I don't know about the rest of you, but I put off taking care of certain things for reasons I don't understand! I have clinical documents I need to finish and submit for school and I hold onto them forever before I submit them. It is awful and causes so much anxiety I wish I could understand why I do it, and how to stop doing it!

Any suggestions? I am actually doing some of it today but have one more semester starting next week and I want to finish everything in a timely manner!!!!

For my ex-boss, I used to break up briefs, responses to NASD complaints etc. that he would have to prepare and diary the various arguments on the calendar as to when he had to start and complete each argument. But it only works if you obey the calendar reminder. Thankfully that boss obeyed the calendar.

Now that I'm not working, I have a calendar that has the whole month in two pages, followed by 6 daily pages of the month on every two pages after that. So I can mark something on the monthly calendar, then follow it up in more detail on the daily pages if I desire.

Good luck and I'm sure you will work this out.

[This Message was Edited on 10/19/2009]

flowergrl,

Don't feel bad I am the worst procrastinator out there. You should see my bill desk, I wait til the absolute last minute why I don't know because the money is there, only sometimes not. I wait til last minute to any correspondence. I am so bad and I don't know what to do about it either.

I am the Queen Procrastinator...and not proud of it;)

It's a tough habit to break. I've gotten so much worse since I've been sick w FM/CFS/Depr...it really bothers me, but I still can't seem to break the cycle.

I know I tend to over-think things and turn them into huge monsters in my mind until I'm totally overwhelmed and frozen, unable to do anything.

I'm in the midst of such a mess here, (I've had the flu or something the past 10 days on top of dds) I don't know where to start, or how to feel like I ever accomplish anything. Discouraged and frustrated, feeling bad about myself, the list goes on and on.

Suggestions anyone? Lists always seem to backfire on me, I feel like a failure at the end of the day...never pleased with anything about me. Grrr.

I have got to try to push through these past 9 weeks and get everything in order so I can graduate. I am going to try and just do a little paper work and studying every day so this doesn't happen again! lol

I can certainly relate. Seems like I've gotten much worse lately. I'm good at work because I have to be. So it must be a "have to be" situation I guess.

I am also a person who is good at deadlines too though. I always do end up getting things done, even though it may be at the last minute.

I try to remind myself how GREAT it feels to accomplish even a small task that I've been putting off, even going through that darn stack of papers that sits on my counter forEVER.
I guess what I feel is really important I do, and what I don't think is that important I don't. I used to think more things were important I guess.

Break things up into tiny tasks. For instance, if I thought of all of the 'behind the scenes" things that needed to be done in my house, I'd probably faint, i.e. cleaning out bathroom cupboards, drawers, putting away summer clothes, dusting every single wood blind I have in my house (hate that), so I try to pick one thing to do one day - it may only be one day once a month if that's all I can handle. Sometimes I'll just sit on my bathroom floor and go through my bathroom cupboards, toss out all of my old shampoos etc, then I find myself going through drawers, then wiping them, then wanting to suddenly clean my closet... it starts to feel good.

I guess when it's by choice it's not so bad.
I lack motivation I guess. That and energy.
Am I any help at all? LOL. Probably not, except to say, that I'm a procrastinator too.
I walk by the same piles of things to do and say outloud "oh I don't want to do that". How bad is that???

When I DO tackle something, it feels SOOOOOO good!