Why do you procrastinate?

[Lateralus]

When I do, it's because I really dislike the task I have to do.

I've never enjoyed writing, so I'm not very good at it, at least according to my own standards. It's the activity I've put off more than any other. This might be a negative feedback loop.

 

[FDG]

I'm sure you realize that this logic is type specific. Mine is more like "I don't like to do 75% of all the things there are to do, so if I do anything, I'm bound to have to do something I don't want to do. I'm going to think for a while."

Yeah, I don't think that everybody thinks like me on the matter - nor I think my way of thinking is particularly sound (it could be argued that I waste a lot of resources and time that way).

 

[FDG]

One real plus to procrastinators: every minute spent doing something we want to do as opposed to something we're forced to do is good, no matter where it comes from, given that we all die.

 

[garbage]

I don't know if "not having time to do things" or "being too tired to do something" counts as procrastination.

I know that I and others tend to use those as excuses--consciously or subconsciously--to procrastinate or just not do something.. when, really, if it were a priority over some other activity, we'd make the time.

That's not to say that it should be a priority necessarily because we're putting it off. I know that I'd like to, say, install a screen door on my front entrance eventually, but I haven't made steps to do it. Right now, I would prioritize watching TV or working or something else over it.. just because it doesn't need to be done right now.

I really dislike working under pressure. I actually work very fast usually, however when I am under pressure I go slower.

i think i work better under pressure when i don't have time to be wishy washy...the more time i have the more i'll get caught up in the details and drive myself nuts.

Not that this is the only reason.. but I'd venture to say that some (maybe P's?) handle "crisis situations" like reaching deadlines better than others and so don't see the need to handle tasks as soon as they come up, while some (maybe J's?) don't and so want to get tasks out of the way. It's all about the motivation.. some aren't motivated until near the deadline maybe because they feel that they can improvise, and some are motivated at the beginning so that they can plan their approach. Although.. with the latter group, if a plan doesn't seem to form in their minds, they might get discouraged from starting at all, so they'd also procrastinate..

Ah, subjectivity. We could all chalk our habits up to just being a function of our own viewpoints and leave it at that, until the moment that we all have to start working together and find ourselves driving each other insane..

 

[FDG]

I know that I and others tend to use those as excuses--consciously or subconsciously--to procrastinate or just not do something.. when, really, if it were a priority over some other activity, we'd make the time.

I don't know...if I really wanted to, I could just work 4 nights and finish everything (basically, my work never finishes in certain moments of time, given that I translate - I have 10 jobs in line that I have to do for the 15th of December, for example), however that would probably lower my productivity during the next days given that I'll be more tired. It's an optimization problem without an easy solution.

 

[Jack Flak]

I don't know...if I really wanted to, I could just work 4 nights and finish everything (basically, my work never finishes in certain moments of time, given that I translate - I have 10 jobs in line that I have to do for the 15th of December, for example), however that would probably lower my productivity during the next days given that I'll be more tired. It's an optimization problem without an easy solution.

I'm expert at planning for others, if you need any help.

 

[Lady_X]

^^ me too...i'm great at figuring out other people's lives!

 

[FDG]

I'm expert at planning for others, if you need any help.

Ahah, thank you but I have managed thru similar situations without too much trouble...my point was more like, it's not like if you have to build an home, then not building it all at once is considered as procrastination...or not?

 

[Jack Flak]

Ahah, thank you but I have managed thru similar situations without too much trouble...my point was more like, it's not like if you have to build an home, then not building it all at once is considered as procrastination...or not?

Is that a rhetorical question? Because I have all the answers, I just prefer to do nothing about them.

 

[The Ü™]

I procrastinate out of fear of change, fear of losing control of myself, or fear of failing.

Most of my procrastination habits are against sensory activities -- the getting-up-and-just-doing-it-without-a-preconceived-plan part.

 

[ptgatsby]

When you rationalize a decision, you are constructing a logical justification. Conditioned responses have no logical justification from the subject's perspective. They are reflexes, reactions. This makes them irrational because they are not arrived at through a conscious decision making process.

How do you tell the difference? Give me a rational choice you have made that could only come from the full fledged analytical and pre-binding conclusion that a rational choice would be. I'm still hunting for one.

We procrastinate, in short, because we have not gotten the prompts that would make us act (and on the other side, because we may have gotten prompts that would prompt behavior). In the simplest terms, negative conditioning for acting leads to a lack of acting. And perceived negative feedback for simulating action.

 

[Skyward]

For me, procrastination is based off of the work more than the time I have to do it. It also depends on if I feel I can get the job done in the time-period given. I also don't like to leave a part of the job hanging and would rather finish early with things feeling 'settled' (Though the whole job is incomplete) than have a certain part of it only partially finished.

I work better with my own internal standards than with someone else's. It's better that they give what I need to do and the time-frame to do it in. Besides that, its harder for me to know what the person is expecting. That's when perfectionism sets in.

On the flipside, if I dont like what theyre expecting (Ie it seems frivolous or wasted effort) I wont do it. Or if I HAVE to, I procrastinate until I 'feel up to the [droll] task.'

 

[millerm277]

I procrastinate because I don't feel like doing something, so I put it off, until the last possible time to do it. Then I work hard thanks to the deadline, and get it done in 1/10th of the time it would have taken me otherwise, because I would have gotten bored/annoyed and stopped doing it if the deadline wasn't immediate. (Some things also just get procrastinated and eventually dropped, like certain school assignments I don't want to do....)

 

[ajblaise]

I procrastinate out of a natural drive to: Maximize time enjoyed and minimize time not enjoyed, with preference given to the present.

 

[garbage]

I don't know...if I really wanted to, I could just work 4 nights and finish everything (basically, my work never finishes in certain moments of time, given that I translate - I have 10 jobs in line that I have to do for the 15th of December, for example), however that would probably lower my productivity during the next days given that I'll be more tired. It's an optimization problem without an easy solution.

Oh yeah, they're not always just excuses.. sometimes I know that I just can't tackle things until I get some sleep, manage my responsibilities and when I'm going to do them, or get myself into the right mindset. But people can put off something relatively important for a long, long time because they don't think they have the time when they could clearly cut out some other obligation or just think about where their time is actually going.

I procrastinate out of a natural drive to: Maximize time enjoyed and minimize time not enjoyed, with preference given to the present.

When I procrastinate, this pretty much describes my motivation, too.

 

[Kanamori]

I'm often waiting til I'm in a good groove to rock something.

 

[Amargith]

In my case, procrastination is due to a) Boring task, b) wrong timing c) low priority, d) extreme fear of how to handle the situation, and thinking of handling it makes me physically nauseous.

And sometimes it helps to postpone it as you'll get a luminous idea on how to solve the situation. Other times...you just keep finding ways to keep from doing it

 

[Geoff]

Partly I'm lazy, partly I enjoy knowing there is something that needs to be done and I'm avoiding it

 

[Salomé]

And sometimes it helps to postpone it as you'll get a luminous idea on how to solve the situation. Other times...you just keep finding ways to keep from doing it

It's true, Ne sometimes just needs time to figure stuff out in the background. Sometimes you need to wait for that Eureka moment - you can't force that with a schedule. Schedules frighten Ne away.

 

[Amargith]

Tell me about it *grin*