# data[].attributes.body
I missed my own internal deadline (as I usually do) for finishing writing a report. This was because I also tried to get it 'perfect', so I kept putting it off, thinking that I would do a better job another day or would have more answers another day...

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I had a project that I had a month to do. But I waited until 3 days before to do it, and although I got it done I was quite stressed.

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I keep postponing organising my loft because the tasks, like selling on eBay and deciding what to donate, overwhelm me. The longer I delay, the more urgent it feels, creating a cycle of procrastination.

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I often plan to start early and do a perfect report, but then I don't know how to start, get stressed and procrastinate until a few before the deadline. Because I don't have enough time, I just focus on getting it done, rather than being perfect. 

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I often plan to start early and do a perfect report, but then I don't know how to start, get stressed and procrastinate until a few before the deadline. Because I don't have enough time, I just focus on getting it done, rather than being perfect. 

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My internal push towards cruel perfectionism (with roots in my childhood) paralyses me to the extent that I often suffer from "self-fulfilling prophecies". Have done all my life. Even if I get a huge task accomplished in the end, and with good results, it's never good enough. I could have done better, should have been more thorough. Those praising the result are just being kind. So, I procrastinate expecting everything I do to be judged as pure, unadulterated sh*t. I'd almost just rather fail and make up a good excuse than tackle the anxiety.

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I just have so much to think about I can't think about doing what needs to be done. So I don't do it, I go on my phone or I watch TV, until I don't have the time to procrastinate anymore.

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I find it so frustrating to procrastinate, and when I finally do a task, I think "that wasn't so bad, why did I leave it this long?" But find it so hard to NOT do it. The temptation to sit and scroll or do something else is so strong. I put things off and make things more stressful for myself. When I do things, I do them well, so the threat of not doing well pushes the task to "later on". I also sometimes have a fear of "the next thing" I have to do so keep the current task longer than I should, sometimes procrastinating the end of a task more than the middle.

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Often I procrastinate because the task involves making decisions, and I hate making decisions. It could be something simple like what to write in a Christmas card to an old friend. It's easier to mess around on social media, or watch TV.

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I procrastinate almost every assignment I do because I can so much about doing it to the best level I can. Not knowing where to start or exactly what I need to do to get the assignment to the level I want delays me even starting or stuck in the 'research stage' right up until I have to start otherwise I won't even finish. Then, after exhausting myself to get it done (also affecting my physical health) I get frustrated that I've allowed it to happen again despite telling myself next time I wouldn't.

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I just can't do it. I've tried everything, I've put timers on my apps, I've make schedules for every hour of the day, I go to the library, watch youtube videos and podcasts. I have even spent money with journal and planners. I think I spend more time coming up with ways to overcome the procrastination than actually doing what I have to do. And the worst thing is the feeling after I just missed my own deadline, I just feel useless, like I'm wasting my potential. In my head, nobody who is succesful is delaying things.

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I decided to deep clean my entire bathroom, including the extractor fan (filled with years worth of what I hope was just dust) to avoid writing a few chapters of my dissertation like I had said I would. It was actually quite fun, but time’s ticking! Ahh, I’ll do it tomorrow… or maybe right now?! Who’s to stop me except me?

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I once made an entire group do a project in the last three hours, all arranged over text, because I was in charge of coordinating it and I managed to put it off for three weeks, whilst feeling physically sick every time I thought about it.

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I always procrastinate when I find tasks boring, too difficult, or too many procedures. I hate doing boring/difficult stuff; I can't find the meaning of my existence when doing those, and I feel I am vulnerable.

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I don't trust my own judgement or decision-making skills so I don't know where to start with a task or what to prioritise. I get stuck in cycles of thinking about a task whilst not doing it, until I'm really confused. So I put it off until I don't have time to do it very well, or until it's too late and I've missed another opportunity. These failures reinforce my negative sense of self-efficacy. It's definitely a cumulative downward spiral.

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I even started procrastinating on sharing my procrastination experience, but I'm going to sail through the ick in my chest and do it now. At work, we have daily check ins (stand ups) where we share what we're working on and intend to do today. I feel like a deer in the headlights every time. I often have to fabricate what I've done the previous day because it's been lost to procrastination.  It's not that I'm not working, it's just that I can't bring myself to do the things that matter.

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I even started procrastinating on sharing my procrastination experience, but I'm going to sail through the ick in my chest and do it now. At work, we have daily check ins (stand ups) where we share what we're working on and intend to do today. I feel like a deer in the headlights every time. I often have to fabricate what I've done the previous day because it's been lost to procrastination.  It's not that I'm not working, it's just that I can't bring myself to do the things that matter.

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I end up thinking too much about the steps involved in a task which makes me feel overwhelmed and anxious about doing it, so I don't. Instead I could just try and do the task without focusing on every little bit at once, but it's so tricky to not get caught up in the bigger picture.

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I deep clean every time I have an essay due. For some reason, procrastinating with productivity feels more palatable than just laying in bed, and I justify it more. Essays are done the night before, and what's worse is, I perform the best under that pressure, but the stress is getting too much. I wish I could function in some other way. I wish I could do things weeks in advance. I'm so jealous every time I visit the library, watching others work so much harder than I feel I am.

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I find it almost impossible to do work some days, even sending a basic email feels like its the hardest thing in the world. Its like my brain physically won't let me do it. I have tried lots of techniques since being out of work, such as using a diary, pomodoro, etc. but these only last so long before I get bored of them and the novelty has worn off. 

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I find it almost impossible to do work some days, even sending a basic email feels like its the hardest thing in the world. Its like my brain physically won't let me do it. I have tried lots of techniques since being out of work, such as using a diary, pomodoro, etc. but these only last so long before I get bored of them and the novelty has worn off. 

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I did not study for interview after  being unemployed

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I did not study for interview after  being unemployed

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I missed all my plan, preping that I having a hard time to start, then when it come down to executing it. I just run into social media and wasted whole day. When I feel guilty or ashamed of it my amygdala enhance the flaw of being human making me avoiding harder in order to protect me. I just really tired my brain mechanism

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Lately, I’ve realized that procrastination often hides something deeper. It’s not about laziness, but fear.
I delay things not because I don’t care, but because I care too much. The fear of failing, of not living up to my own expectations, makes starting feel like a risk.

But I’m learning that action is the only way to shrink that fear. Each imperfect step proves that failure isn’t fatal. it’s just feedback. Progress begins the moment I stop trying to be flawless and start trying to learn.

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Procrastination has become such a problem that I procrastinating doing things that I need to do today to pay bills that are due next week and keep ending up in a financial hole. I even procrastinate things I enjoy doing sometimes. Everything feels multi-step, overwhelming and exhausting to the point that figuring out where to start or how to start when I feel so resistant to it is also overwhelming and exhausting. Every time I manage to get through one crisis, I tell myself 'never again,' and then I hate myself a little more the next time when I break that promise one more time, knowing I'll do the same thing that time too.

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I am retired & I developed the bad habit of chronic procrastination. I have become depressed. I may have circadian phase delay, atrial fibrillation-related fatigue, & executive dysfunction.

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I'm enjoying reading these posts because pretty much all of them feel like they're coming straight out of my brain. We are not alone! I've told myself that I'm someone who thrives on getting things done at the last minute and that I do better work when I do. That's probably just cope, though. I would love to change that, but haven't succeeded in 40+ years. I'm doing this toolkit because I'm facing down a totally voluntary task that should be fun, and is due in under a week. I don't want to do it all on the last day. I want to take my time, do a good job and enjoy myself. But my brain just defaults to later, later. It's gotten so bad that I feel like I'm putting off my whole life at this point.

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I am a student and am constantly procrastinating my research tasks -- my productivity is about one forth of what it used to be in high school, I am always the "overpromise-underdeliver" one. I do the tasks well in the end, but I badly overpromise the timeframe.

I can sometimes waste a whole working day scrolling/watching films and feel absolutely horrible when I go to bed. When I do not get work done I feel guilty of my rest and hobbies -- I used to paint, but do not anymore. I am also so ashamed of my procrastination issues I never actually tell my husband, with whom we are very close, I never tell my family and friends how bad it has gotten.

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I am afraid of what people will think of me, so I am avoiding writing a proposal for a teaching concept. Yet I really want to be considered for this opportunity. 

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I am afraid of what people will think of me, so I am avoiding writing a proposal for a teaching concept. Yet I really want to be considered for this opportunity. 

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This makes me feel so much less alone, and I really feel like at the moment I have got into such a cycle of procrastination and doing things at the last minute, like lots of people have said, I don't want to always do things that way. I resonate so hard with a quote someone shared with me, that I'm a smart woman who's bad at dumb stuff. My brain loves thinking big conceptually joining up all the dots, but I often feel like what I do can't match up to the way I can conceptualise things in my head, so I end up feeling like I don't achieve anything.

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I'm a music composer and I have a project that I've always wanted to find the time to do it.... I've always planned and dreamed about it... always blamed my job and financial insecurity for not being able to do it... Now, I've saved some money to take 3 months off... and I am FROZEN... all I can do is watch TV and play videogames.... the toolkit helped me realise that my perfectionism is paralysing me... I have been procrastinating for a while... avoiding the project when I had free time... but now I have all the time... but zero capacity to overcome this inner critic... this pressure I've laid to myself...

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I have always thought that my problem was perfectionism. I am writing a novel (not the first one) and I just had a huge AHA moment. You see, I am awesome at starting a novel. I spend hours thinking about the main character, the plot, the setting and everything else you need to make up a story. But, I get to about 1/4 of it and I FREEZE. In the past, what I have done is: throw everything out and start over. And up until now, I thought it was perfectionism. And it is, in a way, but it is deeper. Or, framing it that way was not giving me any clarity. One post on here helped me see that: I don't trust my judgement. That's it! That is why I get stuck, that is why I start over. The other aha has to do with UNCERTAINTY. It is the root of all anxiety. And being a creative writer, inveting things that have never existed, requires befriending UNCERTAINTY. There is no other way to do it. Not only that, it is part of the process. It's not a failure on my part that I feel uncertain. It's along for the ride. Hello UNCERTAINTY my old friend.

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Two years ago I quit my job to have a sabbatical year. I made a big list of things I wanted to do in that year, but found it hard to get started, even with the fun stuff! I then realized that my procrastination problems are not only work-related. Delaying tasks has become a habit. I don't know how to start anymore. I always think it is not the right moment to do it now.

Now I am searching for a job, and it is much harder than I thought, being 55 years old.

Last week I missed the deadline for sending in an application for a really nice role. I was planning to start a week in advance, at the end I started 3 days before the deadline, wrote a few lines, felt almost physically sick, so much did I hate writing this motivation letter. I feel so much pressure, because the letter needs to be perfect, I need to present myself as the perfect candidate, while I am not feeling these positive things about myself. At the end I decided not to continue and let this opportunity pass. Saying to myself: you probably wouldn't get invited anyway.

And then the next day I hate myself even more for not sending in the application.

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I may or may not have almost procrastinated using the actual tool itself...

anyway uh i have a LOT of studying and it's technically not homework but also kinda necessary so I actually pass? but the thing is literally anything else is always more interesting to me and a part of me is complacent and feels a little like "oh I've done fine before when procrastinating on revising for tests" and yeah I have but THAT'S NOT THE POINT

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I have 12 months to sell my old house and completely pay off the new one. I am 6 months in. I love the new one, I hate the old one. I am exhausted thinking about it, I expected it would only take a few months, total underestimation. It costs so much money to run 2 houses and multiple mortgages with no income as I had to quit my life draining job. I thought life would be better, living in my dream home and not working my life away at that job. I have up and down days from one day to the next. I feel great with my accomplishment, maybe for a few days running, then, slam, depression, lack of energy and motivation and tasks seem insurmountable, take a day or more off and then feel guilty, because everyday costs me money I would not have to spend if this was done and dusted. I just want that part of my life to be over and the new stage to begin.

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Career Stuck because I do not publish my F****** doctoral thesis

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Career Stuck because I do not publish my F****** doctoral thesis

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10 years ago I finished my phd, with 2 years delays and multiple mental break downs. I procrastinated a lot and was in continuous state of mind that I was a fraud and that they would eventually find it. I managed to get graduate and I need to publish this thesis as a book to access a series of calls for researchers but I don't manage to have it done. 2 months ago I contacted an editing professional to have it edited and help me with the process and told her i would have send her the draft to receive a quote for her service. Haven't sent it yet. I am full with shame and guilt, and I feel stuck (academically I am) and personally back to 10 years ago. writing this post is so hard and I am about to cry

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I'm doing a PhD and I am feel like my brain is so, so slow to understand anything and then I'm scared to write because I think my writing and thinking doesn't do these complex ideas justice. Sometimes I feel like I am allergic to this work. Before doing this, I felt like a very functional, capable person.

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I have procrastinated so hard I think I have cost my organisation some pretty big contracts

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I always have lots of plans on what I want to do, how I can build this perfect productive life and it all comes crumbling down in a matter of days. Now, it hurts to make plans for things because in my mind, I'm the ever-planner-never-doer. Even this TEMPO toolkit was hard to even start doing (I procrastinated and scrolled on youtube shorts) because there's a part of me that feels like this is just another one of my attempts that inevitably lead to failure. I hate telling people my plans bcs I'm scared I'll fail them and then i embarass myself.

Procrastination has just become a habit now, I can barely get myself to do chores or stop my many weird addictions or do the tasks I actually am passionate about.

I just submitted my final thesis draft and concluding the last year of my university life and I just dont feel good. I feel like Ive wasted a solid 3 years and am frankly a fraud, all the info I spent hours studying for, I have completely forgotten and if I go to the workplace I'm no different than someone who didnt go to uni, except that I will have this qualifying piece of paper to successfully fake my way in.

I want to be an artist and animator yet I've only been able to do it a couple of times for a month or so before I barely touch it again.

Every attempt at trying (for my passion, career or even health) feels honestly so futile and useless. Every attempt to improve myself seems stupid and embarrassing. And every time I fail is an addition to the humongous wall of what seems to be my endless and utterly stupid failures.

But, I still hope and still try, bcs I dont want to live like this, I constantly daydream of a life not like mine. But day dreaming wont get me anywhere so I just have to keep trying. Im hoping that with the ending of uni and the little time I have before I start working, I can make it a habit to be productive and do the things I want and am passionate, rather than scroll and play my life away.

Im sorry this was a bit of a ramble lol. :)

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I feel overwhelmed with so many tasks at home and at work. I feel guilty that I am not performing, that time spent at work is time not with my family; but time off at home is time not getting work things done.

I get anxious that completing a report will just get me more jobs to do, I find it difficult to speak to people about how I feel.

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I'm partway through the TEMPO toolkit (working on this is another procrastination event, but it feels like this is a better version of procrastination. I think if I'd set myself time to do this when I wasn't supposed to be doing something else, I wouldn't have done it! Makes me think that another way to complete projects could be to procrastination stack, ie I want to wash the floors, so I will do that when I need to be finishing a difficult project. I just need the ultimate thing to avoid, so that that the difficult project also gets done as an avoidance tactic for the ultimate difficulty. This is somewhat tongue in cheek) anyway... when the toolkit asked me to write down an example of something with which I'm procrastinating, I had a gazillion options. It would have been easier to ask if there was anything with which I wasn't procrastinating!

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This is very helpful.

I realise I actually prioritise more than I have given myself credit for but I also procrastinate more on the challenging stuff. Usually linked to insecurities that what I do isn't going to be good enough and I will be judged negatively.

Be it writing the report with no deadline, starting the hobby I never have time for or cleaning/clearing out a room. I have so many excuses some of which are valid but not indefinitely...

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I own a townhouse that is maintained by an HOA. In May of 2025 there was a storm that wreaked havoc on my roof, doors, AC, and paint. It's been hell dealing with all the contractors and insurance companies and the costs just keep rising. I'm overwhelmed and tired of fighting.

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I'm finding myself here because I have a group report that we have to do, with a subject that is interesting even if the class is not. We decided on a check-in tomorrow, for which we are all supposed to have finished our parts. I have not really started yet. I don't want to disappoint my friends, but I am also afraid of being a loser, of writing something that is of poor quality. I am afraid that even if I did my best, it wouldn't be enough. So instead of working I procrastinate.

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I am an academic. I go through phases where I am working quite well. Then I hit a depressive block, and I can just lose weeks on end. It becomes a cycle of increasing anxiety the more I procrastinate, and increasing procrastination the more anxious I get. Things get a little difficult, and suddenly it all feels insurmountable, and it's easier to focus on distractions.

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I'm 47 and didn't procrastinate much as a student, but then somehow lost the ability to work effectively from my late 20s. I had a very successful job and was good at it, but kept expecting to be found out. I now think that I procrastinated because of self-doubt, anxiety and beating myself up. I didn't finish tasks that other people really needed and then I felt so much guilt about it that I couldn't even face looking at them, even though I was facing disciplinary action potentially. It also spread into my personal life because I felt like I couldn't even start house/life jobs when I wasn't on top of my work. I am through that very bad phase now and more compassionate with myself. It feels counter-intuitive to be nice to myself when I don't think I deserve it, but it really works. I still need to improve and have times when I pull an all-nighter to finish things and then hate myself, but I'm much more on top of everything. I hope you can all find some strategies that help too.

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I have wasted YEARS of my life, being unable to start/continue things I even WANT to do, let alone the things I don't want to do. It's like I live in a constant day-dream state about what my life could be if I just managed to start/continue/finish these things, I push down any recognition of the fact I've not done any of them until I can't anymore, in which case I feel so stuck, ashamed and angry with myself, sending me on a depressive spiral. Techniques I've tried to use work very briefly before their novelty wears off making them useless. I've had a fair amount of success with battling many inner demons (e.g. perfectionism etc.). With each one I think maybe this will be the thing that finally makes it *click*, but it never is, or hasn't been yet. I wonder if part of the issue now is that there are so many things I want to do that has built up over the years, it has induced an almost-permanent freeze state, starring decision paralysis. Lately I've been trying to get in touch with my body's wisdom and trust that if distractions (my phone, TV etc.) are removed, my body will lead me towards doing the things I've wanted to do for years. This has varying levels of success and depends on how easy it is to ground myself (some days, it's impossible). This new technique casted my mind as 'evil', meaning it is more effective with tasks that require less mental energy, so I am trying to find a healthier balance between having my body take the lead, and my mind still having a helpful input.

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I tend to procrastinate with housework - things that I know need doing so I put them off "I'll do it next time/later" because they're boring or too challenging. I do feel guilty about not doing these tasks every time I walk passed them though, which doesn't help!

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I tend to procrastinate with housework - things that I know need doing so I put them off "I'll do it next time/later" because they're boring or too challenging. I do feel guilty about not doing these tasks every time I walk passed them though, which doesn't help!

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I keep postponing writing up my PhD for publications. I feel like I have to produce the perfect draft to send to my supervisors, which I know is the wrong thought to have. I also feel as my supervisors have not kept in touch with me post-phd that maybe my work is not worth publishing or is not actually all that interesting or relevant. A friend told me recently that it sounds like I am just making up excuses not to do it (said with love!), which I recognise I am doing. I think because I am in academia I am scared of the uncertain landscape and that I am doing all this work - sourcing projects and writing papers in my own time for nothing as I am not getting any job interviews because my track record is so lacking. The perfectionism leads to procrastination - I clean my house, I walk my dog, I binge netflix or tiktok.

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I'm so deeply ashamed of myself, every day, because of how much I procrastinate. It is the ultimate source of all of my problems. I don't even delay tasks, I ignore them. The fear of even thinking of a task becomes so strong that - like I'm possessed - I open up my computer and find something to give me that rush of dopamine I'm so suddenly desperately in need of. If I can't find it, I keep looking. I don't even realize I'm procrastinating until long after it's too late. I want to do well - in literally anything - so badly, that it's crippled my ability to even attempt trying. Then when I have to do that task, because I've been procrastinating - I've already failed automatically. I just miss being proud of myself. I haven't had that feeling in so long. At the end of the day, I just wish I wasn't so afraid of my own feelings.

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I start something in good time but then… get bored, feel overwhelmed, apathetic, critical, I feel a thousand negative feelings and give up. I really find it hard to complete anything. Then if there’s an urgent timeframe, have to alway rush to finish it, barely scrapping through. The anxiety this causes is immense.

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I often blame 'the system' for procrastinating about developing my dream project - they give me too much work, I need to earn money so do they work I get paid to do, others demand my time when I finish work, there's nobody to push me to do my dream project. But to stop procrastination I think back to what has worked for me in the past - to find the spot that will help me get focus for the think I am finding too hard to focus on. This is often going to a nice cafe with a nice view and where I don't feel pressured to finish my coffee and leave. It feels like a treat but also means I can't be there forever so I should do the work I need to, or at least try. This is a way of making a difficult thing enjoyable. For the tasks I find easy to do I can just stay at my normal desk.

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I am a high school teacher and I procrastinate whenever I have to mark assignments because I feel terrible having to criticize my students.  I like them all so much and only want the best for them, yet I have to apply criteria that make no sense and "rate" them.  It just demoralizes me and I am finding it harder and harder to make myself do it. So I procrastinate. Completing this program is just another way to put marking until tomorrow.

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I am a high school teacher and I procrastinate whenever I have to mark assignments because I feel terrible having to criticize my students.  I like them all so much and only want the best for them, yet I have to apply criteria that make no sense and "rate" them.  It just demoralizes me and I am finding it harder and harder to make myself do it. So I procrastinate. Completing this program is just another way to put marking until tomorrow.

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I am studying for my medical specialist exams, and have failed twice already. I have limited time with work a family life, but when I sit down to study I find myself doing shopping online, or watching YouTube. I feel overwhelmed buy the amount of stuff I have to do, and I feel like I'm falling behind all my peers with my career progression.

I have perfectionist tendencies and try to make my notes 'perfect' - but this means I spend way too long on individual topics and miss the larger picture. I'm also told that stress is part of the problem so I get stressed about being stressed. Its a lot.

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Wow...I'm misting up with finding kindred spirits

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Wow...I'm misting up with finding kindred spirits

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I'm 65, an educated professional, but procrastination has haunted my life, and continues to. Currently, I'm working part-time in my psychotherapy private practice (and yes, the extreme irony of someone successfully supporting people to better mental and physical health yet can't clean out a closet or paint a wall or pursue hobbies due to crippling procrastination does not escape me). So many things I want to do, and don't. Plans thought of and abandoned because it's so embarrassing to have people hear you talk about things that somehow never materialize. Waking up with a feeling of dread. It's been wonderful to read that I'm not alone, and I am sending heartfelt wishes to all of us that we find workable solutions.

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I'm a 40 year-old mother of two who works part-time. Procrastination has blighted my professional life. I am clever and capable and very experienced in my field, but if a task is new, unknown or uncomfortable to me I can procrastinate for months on end. I am also extremely unkind to myself about doing this, and that makes it worse for sure. I understand so much of the theory around perfectionism, fear of failure, self-compassion and mindful awareness and yet, it continues. Optimistic about TEMPO though!

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I procrastinated mowing the lawn for 10 days. Every day I found a reason to do it later in the day, and then later in the day to start fresh in the morning.

I finally sat down with this course and realized that I was so stressed and anxious about picking my way through the mess that is the garage to get to the mower, unwinding the fussy cord reel, seeing the weeds I don't have time to pull in the garden beds going to seed-- no wonder I was putting it off. I'm afraid that when I start in on one of the many tasks I'm behind on, I'll have to see the whole overwhelming mess I'm living with. So I avoid doing one to keep the anxiety about my situation at bay.

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I have tried so many things. I had an accountability partner, but they were “too soft” on me (my opinion). I kept a chart to add how many words I wrote each day. I chunked it up into tiny morsels, but found myself going down rabbit holes and turned each morsel into a banquet. I tried writing in different places, away from the washing, the kettle, the distractions. I locked myself away from my young children. I get up at 5am. I had rewards lined up for when I finish. I tried to keep some other things going, like regular exercise. I tried to use pomodoro techniques. I tidied my space. I read Atomic Habits and a lot of other books… some great, others less so.

It turns out the accountability partner had a point: I need self compassion. I need to see how far I’ve come. I need to see all the conflicting things that have impacted this so far: two children, a pandemic, different jobs, ill health, house moves, all sorts of other stuff going on. It’s a minor miracle I’ve written anything. I enjoy writing when I do it. I don’t enjoy the conflict with all the other things, the shame, the feeling that I’m not good enough. But these aren’t things to be ashamed of. And so..? And so, for me, there are two hurdles:

1) just starting.

2) self compassionate realism: I am doing a very hard thing, in exceptionally hard circumstances. And I should be so so proud of the fact that it’s over 2/3rds done! Some days are better than others, just like with running or anything else in life. And like running, only a small portion of it is the cardiovascular fitness, the rest is in my head.

That’s reductionist. Both things can seem impossible. I keep trying. I hope to come back here and say I did it.

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I feel like I have procrastinated all my life and it's even kept me away 'ill' from school for months. I made it through school and university by realizing I could do hardly any work and still pass with good grades, but that didn't fix the underlying problem. In adult life, it's been no better. I preach 'good enough' to myself all the time and totally believe in it. However, I've come to suspect that what I call 'good enough' is actually perfectionism that I'm trying to hide or rationalize away. It's also fear, boredom, no sense of purpose for anything 'work'-related. On the other side there are so many fun projects that I'd want to do (hobbies) that I also don't do, as I don't have the mental energy to get going even when I do have time after work and 'kids' are done for the day (are they ever?). I crave freedom, or the feeling of freedom. When I feel free, I can get so much done, but it's never the things I 'should' be doing. I need to make time and mental space now to face this issue and work on the solution. I know it's out there. Good luck everyone, we can do it.

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I procrastinate out of fear and anxiety, rooted in my perfectionism. I procrastinate especially if I do not have a hard deadline. There is a glimmer of hope in knowing that procrastinating is a rather common (non) endeavour. Generally, once I start working on the task I was procrastinating, I enjoy it and like to keep going - and regret a bit not having started it earlier!

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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I have been a chronic procrastinator for almost my entire life. I've always struggled with an extreme version of perfectionism and belief that things mustn't go badly. When working on anything, the discomfort caused by the actual, imperfect reality of what I do, compared to the unformed perfect version in my head grows to be so unbearable that I switch to something else just to make it go away. That is until the discomfort of a potential missed deadline grows so much that I have to start work to make that go away. Almost always, that isn't until the time available is not enough to do a good job.

Or I get stuck in paralysis by analysis stage. Again, berating myself for not knowing everything, thinking maybe there is something else to read or know that will allow the perfect version to be made, or be 100% certain I'm not going to get something wrong.

As well as formal settings, it impacts me in personal life. Sending emails or making phonecalls can send me into a spiral as I worry so much that I'll say the wrong thing or not the perfect thing. So I put them off, to make that go away, to the detriment of many of my personal relationships (also meant I was hopeless on the dating apps)

Like, I imagine, many others, the response isn't to learn and improve, but to berate myself harder for procrastinating each time, and the resultant underachievement. Just causing an ever deeper spiral.

Over the years I've made some improvements, but it isn't linear and some I'm better in some areas than others

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Ever since I was a kid, when the time comes to work "heads down" on a task I feel this pang of loneliness in my chest. As if I have to leave my own birthday party. It's even worse since I started working from home (alone). I try to mitigate it with background music, talk radio, or podcasts, but as my work becomes more complex or challenging those become too much of a distraction. Once I start to get some traction in the task, those feelings subside. I have to work very hard to remind mindself the feeling will be temporary, it's not a "fact" how lonely I am in the bigger picture of my life, the task itself is the key to getting past the feeling, rather than finding a more effective distraction (which becomes its own procrastination task).

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testing

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I had been ill for a few days, and I was improving a bit. On this morning, I had decided to block Netflix, which I was using for entertainment whilst resting for recovery. Along with my mums expectation, I decided this particular morning I would get some tasks/to-dos done. The thought, the image of how I expected to spend my day and with no relief through Netflix produced negative emotions that I did not have principles, skills and tools to manage and I found a route to distract and eleviate myself from the uncomfortable feelings.

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I had been ill for a few days, and I was improving a bit. On this morning, I had decided to block Netflix, which I was using for entertainment whilst resting for recovery. Along with my mums expectation, I decided this particular morning I would get some tasks/to-dos done. The thought, the image of how I expected to spend my day and with no relief through Netflix produced negative emotions that I did not have principles, skills and tools to manage and I found a route to distract and eleviate myself from the uncomfortable feelings.

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If I don't start, it will be forever perfect

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If I don't start, it will be forever perfect

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I have been working on a business idea for a few years. I know I need to proactively reach out to people I know (past clients, former colleagues, casual connections) in my professional network to build this business because new work for this business won't magically appear at my doorstep. I keep putting off reaching out because I feel embarrassed, afraid, and anxious about what people will think of me and of not "getting it right". So long as I don't take action, the business idea remains "perfect" in my imagination and non-existent in reality.

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I'm a Ph.D. student and I took an entire year to write a 15-page proposal paper for my dissertation. Most mornings that year I would lay in bed and dread how far behind I was, how it was going to affect my future progress toward my degree, how stupid I must appear to others for taking so long to do something so simple. It was only when I started being nicer to myself and setting reasonable goals that I was able to suddenly able to finish the proposal.

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I used to be late, most of the time. During school time, and university.
Yet, punctuality turned out to only be the tip of the iceberg, the real problem being procrastination. At first, invisible — I easily coped with school, with university, never had to study a lot.

The first warning signs were my A-level exams: I went far too much into detail with the written exam, couldn't finish it. Luckily, the very good content could outweigh the missing parts. The oral exam was a disaster waiting to happen: Scheduled on Monday morning, I started learning on Sunday, cramming for the exam like there was no tomorrow, only to end up with a complete mental blank during the exam and the worst mark I’d ever had in this subject.

The phrase “I could be excellent if I worked harder...” (or rather: “I could have been … if I had worked harder”) had to serve as an excuse for years – until I finally realized the arrogance in it, and that I simply didn’t manage to work harder. That other students achieved much more: better results with much less effort and stress, consistent work and steady advancement.

I suffered a lot from being perceived as over-promising and unreliable with regard to deadlines, since trustworthiness is a crucial character trait for me.

During school and university, my schedule was always packed: lectures and seminars, social activities, working, meeting friends … Somehow, things always worked out, possibly a certain level of “giftedness” or talent had helped to mask methodological deficits over the years. But at some point, shame and guilt were omnipresent. I had developed a procrastination that almost ruined me, in professional and private life, and also financially.

The positive exception: practical things like child care, household chores etc. weren't so difficult, procrastination seemed to be a pure work-and-study problem.

I wish I had read about procrastination and coping strategies much earlier, would have spared me and my loved ones a bit of drama…

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It's great to read I'm not alone. I procrastinate at work because I've realised I'm in the wrong career and not only do I not enjoy it, I've been told I'm bad at my job but am not given access to training or improvement. I struggle with copywriting and my bosses solution is to make me use AI which I resent because I'm never going to get better if I use it. This toolkit is helping me realise that I procrastinate when I'm unhappy as not starting a task feels safer than being told I've done a bad job at it. I am hardly looking for a new job as I struggle to fit it in - perhaps I'm procrastinating that too? I choose to remember that I won't be in this job forever and if my boss wants me to use AI, I can use it and it doesn't reflect badly on me that I wanted to learn and improve properly.

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Good morning, my dear co-procrastinators :-)

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Good morning, my dear co-procrastinators :-)

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Procrastinating by reading / researching about procrastination is the pinnacle of procrastinating.

So, guys, it's Friday:

If you are not new to this board, but have developed the habit of returning to this bookmarked board to see what's new ... or see if your post has gained more likes ... or just re-read some of the posts you already know so well ...

Use this very momentum as a friendly motivational kick and do 5 min of today's (or this week's) most procrastinated task. NOW :-)

...

Try it. 5 min to see how it's going.

Be proud of yourself afterwards!

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My procrastination has just ballooned in the last few years. I have a new(ish) job with not much structure, and I am finding I do not function well this way, and I am getting worse. When I started three years ago, I wrote 5 good pieces the first year. Last year, I wrote 1. My self confidence has taken a huge hit, and I am no longer believing I even have the ability to get past this.

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So I have suffered with an repetitive strain injury that I got at work. After years of suffering and pain, I found a third physio that knew exactly how to go about healing me. They gave me exercises that actually work, but I am procrastinating doing my physio exercises (I've never considered myself an exercising type of person anyway) and am now stalling my full recovery.

The physio therapist is wonderful and the exercises work, but I just feel like I have let them down and I am still in pain because of my delay tactics.

I always seem to find something else to do or someone else to do something for before I will ever put myself first, or I get too tired because I spent all day putting everyone else first.

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I procrastinate so much when it comes to recording my time and invoicing... so I let my finances become really bad before I force myself to get the job done. I love my job, and I love getting paid (obviously)... I never really thought about the role of impostor syndrome in my procrastination but reading others' posts I identify so much!

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A few years back I went for a secondment opportunity and moved over from my main job to start at the same time as 2 colleagues. My line manager asked me to carry on with the main job until they got a temp I worked massively long days trying to balance 2 different roles for 4 months then got burnt out badly. The burnout connected with some very real CPTSD I hadn’t experienced since my teenage years and included intrusive thoughts and scary flashbacks. I tried to carry on but hit a wall. Being single with a mortgage I had to keep on working though I wasn’t really mentally well enough. Since then I procrastinate a lot and struggle with motivating myself to start even though I stress myself out there’s still an illogical part that thinks better this way than burn out, which is stupid. Had counselling for the CPTSD which worked for self regulation but I still procrastinate & disliked that I do it. I am always waiting on best time to start rather than getting in with it, never used to be like this & it’s hard.

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I've always been a procrastinator. My mum used to have to sit me down and watch me do my homework. By the time I was in high school, I would often end up waking up at 4am to finish it because I would waste so much time the night before. I got through uni partly because of a boyfriend who was in a lot of the same classes as me - the relationship motivated me to stay on top of my work. It took me nearly 2 extra years to finish my PhD, partly because a lot of things went wrong in the project and my personal life, and also partly because I really struggled to motivate myself to finish (what was admittedly a very hard task!) I finally submitted it at 11pm on the day it was due after 3 extensions. I have had a few academic jobs since but am currently unemployed, and it's hard not to see my unemployment as not just being about academia falling apart but also my slowness with publishing. I've wasted so much time doing endless job applications (which I also procrastinate on because they are dreadful), which has sucked the energy out of me to write. But I also really struggle to keep a steady pace of writing because, like most tasks, I seem to be most successful if I am under a lot of pressure and am writing at 2am. It makes me feel terrible working that way, but what is even worse is not publishing, which feeds into all my insecurities about my (lack of) career, my inadequacy as an academic and my lack of prospects. I did finally get a really big paper submitted a few months ago - I need to find a way to use that as a lesson that I'm not just a failure.

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Prioritization is a skill that I don't do well. And I have so much to do at any given time that I can shut down for hours in overwhelm.

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I have achieved lots of things in life but it is in spite of extreme procrastination which I feel embarassed and ashamed of. I feel like I cover this up from almost everyone, and somehow have avoided being 'found out'. My partner tends to just get on with things, whilst I get lost in my thoughts about doing them. I wonder what my life would be like if I could have put the energy into doing things, instead of avoiding doing things. I have lots of great ideas, but then get bored of the ideas I instigated and don't see them through. Maybe I take on too much or have too much of an idealistic vision of what could be achieved. My favourite distractions are sorting and tidying the house, as it gives me a feeling of success and control.

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Work is the ultimate procrastination zone

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Work is the ultimate procrastination zone

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I've noticed the strongest emotions for me are around professional work and after that voluntary work. Anything where I will be judged, where I have to make decisions or put pen to paper. When I was younger was always told: 'Just do it, stop worrying about it' but I didn't know how to do it.

I don't procrastinate about turning up to work, picking up my kids from school or tidying the house, or making dinner - like maybe a bit, but these tasks are low-stress for me compared to my actual work and they do get done on time most of the time. I am hoping to help my kids to do their own tasks with less angst and fear using what I learnt.

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I'm struggling to start work on a new project at work because I know that once I get started the plans that I have in my mind won't go smoothly and will fall apart. It won't be the perfect thing that I want it to be.

And now of course, I'm getting behind on the work and that's adding to my stress and anxiety.

But reading other people's experiences does help to know that I'm not alone.

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Whenever I have to do anything, I get an extremely intense attack of anxiety. It bores a hole in my stomach and my chest, it feels like an anchor. My mind goes blank, I feel hot, I can't breathe, I get a rush of adrenaline, and I just physically can't do it. This is true even for routine things like showering and shaving, let alone actual difficult tasks. I end up getting nothing done because it's just so overwhelming, so overstimulating, and I just can't physically bear it, even if I want to. I have no solution, I have no answers, nothing I've tried has helped. I can't take it anymore. I'm just not good enough. I'm not good enough. I'm not good enough. I'm not good enough.

Whenever--once on a blue moon--I do complete a task, it's invariably rubbish. Not just by my own standards, but by those of others. This naturally reproduces the feelings of insufficiency and self-hatred and makes other tasks even harder in the future. I'm just not good enough. I'm worthless. I'm useless. I'm not good at anything no matter how hard I try. I can't do this anymore.

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We moved into the new house five years ago. There is no number installed on the home. The house doesn't have a backyard and also the deck construction has not been completed. I looking to do a perfect deck from a perfect deck builder with reasonable price. I feel ashamed of procrastinating and that is further delaying all this. It is embarassing. My sister/brother-in-law who bought house last year already have done more things in a year than I have managed in 5 years. It is further depressing about what my wife thinks about me. Feels so under whelming

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42, still getting stuck but trying something new! 

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42, still getting stuck but trying something new! 

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I have (negative) memories from childhood of starting with great intentions and not finishing things (big and small projects) because at some point I got worried about people's judgement. It was (and is still) reinforced by the self-criticism of my work ("perfectionist" here 👋). This started 30 years ago (ish) and it has not really changed yet. I set the bar high in my head, and then tell myself I am not able to get there... so I don't start (or never finish) for fear of not delivering to that perfect standard. It has cost me career moves. It holds me back at work today. I find it really hard to apply to other jobs for fear of failure. It also costs me every day in my family life: Sh*t that should be repaired and that is not because I worry I won't do a good job of it (and don't want to pay for it to be done)... Weekends or date nights not organised because I can't decide between two slightly sub-optimal options... Wife hates it. I hate it. Took me a while to understand it's all about the emotions I am bottling up and avoiding. Here I am, hoping the TEMPO approach can help me tame these emotions and get on with a happier life!! (Good luck to you all! 💪)

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In my youth, family pressure made me procrastinate, but last-minute stress always pushed me to finish tasks. Now, in my older years, a lack of social connection and external deadlines leaves me stuck in a vicious cycle of slacking, guilt, and self-hate. This leads to avoidant behaviours. Hopefully, this Tempo will help me understand what I am actually doing and feeling.

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In my youth, family pressure made me procrastinate, but last-minute stress always pushed me to finish tasks. Now, in my older years, a lack of social connection and external deadlines leaves me stuck in a vicious cycle of slacking, guilt, and self-hate. This leads to avoidant behaviours. Hopefully, this Tempo will help me understand what I am actually doing and feeling.

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Anxiety and self-doubt fuels the flame of procrastination, but I am the one who holds the lighter.

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I feel that I can't do my tasks as I want them to. I feel ashamed and guilty about doing it as I know I will fail. I push off doing it later and then either watch TV or play video games. It has become very frustrating and makes it difficult to do my task.

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My procrastination stems from my deep routed 'imposter' syndrome - Despite being 20+ years into a professional career where I have risen to a reasonably senior level, I live constantly in fear of being found out. I catastrophise what will happen to me and my family when this 'eventually' happens. I just want to feel contented and settled instead of living with this.

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I always feel so guilty and dissapointed in myself when I procrastinate

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I've recently hit a bit of a wall of burnout and have found even very simple tasks in my day to day job overwhelming. I've spoken to a coach about ways that I can combat this, I feel like I can though!

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Once I know what I would need to do, I struggle to complete it. My interest just leaves. The more complex the task is, the more rapidly I lose interest after I know what to do.

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I may or may not be currently reading all these posts as my current way of procrastinating 😅

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I waited so long to do the task (social club accounts) that it led to a mad rush, with only hours remaining) and the final result was nowhere near as good as it could have been. Embarrassing and frustrating!

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I procrastinate my triathlon training, then just before a race I panic and think I haven't done enough. I then wonder why I never seem to get any better. 

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I procrastinate my triathlon training, then just before a race I panic and think I haven't done enough. I then wonder why I never seem to get any better. 

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I find I overthink everything and then I end up not starting when I intended as I'm so mentally drained. I am also a perfectionist so that impacts what I do as I get overwhelmed instead of just getting on with it.

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For most of my time as a college student, I have struggled with severe procrastination. No matter how much I love my research or classes, I can't seem to force myself to do the work. I always think my work won't be good enough, so I end up wasting hours on social media/the internet to avoid it. I've tried breaking assignments up into small chunks, setting days aside for longer work sessions, etc., but I always end up submitting at 11.59PM. I almost always get excellent grades too, which makes me feel worse, because surely I would have done even better work if I had started earlier. I feel like a fraud, and I feel really trapped in this prison of procrastination. It's especially damaging now as a graduate student with a thesis to write. I really want to break this habit.

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I promise myself that this time will be different-but it never is. Suddenly the skirting boards need cleaning and it's apparently more important than writing my essay!

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I promise myself that this time will be different-but it never is. Suddenly the skirting boards need cleaning and it's apparently more important than writing my essay!