ADD and procrastination

[Paige]

Does anybody have ADD and procrastinate like crazy on things they hate to do? Like the paperwork that is due for my job tomorrow and that I have been avoiding all day? Any words of wisdom? I hate Sundays, because here comes Monday.......

[fidgiegirl]

Welcome to the boards, Paige!! :welcome:

Don't have ADD, but still procrastinate :( Not too many words of wisdom other than to say that as the years go by I realize I don't even derive value from the time I "gain" by not doing something. A small example of a task I procrastinate is folding clothes. I kind of putz around on the computer while avoiding this task. Now, I love SLN, but there are plenty of things I do online that basically don't add a whole lot of value to my life. So if I can stop the putzing long enough to realize that I am indeed engaging in putzing behavior, then I can usually smack myself into gear and go do what needs doing so I can really enjoy the time I'm going to put into whatever other task of my choosing. Plus, I really, really like having the clothes all put away for the week. It stresses me out to have to pick through baskets and racks and whatever to find all the pieces of my day's outfit because I was too procrastinate-y on Sunday to get it done.

Can you make yourself stay late on Friday so you don't even take it home? I can imagine it colored your whole day today :( So sorry to hear it.

[Paige]

Yes, I can stay late. Some people at my job do that and I imagine they have a relaxing weekend. I think I am just so anxious for the weekend to begin I pack my stuff up and think I will do it, but usually I wait till the last minute. There is not much of a payoff for me procrastinating on this, so maybe if I look at it that way it will help. Thanks for your thoughts.

[Maxamillion]

I have a bad problem with procrastination and my depression issues don't help with that at all. One thing that helps me is whatever task I'm dreading doing, I do in small increments. For example, sweeping the floors in the house. I'll sweep the floor in the living room, then go play on the computer for a bit, then sweep the floor in the kitchen, then play on the computer for a bit, then sweep the floor in the office area, then...etc. Takes longer than if you just tackled it all at once, but the job does get done.

Another thing I'll do is try and see how fast I can get something done. Once I get into doing something, it gets easier to keep doing it. I'll also focus on how great it'll feel to finally have it done.

[Rosemary]

I don't really know anyone who doesn't procrastinate in some way.
Things that help me get things done that I don't want to do:
- knowing about how much time it will take. For instance, I hate mopping the upstairs floor, but even scrubbing it on my hands and knees takes only about 30-45 minutes. I can easily spend more time than that avoiding it, but so much nicer to have it done.
- just starting it, not planning to finish task in one sitting. This used to be how I got presentations done at my engineering job. I hated putting them together, but if I made myself sit down and just begin a draft, then it would get done. This works for me with writing tasks, too... just committing to getting a draft done.