Personal stories about how you stopped procrastinating.

September 6, 2007 8:46 AM

Tell me about specific tasks over which you used to procrastinate and how you successfully conquered the beast.

I think I know all the techniques, the "reasons why" and the books: The Now Habit, Getting Things Done, make a list, break things down, practice saying no, turn off the Internet, stop being perfect, set a timer, etc. I'm interested in stories about mundane tasks that you always procrastinated over and exactly how you got yourself to stop. Packing for a trip? Cleaning out the attic? Putting together a bake sale? Making vacation plans? Stuff we leave to the last minute because we just don't feel like doing them.

Not work-related stuff, but life-related stuff.

I know there are other posts on AskMe about how to stop procrastinating that give tips--I'm interested in your personal experiences (and your brilliant solutions) than in general tips.

posted by annabellee to grab bag (13 comments total)

The quick answer is:

Treat it like work. Keep a to-do list, give yourself deadlines, break it down, etc, just like it was work.

At least, that's what I do.
posted by Tomorrowful at 8:51 AM on September 6, 2007

Live alone.
posted by four panels at 8:51 AM on September 6, 2007

In short: I try to distract myself mentally while doing boring chores like laundry, dusting, raking leaves, misc. yard work, etc. My general approach is to find interesting podcasts to listen to (plug for the Metafilter podcast), throw on the headphones, and get to work. I tend to like spoken-word podcasts rather than music while I'm doing "physical" work, and (of all things) classical music when I'm doing "cerebral" work. Of course, YMMV.

It's been working pretty well for a couple of years now.
posted by Wild_Eep at 8:57 AM on September 6, 2007

I just tried setting a cooking timer for myself and it worked pretty well. I never want to do anything right when I get home from work, but that typically ends up lasting the rest of the evening as well. The other day, I set a timer to go off in 45 minutes from when I got home so that I'd remember to start my laundry. I got to watch an entire show from my DVR, and still got a load of wash done. Also set the timer so that I'd remember to put the laundry into the dryer :)
posted by odi.et.amo at 8:58 AM on September 6, 2007

I think it's as simple as: always be doing some task. If that's the case, then even if you choose tasks based on which sound the least onerus at the time, they will all eventually get done. Some days, bill paying really sounds not-unpleasant, compared with organizing the cardboard in the garage for a dump-run. But then on a sunny day when calling the credit card company seems unbearable, that cardboard task is just the thing.

I make it a little more obvious by keeping lists, so I don't have far to look to determine what to do next. Multitasking makes it less boring -- I have one specialty list for things to do while on the phone (ironing, folding, watering plants, emptying dishwasher).

Also, if procrastinating doesn't create real problems in your life, then maybe it's not an issue? I find it impossible to pack for a trip until the last minute. I need to use the stuff until I leave. I will forget stuff if I don't pack in a particular systematic way on departure day. The penalty for that habit is that I'm tired on the plane when the flight is early, and I can live with that -- so I don't waste any additional time worrying about being a packing-procrastinator. Whereas waiting too long to book the flight costs me money I don't have, so that's something that goes on the list and gets done.
posted by xo at 9:18 AM on September 6, 2007 [2 favorites]

What Tomorrowful and xo said.
posted by infinitewindow at 9:31 AM on September 6, 2007

Figuring out why I was procrastinating for each task, grouping the reasons together and countering them, knowingly.

Why don't I feel like doing the laundry? Because it's piled everywhere. Okay, make one big pile, cashman, then you can stand in one place and sort through it.

Why don't I feel like doing the dishes? Because they're gross and everywhere. Make a sink of water, hold your nose, and throw them all in there, cashman.

Why don't I feel like packing?

..etc

But perhaps your reasons are more formidable. When I list my reasons, my mind is like "well that's not all that bad, we can get past that." But if I leave it an amorphous blob like the reason I don't want to do all the tasks is the same, I just don't do anything, literally. I sit on the couch and watch TV.
posted by cashman at 9:53 AM on September 6, 2007

If you think about the whole project, it's always too much. Whenever you hear some self-doubt in your mind, stop, and try to break stuff down into tiny, tiny parts.

Yeah, you have to pack for that 3-week long trip and it'll take forever, but first, let's just get our suitcase. Done. Now let's just look at what socks you'd need to bring. Done.

And so on and so on. Break stuff into tiny easy manageable parts and try not to think about the big overreaching project until you're done with all the small parts that make it up.
posted by mathowie at 10:24 AM on September 6, 2007

Alcohol.
posted by yomimono at 11:24 AM on September 6, 2007

Amy Dacynzn wrote a really good case about budgeting time and goals in the Tightwad Gazette. Procrastination is all relative depending on your goals and needs. Cleaning out your closet is a lot more important in a studio apartment than a three bedroom house with walk-in closets.

I realized that the things that I procrastinated were the ones that I valued/liked least, but needed to be done. I wound up making a matrix listing all the things I had to do, and liked to do, and wasn't doing, then rated them on a 1-5 scale of:

- healthfulness
- enjoyableness
- expense
- time sink (how long and continuous)
- externalities (getting other people involved, buying a drill, having to deal with my mom, whatever)
- educational/intellectual stimulation
-social life

Looking at the scores made me re-evaluate the stuff I had to do, stop feeling guilty about what I didn't do, and made my lifestyle a series of active choices. I still don't do stuff, but I know why, understand the consequences, and don't worry about it.
posted by beezy at 12:40 PM on September 6, 2007

Planning our wedding helped to break me of most of the life-related procrastinations, because it taught me the real value of good lists, a realistic timeline and breaking work down into steps. We had a destination wedding, so a lot of things were planned/coordinated from a distance - that helped me start to get over my weird anxiety about making "necessary" phone calls. (If anyone can explain that to me, it'd be great - it's like pulling teeth to make a simple phone call to schedule a doctor's appointment - I will dread the phone call more than the actual appointment.)

I will make a list of housework-type things during a 10 minute break at work, then in the evenings I will set a timer for 15 minutes at a crack and do as much as I can in each room until the timer goes off. I can plan an impromptu party in no time and with very little sweat. I can stay on top of the kid and his freshman year schedule, and I can pack for a week-long trip to Europe in a half hour.
posted by ersatzkat at 12:45 PM on September 6, 2007

These are really great--it seems the "breaking it down" and "making lists" tacks are really the most popular (and effective). I think ersatzkat's aversion to making phone calls is pretty common.

What kind of "self-talk" do you use to get yourself to do those things that seem like they should be simple but somehow aren't? Why does my sister wait until the last second to make a dinner reservation for her anniversary when she knows where she wants to go and when? She's well aware that she risks not getting the reservation by waiting so long, but she procrastinates anyway.
posted by annabellee at 3:14 PM on September 6, 2007

My self-talk honestly goes something like this: "Oh, for fuck's sake Katrina, just fucking pick up the phone already!!" You know, paraphrasing.
posted by ersatzkat at 3:37 PM on September 6, 2007