How to fight these evils? Is a tendency towards them a character trait that one CAN get rid of or is being habitually late and procrastinating something that is rooted so deeply in the personality of a person that it will happen again and again, no matter what?
SJC- if you're talking about yourself here, then congratulations, you're the first German I've ever met in my life who runs late. If you're talking about somebody else, cut them some slack!! I know it may be a federal offense in Germany to be 5 minutes late, but not everywhere!!
That's my problem, for plenty of people I meet here, I AM the first German they've ever met who runs late! I should move to Mexico or Italy or something - no offense to anyone there.
in the thick of thin things I get bogged down trying to do too much end up doing too little It is the everyday struggle Rocket River
Interesting topic. It's been bugging me too. It seems like the human being is born with a "shoot myself in the foot" gene. When even though you know better, you still keep doing stupid things, and taking chances you shouldn't take. For most of us, it's confined to running late, speeding, slacking off at work, and putting off things that aren't immediately due. And most of us manage to put it all together when it counts. But some people don't. I have students who take that way too far and end up flunking out of school, even though they demonstrate at least a little bit of desire not to. And, trust me, we would help them if they ever came and got the help. Lack of self-discipline? Maybe. I just wonder how much is a choice, and how much is ingrained in us. It seems like no matter how much I say, "I'm going to get up earlier" and "I'm going to leave for work earlier so I don't have to worry", they don't end up happening. It's always one thing or another that I find to fill the time with. And things like "I'm going to keep my house neat" or "I'm going to work on this a little bit at a time so I won't have to put it together at the last minute" - forget about it. They definitely don't happen. On the other hand, some of you are probably those compulsive type A personalities who can't stand a hair out of place. You get up early, go to bed early, and can't stand even seeing a stack of papers on someone's desk or the odd piece of trash here or there. You're probably driven and very successful. I wonder if you ever loosen up and truly enjoy yourself. On the other hand, with my basic slacker/procrastinator personality, it's amazing that I've managed some professional success. I usually know when to get serious, but I sure don't want to get serious before then.
Funny you would start this thread with this topic SJC. I was going to do the exact same thing the other day. I hate myself for procrastinating. It really does come back to bite me in the a**. A couple of days ago I had to do about 3 weeks of math homework in one night.....I hate myself.
I procrastinate, but I am never late. I cannot stand being late. But I do put things off a lot of the time, and I think it is entirely a choice because the things I put off are simply things I don't like to do, whether it be calling someone (I don't like to bother people) or doing some sort of project or whatever (oftentimes there's a fear of screwing things up that makes me put off doing them). The only way to get me to do these things is for either the right mood to just hit me (which does happen from time to time) or an approaching deadline that forces me to get started even though I don't want to. Unfortunately, I know this is one of the things that's held me back professionally. But I'm never late, so that's something, at least.
Damn, I was late to this thread! Finally made it... I can relax now. (thank goodness) That was a great post, Isabel. I have some of those problems myself. I'm frequently "putting myself in a hole" and starting out late because I want to relax a little longer, maybe drink another cup of coffee, and end up racing around like a lunatic destroying any relaxation I might have gotten. You're not alone, SJC. You have a lot of company.
Solution: 1) Marry a woman who doesn't procrastinate 2) Listen to her b**** for a few years, until you just can't take it any more 3) Succomb to her barrage of jabs, and live by the clock. I also recommend entirely removing caffeine from your diet. For some reason, that has really, really helped improve my punctuality. -- droxford
Worse than my constant procrastination and tardiness, is my tendency to completely forget things. If someone asks me to do something one time, and I don't do it right away, it probably isn't getting done. That's the biggest reason I never did any homework (by myself) in college.
that is me down to the letter. like every night, i tell myself i'm going to go to bed earlier (i usually get to bed about 5:30 or 6 a.m.) and every night i find something to keep me up. i'll just read one more thread on cf.net, oh i'll just watch this music video, oh whoops another one i like is on now, oh now i'll just finish watching this movie on hbo, oh now there's another thread on clutch i want to read, on and on until eventually 6 rolls around and i'm finally just too tired to keep doing it and finally crash. in the morning, if i set my alarm 5 minutes earlier, i just hit the 9 minute snooze one more time and am even later. i've been meaning to organize all the paper and mail in my room for weeks, haven't done it. and homework, God forbid i ever ever start that before the night it's due. which leads me to: or doing some sort of project or whatever (oftentimes there's a fear of screwing things up that makes me put off doing them). The only way to get me to do these things is for either the right mood to just hit me (which does happen from time to time) or an approaching deadline that forces me to get started even though I don't want to. this is also exactly what i do. like i'll have a big paper due. but i'm not quite sure how i wanna start it or quite what i want to say. i have an idea, but nothing set. so for fear of messing it up or doing it wrong and having to go back, i'll just keep putting it off and putting it off. finally, it's 2 a.m. and it's due the next day and i actually have to write it now and them my mind focuses, picks something to go with and off i go and can usually start flying from there. i think it's simply the focus that a deadline provides. left to it's own devices, my brain would rather watch sports or tv or play video games, and while the ideas for a paper might be simmering somewhere in there, i don't wanna be bothered with them until i know i'm actually going to need to do something with them. then deadline pressure comes up and i finally start going. it's even worse with stuff like labs where there are actually right or wrong answers and even more uncertainty. so basically it comes down to not wanting to do something and essentially not even knowing how to function unless that last minute pressure is present. hell, i'm writing this post even though i said i was going to the gym 10 minutes ago. but i just had to find something else to do. but now i will actually leave.
I'm in the same boat. I often procrastinate, but I'm not late, and I hate being late. Sometimes if I sit down to get to work and not procrastinate, it almost feels like I physically can't do it, and I run around to find something else to do. I really don't know why I do this. In the few times where I haven't procrastinated I felt much more relaxed having my work done, but I was still kind of wondering what I missed while I was working. It was as if there was something important I could have been doing by procrastinating, and didn't do it by being timely with my work.
To me, being late (unless it's really, seriously late) just means you were busy and didn't quite allow enough time to get somewhere. I always thought of being 20-30 minutes late as "no respect" but 5 minutes late as "normal; happens to everybody". And that's the one that gets me. I'm hardly ever seriously late. But I'm often a couple of minutes late. And, depending on what people have their watches set to, they could either be thinking "she's almost on time, no big deal" or "she's nearly 5 minutes late, what's going on?" The school where I teach doesn't have clocks in the halls or classrooms, so I have no idea what our "standard time" is. It's also been worse since I moved to this small town. In the city, slightly late was normal. People had things to do, and traffic was unpredictable. Here, if I get somewhere on time, I'm just about the last person there. I just can't get used to being expected to be not only on time, but <i>early</i>. mrpaige and francis 4 prez, you're exactly right - we procrastinate most when we don't really want to do the thing in the first place. Right now, I have a piece of music to be practicing, which I do all the time. Because that's the fun stuff. But the other people in my ensemble either have other music (being music majors) or have a life (which I wouldn't know anything about). So they don't prioritize it as much. On the other hand, I'm giving a quiz in the morning and teaching two lectures, one for the first time. Guess I should get started on it right about now... maybe...
I just procrastinated getting my studying done another 5 minutes by reading this thread.. geez.. I was wondering the same thing the other day... but procrastination is hard to get rid of.. has anyone else ever procrastinated something further by spending time thinking about how next time they aren't going to procrastinate?
BINGO! That's exactly how I feel. I was worse when I was young, but the only procrastination I really have left is what shows up when I have a fear of failure. If I don't know how I'm going to program something, I might procrastinate at work. I'm not good at hanging stuff up on walls, so I put off hanging that painting. The irony is that I'm driven by success, and I feel like crap if I'm just sitting around not accomplishing anything.
