How on earth do I stop procrastinating and get the motivation to get things done????

[BasmatiBitch]

I have read countless articles, blog posts and videos explaining the myriad of tips and tricks on how to stop procrastinating, get organised and get my shit together. Armed with this knowledge has meant I'm now great at advising others on how to get their shit together but not actually implementing any of it myself.

I've tried planners, apps, phone reminders, post it notes, set regular time aside and a whole lotta other stuff which I can't even remember but it turns out I'm astoundingly good at ignoring alerts and reminders and continue napping, googling, bingeing on Netflix or [insert any other time wasting but enjoyable activity].

Droves of people have found the book Atomic Habits literally life changing. I read it eagerly, hoping this was going to be the answer to my problems but thought meh, nice but not for me.

I can't be bothered to to do anything - and when I do its a mad dash at the last minute because I have no choice and I have to. I have no motivation or the get up and go attitude that I so desperately need. I function in mu job and home life and get the basics done but all the other stuff which I'd like to be on top of but aren't is the stuff that gets pushed to the wayside.

Anyone else relate?

I'm the same. Right down to the detail of ignoring alerts/reminders, finding Atomic Habits interesting but thinking it wasn't for me, reading voraciously and listening to endless podcasts about productivity etc.

Are you me?

We probably need to get off MN for a start.

I have adhd by the way, not currently medicated. Might be something for you to consider?

I can relate except I wouldn't have the patience to read Atomic Habits.

I have read Stolen Focus, and I now find a couple of minutes of re-read helps me to go and do stuff.

PS I'm not sorted by any means, just started that recently. Sometimes I forget to read it. Even the sample chapter on Kindle is very helpful.

Today I'm waiting for some important info and feel like I can't do anything else, which is ridiculous!

I have lots to do but the issue boils down to the fact I don't want to do it! It's all either too hard or too boring.

And sometimes it's this, totally.

The only thing I can suggest is a bit of 'kidology'. Either pretend that a very important person whose good opinion you seek (or the village gossip) is about to visit. They'll be appalled at your lack of action and will tell all and sundry about your tardiness OR you tackle the project in small steps with a reward for completion. Perhaps remind yourself that the first part of the project will only take ten minutes of your time. Tasks broken up like that don't seem so overwhelming.

I'm one of the worst procrastinators in the world.

I'm the opposite, do everything immediately, car tax arrived paid on line within an hour, occasionally have regrets, sorry not helpful.

It is helpful - I used to be like this and don't know what happened. I sometimes forget that I used to be like this!

What sort of stuff tends to get pushed to the wayside? You mention that you get "the basics" done ok, is that because they're routine tasks that you're familiar with and do on autopilot?

For me it's the slightly unusual, one-off tasks that I procrastinate over. I just think they'll be too difficult/complicated. What helps a bit is breaking them down and taking small steps towards tackling them, even if that's just googling how to do something. Making a start is the hardest thing!

I can also relate. I'm fairly sure I have ADHD.

But there's no way I could even get round to reading a book about getting organised. It just wouldn't happen. I can just about manage a blog.

I've always been bad but have got worse in middle age and it's seriously impacting my life. I just about manage work but beyond it I'm a disaster. I'm not sure there's a way out of it for me. I can't get assessed through the NHS in my area and can't afford to go private, but I often wonder if medication would be the answer.

How much time do you spend on social media?

I recently deleted the apps off my phone (but not mn evidently). The difference that has made has been astonishing.
Not having the option to just sit on the sofa and scroll means I actually look for other things to do!

When you find the solution let me know... 🙄

Exactly the same. I’ve read everything about how to not procrastinate usually while procrastinating.

I should be working right now but I’m on mumsnet. It fundamentally boils down to I don’t really want to work, so I find anything else to do. Atm it’s mumsnet but even without my phone I could honestly stare at a wall rather than get started.

I then feel horribly guilty and shit at the end of the day but it still isn’t enough to get me started.

I suspect I might have adhd but I’ve only been like this since being a teenager, as a kid I was fine! So also could just be laziness. It’s honestly ruining my life.

So, no tips from me but sympathy!

Focusmate

total lifechanger for me

The trick for me is to do something small. So I’ll do my knicker/sock drawer, or that drawer in the kitchen that’s full of crap, or I’ll wash out my kitchen drawers.

I found Oliver Burkeman’s book 4000 Weeks quite illuminating re. my procrastination issues didn’t actually stop me procrastinating though

Following, desperately, for tips.

I'm Supposed to be doing accounts / tax return. (I have instead de-scaled the kettle which wasn't as important. )

But I'm not. I hate doing it and it fills me with anxiety.

I'm looking into taking taking L-Theanine as it is supposed to help attention and focus and calm the brain. It's derived from tea.

Unless I have absolute strict deadlines to focus me, nothing gets done.

I will do the accounts and tax return and they wont be late, but it'll last minute.

@GreenLeavesRustling I do try to focus mate but it ain't working 🤪

@RiverSkater argh that's me too! Hate the pressure of having the deadline but like you it always gets done in the end!

I’m the same. I’ve found a lot of tips that are designed for ADD/ADHD help me quite a bit. (I actually strongly suspect I have ADD but I’ve not been diagnosed).

Timers on my phone help a lot. I run my life by timers.

This might be worth a listen. I am currently procrastinating over an essay I don't want to write.
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/you-are-not-so-smart/id521594713?i=1000559241545

Lifelong procrastinator here. I only do stuff when I absolutely have to or want to.

Have signed up to run a marathon to try to fix myself - training 4x a week. If I don't do it, I'll fail. I don't want to fail, I want to run it and brag about it for the rest of my life 😂

Seriously though - there's a lot of "noise" in my brain and I find I can only really pull focus on tasks when I'm in a calm and quiet place. E.g. my house was an absolute tip last week - we'd all been ill since Christmas, DD had been home from Uni for a month and was a lazy arse the entire time. Too many people in the house not helping meant things were being neglected in the "noise" of family life. On Saturday, DH drove DD back to Uni and DS went out for the whole day. I started in the kitchen and cleaned each room in turn, did the beds, hoovered everywhere, bathroom cleaned, windows thrown open. When DH came home on Saturday evening the house was clean and fresh and I'd cooked us a meal. I just needed the time on my own, with no other demands, to get it done.

Oh yes, I'm great procrastinator. The only thing that works for me is just to force myself to do actual stuff. Lists, techniques don't work for me and I think it's waste of time for people like me. I could do much more stuff in this time than listening to 40 minutes long video on youtube. In this 40 minutes I could actually clean kitchen/bathroom, exercise, read a book etc. I find it works for me, when I start with small stuff when I'm not up to much. Even unloading the dryer, doing the dishes. Then I think hmmm I might as well study for half and hour/vacuum the floors or whatever is on my list. I also noticed that social media and scrolling through my phone distract me from things that need doing, so I set up limits and down time on iphone. It's amazing how many things I've done yesterday when I ditched facebook, instagram and mumsnet (I set limit on mumsnet for today too- probably once I finish this post, I will log off). I sometimes wish someone did killswitch on internet, I would get so much off my fucking time back.