What I Learned About Procrastination

[Leslie Rouder]

Last month, I shared my frustration with my ongoing procrastination in getting started on my monthly newsletter.  As a result, I said that I would work on the next newsletter for 30 minutes each day and promised to report back to you on how I did.  In keeping my promise,  I wrote the following article; 

Being held accountable REALLY DOES work. I definitely made more of an effort to spend time on the planning and preparation of this month's Newsletter, due to my need to keep my promise of reporting back to you.  However, I did not spend 30 minutes each day, as originally planned and I made a point of noticing why and how that happened. Here's what I discovered. I noticed that once I got started it was not a good idea to stop after only 30 minutes due to my ongoing difficulty   transitioning both in and out, while requiring sustained mental effort, planning and forethought.  As many of us know, not exactly an "ADD- user- friendly- activity. "  However, what I did realize was that there were several tasks that I could easily transition in and out of in 30 minutes on a daily basis that were more appropriate for scheduling in this way.  These tasks were far more automatic and required a lot less organization and thought, such as sorting through the mail on automatic pilot.  

So, in conclusion, here's what I learned about  procrastination and how this might be helpful to some of you;   

• I discovered that,  for me, tasks requiring a lot of planning, organization and forethought are best scheduled for longer than a 30 minute window of time.  It felt like I needed about a 2 hour block of time at least twice per month.   I would suggest noticing what kind of tasks are well suited for short bursts of energy and time frames for you, while being aware of those tasks that require longer blocks of time for sustained mental effort.  Pay attention to the time of day that you have the most energy for those tasks that require sustained mental focus and make sure to block those times off your calendar so that it becomes a regular part of your weekly or monthly schedule.
• Consciously notice the kinds of obstacles that get in your way.  Perhaps it's background noise, or the phone ringing, (I disconnect my phones when working ) or interruptions by children, family, pets, or friends.  Try to have a "do not disturb zone" set up so that when you go to this place, no one interrupts you and you can turn off any distracting sounds. It may mean leaving your home to go to a library, park, or quiet area.  Or you may be one of those individuals that do better with white noise or the background sound of a TV going.  So pay close attention to what works for you.
• Since the accountability piece really did keep me conscious of what I needed to do, as well as what was and wasn't working for me, I would highly recommend incorporating a  "reporting system" into your life.  Although having a coach is an ideal way to do this, it can be a friend or business partner that helps keep you on track.  
• Write your goal on paper and review the outcome with your coach or "accountability person" on a regular basis so that you can tweak your action steps, if necessary.

I hope my observations about my obstacles around procrastination were helpful to you in developing your own action plan around these kinds of tasks. Perhaps you have some additional ideas that have helped you to overcome your issues with procrastination that you might want to share.  If so, please let me know, as I would love to hear from you.  

For more help with ADHD, sign up for my free newsletter on my website at www.addadults.net.

 

[Leslie Rouder]

Hi Daniel,

I have to agree that creating the emoitional states that we want is not always easy.  Watch what Tony Robbins does in his seminars and you will see an expert at doing this.  How else could he get so many folks to walk on fire?  I do believe there are ways we can all change our physiology through use of our minds, breath and body.  Sometimes when I feel unproductive I spend a few minutes in meditation, or using cleansing breath or by rigorous short bursts of exercise to shift the energy in my body.  And I agree that music can often help.  I think we need to try a variety of different things to see what works for us as individuals because we are all so different.  Mood domination is a killer and I am glad to hear that you have found ways to shift that for yourself as well.  It sounds like you are mostly aware, but that your mind often drifts into daydreaming.  I would ask that you both observe what the daydreaming is providing for you at that moment (secondary gain) and also notice how quickly you can bring yourself back to the moment and task at hand.  Part of that may be the way your brain is wired, some may be habit and some may be a coping mechanism that allows you to procrastinate.  Getting conscious about it all sure can help.  I love that you are able to commit to doing a task on your chore list when you become conscious that you have perhaps drifted off, but your language of "punishing yourself" concerns me in that it creates a negative association around doing that task.  Why not reward yourself for getting back to your chores and skip the idea of "punishment" all together? 

Thanks again, Daniel for sharing your experience.  It was great chatting with you!

Leslie

[doug puryear]

leslie - agreed, we can do it!   but we are likely to have a slip and its good to plan ahead for that.  and  as you say, not to give up or get down on ourself, just say ' oh, that was a slip" get back on track.

thanks

doug

[Daniel Bustamante]

Hi Leslie,  I liked your idea of creating “the emotional state that you wanted when you wanted it, so that you were in total control of it all”.  I find it very important.  However, in my eyes, creating such state is the biggest challenge here. It’s not easy at all. ( perhaps partly due to our own human nature). If it were easy, I wouldn’t be currently finishing writing Christmas letters that I meant to send last year for example.

 

Anyway, just wanted to add that every time I wasn’t in the mood to act last month, I realized that there were several small things that helped me increase my willingness to act. Talking to people I care about on the phone was one of them.  Another one was listening to music.  “New Sensation” by INXS helped me get started in the mornings. “comme on eillen” always helps.

 

On the other hand, I’ve noticed much more difficulty in completing projects depending on me from start-to-finish than in those whose completion depended on others. Similarly, and with the exception of the Christmas letter example. I’ve also noticed more difficulty in starting a project than in completing it, which is maybe not the usual situation. Daydreaming is killing me. If  being a “daydreamer” were a job, I would be a millionaire.  I’m trying to tackle this problem by linking it to specific action items related to housework. Yes, housework. Every time my mind is tempted to recreate imaginary situations I punish myself by immediately committing to whatever’s on my to-do-chores-list ( clean the bathroom, take out the garbage, wash windows, etc). I still having trouble focusing but at least the household is clean all the time.

[Leslie Rouder]

Well, true, Doug that we are not robots and we sometimes "slip", as you mentioned, but I think that if we have the accountability piece in place, and continue to work on developing patterns of behavior that become habits we can still create the outcomes that we are striving for.  The key in many ways is to allow ourselves the ability to be somewhat flexible, let go of the idea of perfection and live in the grey a bit.  (Sometimes we forget that life is not black or white or all or nothing. ) If we slip up, we can let go of our need for perfection , let go of negative self talk and continue to develop those habits that create success.   Good point, as always Doug. 

[doug puryear]

very good strategies and tips, thank you to leslie and daniel

now let me be a cynic- one of the principles of human life - when we finally find something that works, the next thing we do is to stop doing it.  So i might suggest that like in AA you make a plan for how to handle a slip, and how to get back on track.

good luck

doug

[Leslie Rouder]

Wow, Daniel.  I'm impressed with your resolve around the internet.  I can only imagine the amount of time and energy that could potentially be freed up by limiting your internet access from home.  In fact, the word FREE comes to my mind in a really big way! :)

I love the idea of being conscious of your emotional states and using them to work for you instead of them using you to work against yourself.  The next place that I would love to see you go with this kind of awareness, is to be able to create the emotional state that you wanted when you wanted it, so that you were in total control of it all.  Imagine that!

Thanks so much for sharing.  I loved hearing your practice tips.

Leslie   

[Daniel Bustamante]

Good advice. Last week I put into practice some tips that worked for me:

 No internet at home at all.   I can't find any other source of distraction more significant than internet...(well..and the opposite sex if you're single..but that's another subject)  In my case, youtube was taking a lot of my time, not anymore. No facebook account anymore either. (don't miss it ). I now check email only ONCE a day. This way, I'm forced to plan my "Internet time" ahead. For example: the night before accessing internet at my local library, I write all the emails that'll be sent the next day on a word document. Once at the library, I only copy and paste those messages.  Result? : 10 emails sent in 5 minutes. 

I also stopped going to the gym in the morning because I felt more distracted throughout the day and didn't finish any task at all. Instead, I hit the gym before going to bed so it doesn't affect my concentration (or what's left about it..haha). I used to think exercising in the morning would help me be more focused and productive. It did at some point, but not anymore.

But what has helped me the most is to divide daily activities and associate them to specific emotional states. Example: when I'm very happy I try to focus on the activities that require more energy and effort of me.  When I'm sad, I try to work on the activities that I A. generally don't dislike , B. don't require a lot of concentration, C. takes less than 10 minutes to complete.

[Leslie Rouder]

Hi Dana, 

Thanks for your thoughts and comments.  I must agree that putting goals in writing is very helpful for most people and makes them a lot more concrete.  I know there has been much research on this that also backs this and have found it helpful for myself as well.  As far as meds helping, I know that when they do, they really do... so thanks for sharing that part of your experience as well.  It's always good to hear what is working for others.  

[Dana]

Thank you for sharing your observations which I know will be very helpful... and I'm so glad to hear that the accountability trick really works! 

Just to add a comment about your last point, I have definitely found writing goals down to be helpful, and then checking them off as they get done.  I can't take credit for that discovery as a therapist actually helped me figure that one out...but, in any case, it feels good to look down periodically and see what has been accomplished.  Personally I am a very visual learner so maybe I just need to see things in plain print.  I'm thinking I probably just need visual cues to help things sink in and be able to effectively figure out what still needs to be done.  When there is a clearly organized and plainly written plan in place I do tend to do better (bullet points are awesome!  in fact if life consisted of a series of bullet points I think I could really go places, oh buddy, don't even try to hold me back then...)

Okay, and now back to the subject...although I know that meds aren't for everyone, I can definitely say that for me, if I forget doses of Adderall (which is not uncommon for me when it's dosed 3 times daily), my ability to make any use of time effectively is out the window.  In fact, even trying to push through the distractibility and disorganization leads to a lot of frustration and overwhelm that I know could be avoided if I just remember to take the darn thing.  So, to sum that up, I do tend to procrastinate less while medicated.  Or maybe put another way, I do try to avoid pain at all costs, and sometimes (most times?), without some external help, thinking is painful :)

So, I'm not sure if any of my above thoughts were new, or helpful even, but I thought I would share them just in case...  

Dana

[Leslie Rouder]

Great point, Doug and VERY TRUE that once you've gotten started, you often do keep going beyond the 30 minutes.