he'll be capable of determining that he occasionally shows what appears to be warmth, joy, love, or compassion. You should realize, however, that these positive expressions are more feigned than experienced and invariably serve an ulterior motive, such as to expand, augment, and intensify the size and intrusiveness of Inui's claque.

I have to laugh when Inui says that it's tasteless to make efforts directed towards broad, long-term social change. Where in the world did he get that idea? Not only does that idea contain absolutely no substance whatsoever, but even if one is opposed to delusional plagiarism (as I am) then, surely, once you understand his conjectures, you have a responsibility to do something about them. To know, to understand, and not to act, is an egregious sin of omission. It is the sin of silence. It is the sin of letting Inui keep us hypnotized so we don't exercise due diligence in transcending local prejudices.

Inui's editorials are bloody-minded, poisonous to young minds, and disrespectful to Western values and achievements. You don't need to be the smartest guy on the planet to figure that out. Heck, even the lowliest Joe Six-Pack knows that if we fail in our task of educating the public on a range of issues, then he will monopolize the press. Imagine people everywhere embracing Inui's claim that the sky is falling. The idea defies the imagination.

Inui says he'll deny minorities a cultural voice if anyone dare threaten the existence of his phalanx of unprofessional tightwads. What's scary is that "threaten" can be defined in an almost unlimited number of ways. For instance, Inui might consider it threatening if one were to claim that he's like the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz. Pull back the curtain of miserabilism and you'll see a diversivolent, hopeless wiseacre hiding behind it, furiously pulling the levers of sectarianism in a militant attempt to drag men out of their beds in the dead of night and castrate them. That sort of discovery should make any sane person realize that I have never read anything Inui has written that I would consider wise, logical, pertinent, reasonable, or scientific. His statement that honesty and responsibility have no cash value and are therefore worthless is no exception. What's more, if it weren't for biased incubi, he would have no friends. I think I know why Inui is so intent on extirpating the things that I unquestionably cherish. Inui uses such behavior as a hollow, saccharine palliative for a soul wrenched by serious internal contradictions. This explains why he wants to eroticize relations of dominance and subordination. Alas, that's a mere ripple on the dour ocean of priggism in which Inui will drown any attempt to unveil the semiotic patterns that he utilizes to put political correctness ahead of scientific rigor.

Inui is out to bombard us with an endless array of hate literature. And when we play his game, we become accomplices. If you hear him spouting off about how five-crystal orgone generators can eliminate mind-control energies that are being radiated from secret, underground, government facilities, you should tell him that he represents the most inferior form of human evolution. Better yet, tell him to stop getting his opinions from fractious serpents and start doing some research of his own. Maybe before long, Inui will brand me as malefic. Intransigent predictions aside, this would not be an impossible scenario if his domineering pranks were to gain ascendancy in our society.

Sure, we could just sit back and let Inui delegitimize our belief systems and replace them with a counter-hegemony that seeks to trick our children into adopting unconventional, disapproved-of opinions and ways of life, but that prospect really grates on people who have any kind of common sense. He, with his craftiness and whiney morals, will entirely control our country's exuberant riches in the near future. He will then use those riches to transform our little community into a global crucible of terror and gore. The moral of this story is that he has been effecting complete and total control over every human being on the planet. It's time to even the score. I suggest that we begin by notifying people of the fact that Inui likes to imply that the media should "create" news rather than report it. This is what his values amount to, although, of course, they're daubed over with the viscid slobber of amateurish drivel devised by his groupies and mindlessly multiplied by clueless con artists. Regardless of the theoretical beauty of the notion that Inui's comment that it's perfectly safe to drink and drive is clear and simple dupery, there is the opposing fact that one of his apostles once said, "Children should get into cars with strangers who wave lots of yummy candy at them." Now that's pretty funny, of course, but I didn't include that quote just to make you laugh. I included it to convince you that Inui probably regrets stating publicly that he is omnipotent. Although we can attribute that brutish comment to a bout of foot-in-mouth disease, I recently received quite a bit of flak from the local commentariat for reporting that Inui is a reincarnation of all human malice that has come before. The criticism I received is surprising because I was merely pointing out what is generally accepted, that Inui accuses me of being a liar. The only proven liar around here, however, is Inui. Only a die-hard liar like Inui could claim that his actions are intelligent, commonsensical, and entirely consonant with the views of ordinary people. The truth, in case you haven't already figured it out, is that he has indicated that if we don't let him play fast and loose with the truth then he'll be forced to lead people towards iniquity and sin. That's like putting rabid attack dogs in silk suits. In other words, Inui has issued us a thinly veiled threat that's intended primarily to scare us away from the realization that implying that there should be publicly financed centers of quislingism is no different from implying that unfounded attacks on character, loads of hyperbole, and fallacious information are the best way to make a point. Both statements are ludicrous.

There is no place in this country where we are safe from Inui's trucklers, no place where we are not targeted for hatred and attack. No doubt, Inui has really pulled a fast one this time. But Inui says that he has answers to everything. That's his unvarying story, and it's a lie: an extremely namby-pamby and apolaustic lie. Unfortunately, it's a lie that is accepted unquestioningly, uncritically, by Inui's compeers.

Inui's faculty for deception is so far above anyone else's, it really must be considered different in kind as well as in degree. Inui finds it convenient to blame all of society's woes on infantile provincials. Doing so fits with the rest of his populist sloganeering and takes less intellectual effort than investigating the structural factors and material practices that may in fact be the true reason that you should check out some of the things Inui is saying about Tartuffism. The litany of inaccuracies, half-truths, made-up "facts", and downright falsehoods will shock you. And I won't even bother mentioning that I am indisputably worried about the minacious tone Inui takes whenever he announces his latest plans to base racial definitions on lineage, phrenological characteristics, skin hue, and religion. If you don't believe me, see for yourself. I treasure discourse and debate. And that's the honest truth.

[Thor Odinson]

Just become master crammer like I do

Estimate time needed to do your work, we call this parameter t

Do your work exactly at t available hours (sleep is not an available hour, other classes may or may not be an available hours depending on your give-a-shit-level and/or multitasking skills) prior to your assignment being due

For example I estimate 3 hours to do my math homework (it's really long ok) so I do it in the 3 free hours I have before class

Works wonders

(actually 3 hours is really short compared to most of my other homeworks

Those take up days because > programming operating systems and games)

Edited November 26, 2013 by Thor Odinson