Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Does anyone else do this or do I have issues?

106 replies

BoakBackMountain · 23/06/2020 19:06

I have a very important work "thing" I need to do. The deadline is coming up. I could have done it weeks ago. But I absolutely hate doing it and every day I find an excuse not to do it. I put it off and put it off and put it off and then I know I'll end up scrambling around doing it right at the last minute.

In the meantime I'm plowing through loads of stuff that could wait for weeks. Why am I like this?! Surely I should recognise, at the age of 33, that it is better to do the things I don't want to do quickly, to get them out of the way?!

I feel like I have been like this since I was 12 years old. Anyone else?

OP posts:
BearSoFair · 23/06/2020 21:42

Yes! I hate being stressed, it massively triggers my IBS, and yet I bring it on myself by procrastinating and delaying pretty much anything that has a deadline...it drives me mad but I can never seem to stop doing it!

Original poster
BoakBackMountain · 23/06/2020 21:43

I also have a reputation as being an extremely hard worker because I often send emails late at night. When this is in fact due to the fact that I spend most of the working day farting around procrastinating.

OP posts:
Original poster
BoakBackMountain · 23/06/2020 21:43

I think partly it's that I don't enjoy my job, but I loved my degree and I still did it, so can't really claim that as much of an excuse really.

OP posts:
GreenAfternoonTeaMug · 23/06/2020 21:44

I get terrible insomnia due to my worry and anxiety so i often send e-mails in the middle of the night.

Not sure anyone appreciates it though... [ping ping ping ping]

:(

Tigger03 · 23/06/2020 21:50

I’ve found my people. Great under pressure, but the procrastination is off the scale. Also get great feedback at work and seen as a hard worker due to late nights in the office (late nights purely because I spend the whole day putting off tasks...)

No idea why I’m like this, all tips welcomed!

AnnaSW1 · 23/06/2020 21:51

Me too. Still managed to get everything done including a degree in medicine. I perform better if I do things at the last minute. I hate it though.

fascinated · 23/06/2020 21:54

Haha! Are you me?!

fascinated · 23/06/2020 21:55

It’s because I love the Adrenalin rush ;-)

Pollaidh · 23/06/2020 21:57

Are you a perfectionist? If so, this could be self-sabotage. So that if it doesn't turn out as well as you'd like, you tell yourself 'ah, that's because I did it in a couple of days, it was a rush job'.

fascinated · 23/06/2020 21:58

If I do important but nasty task first though I lose all motivation to do anything else and just sit and drink teaforhours,..,

Bluntness100 · 23/06/2020 22:01

I do this and I don’t know why. A good example is my work expenses I put them off and put them off till I am at risk if Amex cancelling my corporate card and me getting into proper trouble, and still,,,i put them off then panic,,

emojisarentwords · 23/06/2020 22:02

Wow I finally belong, what a feeling!

emojisarentwords · 23/06/2020 22:04

I've done over 50% of the procrastinating things mentioned in this thread and I've always felt I was the only one.

Nacreous · 23/06/2020 22:04

I have a natural tendency as a procrastinator.

BUT I deal with emails that take < 3 mins when they arrive or my inbox becomes a nightmare.

Filing on the other hand has no deadline, and neither my inbox nor my papers have been filed for 9 months.

I can set myself earlier personal deadlines which I sometimes meet which helps. But I tend to ignore reminders for ages. My car insurance has a reminder 3x a week for a month to try and get it sorted.

Everyone at work thinks I'm highly organised and highly competent. I never send stuff late, and am generally not late myself, barring the odd completely forgetting a meeting exists issue.

Everyone also assumes I am a tidy person. But tidying doesn't have a deadline (or didn't until I got a cleaner) and therefore is put off indefinitely.

Bowerbird5 · 23/06/2020 22:05

I used to do this.

In the last two years I have managed not to keep mulling it over and not to procrastinate as much.

I discovered setting aside a day to do those things means I can put it off until Wednesday. On Wednesday I make sure I have less things to do so I have time and I tackle my list. It is so liberating to actually get the task or tasks done. It has taken me years and years to do this.

FlashesOfRage · 23/06/2020 22:07

[quote magicstar1]Yep...the first time I remember this was when I was seven years old. I had weeks to do a project on Louis Pasteur and did got up at six a.m. to do it the day it was due. My whole life has been the same, and I’ve wasted so many opportunities.

Have a read of this...it describes it perfectly.
waitbutwhy.com/2013/10/why-procrastinators-procrastinate.html[/quote]
👏 I was about to post that link lol, I felt so much self acceptance after reading it 💗

Original poster
BoakBackMountain · 23/06/2020 22:10

Are you a perfectionist?

Hell no. I'm really slapdash!

OP posts:
Original poster
BoakBackMountain · 23/06/2020 22:11

A good example is my work expenses I put them off

Yes! It's shit like this! I just hate doing them, can't be bothered to do them and put them off.

OP posts:
Haggisfish · 23/06/2020 22:13

I’m like this and have just accepted it’s the way I am. I stress less now as I know it’ll get done.

Victoria6386 · 23/06/2020 22:13

Pretty sure this applies to litteraly everyone in the word Grin

Smoothyloopy · 23/06/2020 22:14

Yep, I'm exactly the same

BattyBettysBiccy · 23/06/2020 22:19

[quote magicstar1]Yep...the first time I remember this was when I was seven years old. I had weeks to do a project on Louis Pasteur and did got up at six a.m. to do it the day it was due. My whole life has been the same, and I’ve wasted so many opportunities.

Have a read of this...it describes it perfectly.
waitbutwhy.com/2013/10/why-procrastinators-procrastinate.html[/quote]
I'll read it tomorrow

funnelfanjo · 23/06/2020 22:28

Hello, reporting in as another master procrastinator. I’m currently doing a temp job which requires doing things as you go along rather than saving things up and doing them all at the deadline in a mad panic like I used to at my last employer. Like a PP, I spend a lot of the day faffing and then end up working into the evening to keep on top. I had a meeting with my boss this week and I thought they were going to say they weren’t renewing my contact, but apparently they like my work and were asking if I’d consider extending it!

The only thing I’ve found that works is lots of lists. I find it very satisfying to cross out something finished. Otherwise it’s related to my state of mind. Also, I am most definitely not a morning person, and I wonder if it’s related as my brain doesn’t seem to kick into gear until mid-morning.

Spanielmadness · 23/06/2020 22:32

I’m the same - 38 years old and put random things off. I worry and fret and when I finally do them it’s not a big deal, or I’m up all night desperately doing something I could have done gradually in a relaxed manner. I do this with admin for my own business, chasing payments, tax returns. I also do it with keeping in touch with people I really like. It’s like a weird self-sabotage.....,

Carolbaskinstiger · 23/06/2020 22:41

@Victoria6386 but it doesn’t! Since lockdown am now working right next to dh.,. He just has a to do list - and works through it methodically... like not based on what he wants to avoid - just what needs doing... while I know rationally this is right - this jist isn’t how I work!