Procrastination/inability to concentrate?

[user59457812]

I'm seriously struggling with motivation for work and it's doing my head in! I have loads to do but can't seem to get it together.

I don't think it's just pre-Christmas 'demob happy', as I have two weeks before I'm off. I feel like my brain is in a fog and I can focus for about three seconds before getting distracted - much easier to look at buggy reviews and respond to posts on MN than get on with what I am supposed to be doing...

Anyone else having this? I still have at about 12 weeks before starting maternity leave and seriously fear I may get fired before then!

Help!

hotpink I'm only 16wks and have that too!! Hence wht I'm surfing MN looking for threads that interest me so that I can read or join in I actually haven't got much to do today but in previous weeks have had stakc to do but still found myself on MN or surrepticiously surfing looking at prams, cots and other things!!

Thanks blue glad it's not just me. It is actually making me feel sick, work is piling up and I'm still f*ing around, have been since 9.30am! TBH the only things I am interested in at the moment are the baby and DH, and how long I've got until I can stop working. I'm my own worst enemy as I'll just end up in a panic with loads to do and not enough time to do it....

[attempts to do some deep breathing exercises and immediately gets distracted by Pregnancy & Birth magazine lying on the table...]

I'm exactly the same!! It's driving me nuts. I've got loads to do but zero motivation unless it involves the baby, DH or home.

I've an exam Friday & I'm caught between slightly panicking & not give a shit. I'm usually pretty focused but now have the attention spam of a fish.

I can't wait to go on maternity leave so I don't have to pretend to be interested in work anymore!

Another in the club, and serious amounts of paperwork piling us as well its hideous but they dont call it baby brain for nothing

Hello, can I join the 'can't-be-arsed' club? Quite frankly nothing at work is of any interest to me right now and all I can think of is the baby! I'm 20 weeks.

I know it's not the right attitude but I feel a bit like they are lucky that I ever bother to turn up at the moment, so unimportant is work is my mind! :)

The difficult bit with all of this is that somehow I'd like to persuade them that I can come back part time after a year off with LO...into a role that currently doesn't exist anywhere as part time and may not really work very well as part time not sure how that's going to work TBH and with my current lack of attention to anything (at only 16weeks ) I dread to think how my reputation will be by the time I go on mat leave!! Oh dear...

Yes, as many joiners to the clus as possible! I am sure this is just a pregnancy symptom, not a sign of laziness or weak character Nature MUST want us to give all our attention and energy to the forthcoming arrival...

Top procrastination 'techniques' from me:

1. Reply to posts/start threads on MN (obvs)
2. Look at friends photos on Facebook (esp ones featuring their new offspring)
3. 'Research' baby equipment (i.e. browse aimlessly online with no actual sense of purpose)
4. Accidentally open the baby name book again to a random page (without actually noting down any of the names that are promising)
5. Suddenly realise an extremely pressing pregnancy related question that needs thorough search of all my pregnancy books (and/or pregnancy websites, delete as appropriate)
6. Suddenly realise I need to ask best friend about an extremely pressing pregnancy related question, leading to much general texting back and forth...
7. Go and forage for food drink in kitchen (baby NEEDS nutrition after all)
8. Put washing on/make tea/clean random bits of house (working at home specific - I don't generally resort to cleaning the office...)
9. Catch up on all personal emails/fbook messages/social plans neglected due to procrastination as above...
10. Make a to-do list, but not actually start anything on it...

...who else wants to share?

hotpink most of the above but in a 'trying to be clandestine' kind of way as sat at my desk in an office with boss wandering around oops! Though I can also add to the list:

• Going to get a drink and hoping to bump into one of the super chatty secretaries who will ask how I'm doing, comment on bump and generally listen as I ramble about baby related things and is a good way to kill 10 mins half and hour sometimes

Let me join too! I'm only 12 weeks, I've been off work for weeks with ms, and now I'm back I have spent the day looking at maternity jeans. It's not just work either, haven't done my Xmas shopping and have no brain to attempt any of it! 5 months to go and counting... maybe we should form our own business gathering pregnancy related data and selling it to industry.... reviews and 'consumer research' on prams (lots of internet browsing and coffee mornings - although no coffee, it makes me vom at the moment) or medical data on wind in pregnancy to sell to drug companies - like count the kicks but for farts? Basically anything that let's me do mn as work :)

blue I think a bit of peer pressure in the form of a boss standing over me is what I need - I'm like a naughty child, I don't even have to try and hide my time wasting

itchy love the idea of making all this baby-related procrastination pay. Ready-made focus group, expert pregnancy/baby researchers - that's the kind of work I could get on board with at the moment!

If we all get sacked due to laxness at work at least there's a ready made plan B...

[HPG looks despondently at the half empty spreadsheet supposed to be ready for 5.30pm. Realises it's 5.39pm, shrugs and slopes off to make gazillionth cup of herb tea of the day]