To ask for, if not demand, a kick up the bum and some help with my procrastination ISHOOS.

[IdBuyThatForADollar]

I have a confession. I'm a procrastinator. A fucking heinous one. I WILL ALWAYS PUT OFF UNTIL TOMORROW WHAT CAN BE DONE TODAY. Obviously. There's First Dates to watch and probs 2 hours of gaming, or indeed, just sitting to be done.

This is me:

waitbutwhy.com/2013/10/why-procrastinators-procrastinate.html

I mean, I didn't write it, it's too awesome, but I have both an Instant Gratification Monkey and a Panic Monster.

This is unasseptable (10 points for the reference). It worked at school because eventually homework deadlines would creep up and I'd have to panic and get shit done. It worked at Uni because eventually essay submission dates would creep up and I would have to panic and get shit done. It works at work because eventually project dates creep up and I panic and have to get shit done. You get the general idea.

IT DOES NOT WORK IN MY LIFE. There's shit I want to do, people!

I need to:

1. Apply for my Masters
2. Declutter my house
3. Sell a bunch of stuff on eBay
4. Sort my, frankly, laughable finances out
5. Redecorate/do some serious DIY
6. Tidy/hack at the garden
7. Sell my house
8. Move many miles away
9. Change career

10. Do SOME ART 11. Get healthy 12. Continue ineffectually parenting a child

I have obvs put applying for my Masters first because that's the most interesting thing and least guilt inducing thing on my list, but actually probably doesn't need to happen yet and if I started it, it would be an excellent reason not to do 2-11 for the next two years.

I cannot wait two years to start. I will be bankrupt, in the wrong place and the timing will be wrong if I wait two years.

Really, I need to have got to number 8 in 18 months time. That both seems like AGES and NO TIME AT ALL.

Please help. Please reform me. I want to be better. How do I do it? How do I become, in my late 30s, an ACTUAL grown up? I want to make positive changes and decisions in my life, not drift around on the current doing FUCK ALL forever.

I have a box or six like that, Iwannadance.

hey OP, have you heard of an app called Trello?

I'm a procrastinator too (why do you think I am here, reading about other peoples problems) but this app is pretty cool and free too. Or it was. Anyway, it is like an organiser, you make lists and then break everything down in the list into tiny chunks. It means that instead of trying to do 12 massive things you can do little things every day that work towards them.

So you would have 12 'boards' for your things above, then on each of them you would add a checklist.

As well as making everything look more achievable, you also don't have to do the things in any particular order. This is kind of where lists fall down, like as you say above - Masters is No.1 but not actually the most important in terms of needs to be done RIGHT NOW. Doesn't matter. Break it all down.

In short: Do tiny things each day that get you closer towards your goal.

(and get the app) x

I work organizing people who procrastinate/ can't get organized/ feal overwhelmed and it is a big task! I normally 1) have a chat 2) identify what they issues are 3) normally they are house de cluttering, weight and look, money and forward goals, 4) put in an infrastructure to make they above happen easily. That's it in a nutshell obv doesn't always work like that but that's the outline plan !

The weird thing for me is that i can organise the shit out of anything. I'd make a great party planner. And extremely organised in work. I could quite happily be one of those people who clean/sort hoarders houses. BUT in my own home i will find anything else to do than whatever it is i need to. Always leave last minute or laterand have always left homework/coursework/work work until as late as humanly possible. I can still remember doing homework on the bus to school.

Me too, OP. ME. TOO. (I have nothing constructive to add really, just place-marking for wise advice of others!

The internet is not your friend in this instance.