Procrastination?

[Sparrow]

Dammit. I just hate homework and school projects/assignments. I do it last minute - ALL THE TIME. There are just so many interesting things to do. I seem to get obsessed with something every week. For a month, all I would read was ANYTHING WWII. Now, it's genetics. I've been obsessing over genetics for a week now - and not doing my work. I have an essay due tomorrow. Actually - it was due on Monday, I asked for an extension and (thankfully) did not lose marks. The essay was assigned 2 months ago. Epic fail. I've also known about a physics test for a month now. I haven't studied. I've been slacking and goofing off doing what I want to do. It's not just school. My room is a mess. My clothing is all over the place. There are stacks of paper all over my desk. I haven't done my bed in 8 years or something. My mom cleans my room for me and gives me a tongue lashing everyday for being so disorganized and messy. I'm a procrastinator. I wish I wasn't. I just can't help it. I can't motivate myself to stop procrastinating. Procrastination is a disease. Sometimes, I wish I was an INTJ/INFJ - THEY GET THINGS DONE.

Edit: The only time I'm not procrastinating/not late for appointments and stuff is when it involves my girlfriend. She's the only person that can count on me. *Facepalm. Why do my ISTJ/ESFJ parents hate me??!! Is it their Sness?

 

[Geminii]

I have a great answer for this, but first I have to catch up with 500 internet forums and chrome my dog.

 

[lafmeche]

Dammit. I just hate homework and school projects/assignments. I do it last minute - ALL THE TIME. There are just so many interesting things to do. I seem to get obsessed with something every week. For a month, all I would read was ANYTHING WWII. Now, it's genetics. I've been obsessing over genetics for a week now - and not doing my work. I have an essay due tomorrow. Actually - it was due on Monday, I asked for an extension and (thankfully) did not lose marks. The essay was assigned 2 months ago. Epic fail. I've also known about a physics test for a month now. I haven't studied. I've been slacking and goofing off doing what I want to do. It's not just school. My room is a mess. My clothing is all over the place. There are stacks of paper all over my desk. I haven't done my bed in 8 years or something. My mom cleans my room for me and gives me a tongue lashing everyday for being so disorganized and messy. I'm a procrastinator. I wish I wasn't. I just can't help it. I can't motivate myself to stop procrastinating. Procrastination is a disease. Sometimes, I wish I was an INTJ/INFJ - THEY GET THINGS DONE.

Edit: The only time I'm not procrastinating/not late for appointments and stuff is when it involves my girlfriend. She's the only person that can count on me. *Facepalm. Why do my ISTJ/ESFJ parents hate me??!! Is it their Sness?

It's not just you. Most INTPs I've known or heard about are similar. In my case, I only do something when it's absolutely necessary. That's partly because I work best under pressure, but mostly because I'd rather be [insert obsession of the day/week].

My house is an absolute disaster at the moment. I haven't bothered to do laundry or go grocery shopping in quite a while. Much of this is because I live alone and don't care, but I don't think that really excuses it. (I wouldn't have this issue if I had people coming through my house, but I don't)

Despite my issues, I would never desire to be a different type. I like what I am. All I can do is learn more about WHY I am the way I am. Keeping that in mind, I can get myself to do things if I think there's a good reason. Perhaps you should take some time and think about the reasons why you should be doing these things. Write them in a list to remind yourself. INTPs can focus very well if/when they're interested in something or think it's important.

About your parents... I very much doubt they hate you. They more than likely just don't understand you. In my experience, most other types don't really 'get' INTPs because our world is so much different from theirs.

Really what it boils down to is this: Be yourself. Be comfortable with who you are. If there's something you want to do or think you should be doing, remind yourself of the reasons why. If you still can't get yourself to do it, it's probably not that important to you (on some level at least). If it still needs to be done, force yourself (yeah it doesn't always work for me either...) or let the deadline make its awesome whooshing sound as it goes by. I'm not advocating skipping your school work, but don't sweat the small stuff.

(Sorry if this post isn't terribly well written. It's the end of the day at work and I'm trying to get the information out of my head quickly so I can go home. I normally would take more time to organize my thoughts. I'll try to get back to this and clean it up later, but I make no promises )

 

[tashi]

Haha, I am currently replying to this thread instead of doing my Science project(which I've hardly started) and my 100 point English paper(which I haven't started at all), that are both due tomorow. There are very few people that understand that I do not procrastinate on purpose, just to cause myself stress and irritate my teachers. It's something that is a day by day struggle, like an addiction(I've really never actually been addicted to a substance, so I'm not sure if that's fair of me to compare, but it sure feels like an addiction to me). I'll never stop being a procrastinater, but I've done my best learning ways to function and still get the things I need to get done, done. For about a year now, I've mantained a very neat and organized room and have been keeping up with my homework. This all came to be because I found something to motivate me, something that I wanted to achieve that would require that I be organized and minimized my habits of procrastination. Perhaps if you can find something truly powerful to motivate you, you may be able to "stop" procrastinating enough to do what you have to do. You can't try to change your nature, you have to work with it. Always be aware of it though, don't ignore it.

 

[RL_Slacker]

Procrastination is about the only thing I get done on time....I used to wish that I could be more proactive about things, but then I got distracted from thinking about it.

 

[ashitaria]

Well..procrastination is a huge part of our lives. Take now for example. I have my final exams tomorrow and here I am...

 

[Shatokan]

Right now, i need to take a shower, do my schedule for the week, do homework for surveying, metal science, math, read 2 chapters for history, and haven't eaten today. And yet I'm still surfing the web.

 

[Kuu]

me?

no.


never.

 

[intuitivet]

I figured out how to beat it! Do the work quickly first and then you have all the time you want You win!

 

[binary_me]

... It's something that is a day by day struggle, like an addiction(I've really never actually been addicted to a substance, so I'm not sure if that's fair of me to compare, but it sure feels like an addiction to me). ...

The funny difficult thing about procrastination (for me) is that it generally isn't a conscious decision.... I don't (always) put things off because I'm feeling lazy or not in the mood to do something I should be doing (at least not consciously). It's more a case of some thought or 'compulsion' to understand some idea or new information that just completely takes control of my attention (and to some degree my whole 'being').

When I get caught up in an idea, I don't just procrastinate in terms of work I should be doing. I also 'forget' to eat, sleep, answer a call of nature and just about any other signals a 'normal' person would listen to. Suddenly it's 3am and I'm cold, hungry and busting (full bladder) and I didn't even realize it until I stopped thinking ...

In that sense, the need to follow an idea through to 'understanding' is a kind of addiction. Like you, I've never been addicted to real drugs (chemicals) but I do experience very real highs when following an interesting idea through to a point of discovery or understanding.

So my question is this: Is procrastination (in this context) really the issue or is it the compulsive need to fulfill this 'addiction' that must be addressed?

 

[RubberDucky451]

The funny difficult thing about procrastination (for me) is that it generally isn't a conscious decision.... I don't (always) put things off because I'm feeling lazy or not in the mood to do something I should be doing (at least not consciously). It's more a case of some thought or 'compulsion' to understand some idea or new information that just completely takes control of my attention (and to some degree my whole 'being').

When I get caught up in an idea, I don't just procrastinate in terms of work I should be doing. I also 'forget' to eat, sleep, answer a call of nature and just about any other signals a 'normal' person would listen to. Suddenly it's 3am and I'm cold, hungry and busting (full bladder) and I didn't even realize it until I stopped thinking ...

In that sense, the need to follow an idea through to 'understanding' is a kind of addiction. Like you, I've never been addicted to real drugs (chemicals) but I do experience very real highs when following an interesting idea through to a point of discovery or understanding.

So my question is this: Is procrastination (in this context) really the issue or is it the compulsive need to fulfill this 'addiction' that must be addressed?

That's exactly how I feel. I'm not doing anything indulgent like playing a game or watching TV. I assume that's the most common means of procrastination.

Procrastination is what INTP's think of after they have already wasted an hour or two, to other it's the conscious deliberate decision to distract themselves or entertain. Maybe I'm wrong

 

[interloper]

I'm also a pretty severe procrastinator, even when I'm trying to do things that I know would be a gain for me. Most of the time I have other things on my mind, ideas or stuff that I'm into that I just see as more valueable then and there. In my last year at college, I think about school maybe once a week, rest of the time I'm just so into other things that I don't even see school as important in comparison to stuff that's going on.

What has worked though, is using a calendar. I got some program that displays on my desktop, it has a term to do-list and a list of tasks for the day, prioritized.

 

[Kuu]

I figured out how to beat it! Do the work quickly first and then you have all the time you want You win!

this only works with simple task that can be done quickly... which aren't an issue if you procrastinate them to the last minute, since well, you can do them quickly...

Try doing that on a large project and come back and tell me how it goes, mkay?

 

[Luminates]

Well atleast we can say that your not alone in this matter. I have a 200 point english project to do, its due sometime next week, not to sure when though, but if i don't even attempt it, good chance I'll fail so that pushes me to "have" to do some of it.

Shouldn't we consider Procrastination a personal trait? Or have we already done that haha.

 

[Luminates]

this only works with simple task that can be done quickly... which aren't an issue if you procrastinate them to the last minute, since well, you can do them quickly...

Try doing that on a large project and come back and tell me how it goes, mkay?

Sorry didn't read this before hand.

Sorry, been there done that, and let me say Kuu is right, it will NOT work out well. I had a Gov project worth 70 points, it was due in 4 days. I decided to get it done that night within one hour. I turned it in 4 days later only to get a 10/70 on it!! lol the info on the project (let alone grammar) was way off.

 

[Polaris]

Hmmm...I was going to respond to this thread, but as I have some questions that could potentially cause derailment, I created another thread. Not trying to hog your topic, Anamalech.......

 

[lafmeche]

Well atleast we can say that your not alone in this matter. I have a 200 point english project to do, its due sometime next week, not to sure when though, but if i don't even attempt it, good chance I'll fail so that pushes me to "have" to do some of it.

Shouldn't we consider Procrastination a personal trait? Or have we already done that haha.

I don't remember specifics anymore, but I recall writing numerous 15-20 page papers and huge engineering-type reports the night before they were due. Sleep is overrated. (note: I don't recommend doing things this way)

The funny difficult thing about procrastination (for me) is that it generally isn't a conscious decision.... I don't (always) put things off because I'm feeling lazy or not in the mood to do something I should be doing (at least not consciously). It's more a case of some thought or 'compulsion' to understand some idea or new information that just completely takes control of my attention (and to some degree my whole 'being').

When I get caught up in an idea, I don't just procrastinate in terms of work I should be doing. I also 'forget' to eat, sleep, answer a call of nature and just about any other signals a 'normal' person would listen to. Suddenly it's 3am and I'm cold, hungry and busting (full bladder) and I didn't even realize it until I stopped thinking ...

That's exactly it for me. In some ways I'm like a small child with ADD. "Okay, I need to clean my room.... OOH SHINY" - except I'm skipping actual productive work to look up my latest obsession on the internet. Just now, I completely lost track of time at the end of my work day looking things up and catching up on my INTPf reading. Whoops.