Procrastination. Help!

swampy1961 I hope your DH is doing his own packing for the holiday.

RosieandherMaw

Item 1 on my list would be
1 Make Coffee
Next would be
2 Make list
Then I could cross both off, sit back and drink my coffee

Nice one!

Scribbles - love it!!!!

I ask myself what I fear about doing whatever it is, and when I know, often it becomes easier to act, but if not, I agree with myself to do for instance 5 or ten minutes. Once started it turns out to be much easier to keep going. i am right now procrastinating about something! But will get going after sending this!

Tomorrow? Not here. For me it is next week.
Am I alone?

I have a list, not dated, which I mostly ignore and sometimes finds myself doing other things that aren't on the list.
So it's good if something is done, at least. 😺

I always make my bed at some point, after letting it air, so there's that achievement. Yay, me!

Soooo great that there are fellow sufferers.
I procrastinate and then feel guilty about not having done things thereby adding anxiety to the process.

I think my age has made it worse. I don't mean to be morbid, but I keep thinking that if I keep doing nothing then one day I'll be nearly dead and I still won't have done anything.
One of my postponed tasks was reading something important that I have put off for two days.
I eventually did it about an hour ago.

Took me about 30 seconds.......😒😒😒

Son & family coming from NZ to stay soon. Cleaned the spare room & made up bed yesterday, had carpets cleaned today and while that was being done I scrubbed the bathroom tiles - the grout is a different colour! I'd been waiting for a reason to do all that for at least 2 years. Just needed a bit of motivation - and I cleaned the windows last week. Oh my, I feel a bit queer now.

Procrastination is the word that's felled me at many a job interview in years gone by.
When an interviewer would ask one of those standard interview questions, ie: "and what do you consider to be your worst fault?", dumbo moi would respond with "oh, procrastination!"

Thus was the end of more job chances than I could count. Talk about naive......

Sago

So far today I have made a batch of mackerel pate, washed all the garden cushions, dried and replaced them, mastered a very complicated sauce for tonight’s dinner.

After lunch I’m going to hoover then Scotchguard the stair carpet, sweep leaves and clean the recycling crates.

Hopefully nothing will come between me and a lovely glass of lager at 6.00pm

Having just moved house my list is long plus there is novelty value.

Having read all that I need a lie down!

Yes! This is also me! I have had diagnosed ADHD for many years, and finally after much effort with the GP (and then giving up) I paid stupid money to get medication privately. I can say that it has helped a lot, but not every day and I find myself falling back into old procrastination habits. I do find that a deadline creates motivation and since my daughter is coming from America in 10 days time, I daresay much will be accomplished between now and then!

I hate it! My stomach churns when I’m on the verge of actually making that move to do whatever it is - even when it’s something I enjoy. What’s wrong?

I am basically a lazy person with a niggling conscience. I will be out in the garden all day but with housework, well, tomorrow will do.

My OH is worse than me, whenever I ask him to do something I mouth it as he says ‘Yes of course, I’ll do it tomorrow.’ Alas tomorrow rarely comes, needs at least ten repeat requests. But he is a nice bloke so I put up with him!

So far today I have made a batch of mackerel pate, washed all the garden cushions, dried and replaced them, mastered a very complicated sauce for tonight’s dinner.

After lunch I’m going to hoover then Scotchguard the stair carpet, sweep leaves and clean the recycling crates.

Hopefully nothing will come between me and a lovely glass of lager at 6.00pm

Having just moved house my list is long plus there is novelty value.

Lists so I know I won't forget, but I don't feel obliged to do them until crucial time to act.

I tend to be "doing it when I want not someone bossing me so its just as well I live alone, nowadays the internet is a door to so many ways of being with people and Zoom a good compromise as one can dip in and out.

Since I get tired easily this all suits. I have nice neighbour I think would love coffee meets now and then, up my sleeve. Family is too far away for meet ups.

I know there's lots I should be getting on with but I've got an awfully good book on the go so...

I used to procrastinate often. Now I keep putting it off.

@RosieandherMaw I am guilty of procrastination but can't tell if it is because of enforced retirement after redundancy three years ago or going to the other extreme of doing something or anything but feeling incredibly tense or stressed while doing so.
I do help out with childcare and the school runs and have met up with other grandparents while doing so which helped alleviate the loneliness I was feeling. I loved my job and thought I would see my days out to official retirement and be okay with that. Even though I don't have a huge circle of friends, work colleagues filled the gap of companionship and friendship which I miss so much now and I hated lockdown for this enforced separation.
DH is officially retired and loving his retirement pottering about - he is quite happy - he's not too concerned that he has very few friends as his working life was spent out on the road or in jobs where he was on his own. His retirement is an extension of that life and he is content with that.
Whereas I feel a bit lost and keep trying to find the motivation to get up and do something and then feel guilty when yet another hour or two has slid by without me doing anything tangible.
We are away on holiday this weekend and I can't find the energy to get to grips with packing as we have GCs staying overnight tonight which means everything sorted (which isn't much!) to this point now needs to be temporarily packed so they have a bed to sleep in! I still need to sort currency out but have at least printed off paperwork to do with the holiday. But at times I could just sack the holiday and just not bother going!! I'm hoping I'll feel differently once we are en route!
The house needs a good clean before we go and I'm sat here on my laptop!! I'm also decluttering and that's another area for procrastination - even when I do sort stuff - DH is quietly swiping some of it - just in case!! He hasn't needed it in years and has forgotten it was even in the house but won't let it go!

I make a list little every day, (not always on paper, just in my head often) of things to do other than the normal day's housework. If I can achieve just one thing on the list then I'm content. Yesterday I took a bag of clothes to the recycling bin. Today I've tidied a drawer in the kitchen.
I must add that I often fail and Netflix etc wins

Oh me too! If I have a deadline for something and bags of time between I always leave it till the last minute. Why I ask? It is not because I don't want to do it or dislike it or am dreading it.... but I kick the can down the toad every time.
I might be a bit too old to change now!

I don't know what has happened to me recently but I am the opposite - all those jobs I have been thinking about for years are getting done! Maybe because I know I am not getting any younger!

The dismal old staircase has been renovated, the hall painted and now awaiting new carpet.
The kitchen and living room are being decorated.
I am finally ordering a mirror for the fence in my garden so I can view it from the sitting room.
Last week when the crab apple tree dropped black bits on my white washing I decided it had to go and yesterday it was done - it is now just a stump!
I have emptied the loft and made space in the garage for the car!

If I didn't know better I would think I was about to give birth.

I am just hoping I don't run out of steam!

Oh no, I am so opposite. If I don't have a whole list of things to do tomorrow I just waste the day. As I get into bed I make a mental note of why I need to get up early usually starting the day with a walk where I will sort my head out. I then have 5 things to do such as change the bed, write that letter, do the ironing, do that mending job, pull a few weeds, make that phone call. If I don't do this I will feel miserable as I waste the day doing nothing.

Feel soooo much better after reading all these posts from fellow procrastinators … I am not alone

Why do something today, if you can put it off til tomorrow - that’s my motto

Yep....I'm in that club it seems - darn it!

I think, in my case, that it probably started when I moved here and there was so much work to do on renovating the house (translation = finding and supervising tradies to do it). Add all the neighbour problems I've had (boiling down to one intransigent little biddy next door started it - who had wanted one of her friends to buy my house and told me so!). Dealing with those two things took a lot of time away that I had planned on using more constructively than dealing with getting tradies and checking out the law (to deal with the neighbours).

Then there was Lockdown and that didnt help a bit - ie by the time I'd thought "It's STILL on...." and reached for another glass of wine. I was still "out and about" - but social life was a problem for the first few months.

Also I guess there was an element of not wanting to impose any routine upon myself - because I'd been born into an armed forces family - and so knew ALL about routine and about houses being kept immaculately clean.

I'm trying to find ways to manoeuvre myself into keeping up with necessary stuff etc. My latest idea is imposing a minimal amount of routine on myself and I've made up a rolling housework programme - which is designed to get me doing between 30-60 minutes of housework daily, eg:

Monday - half the kitchen "bits and bobs" (other half to be done the following week)
Tuesday - hall and sitting room floor
Wednesday - kitchen floor
Thursday - bathroom floor
Friday- bedroom and study floors
Saturday - change bed/any ironing
Sunday - bathroom apart from floor.

That should cover a 2 bedroom/1 bathroom/1 kitchen/1 reception room house.

Yep....tried again at the "timetable" in the last week and there was some neighbour trouble kicking-off again (ie that episode of spraying weedkiller near my organic food I'm growing to eat). Cue for research on what I can do to stop it happening again/how to deal with it/sitting around generally feeling very upset that there's neighbour hassle again and the energy to "live my life" draining away again...

That's before I think "Is that health problem STILL there - and so I'm having to deal with it. Yep...another health problem to deal with too. Summat else healthwise disturbed last nights sleep....". Grrrr... Cue for my body getting another lecture from me on it needs to behave itself better than that and stop disturbing me....

My day…

Breakfast time
Coffee time
Lunch time
Coffee time
Wine time
Tea time
Bed time and repeat!

That’s what I love about retirement!