Oh SNAP! They’ve got me pegged!
“Procrastination is an emotion regulation problem, not a time management problem,” says psychologist
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Pro-level procrastination is when you put off the fun stuff too.
I’m really good at procrastination. I hate it. I’ll tell you guys all about it later.
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To read later?
Me too. Heh.
I’m a chronic procrastinator.
This email is still sitting, unopened, in my work inbox from last year.
At first I was offhandedly amused that I kept putting it off. Now it just sits there. Every day. Meh. Some day I’ll either read it, or delete it. But apparently not TOday.
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Went looking for “miniskirt warriors” and found this. And now three hours of clicking later I regret everything.
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I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately, and have brought up the “emotional journey of writing code” to a few colleagues ( I work with all women, so you get to say riskier, more vulnerable things…
) Namely, the elation of an idea, the paralysis of realizing that debugging ajax-heavy apps is a nightmare, then the long, heart-wremching stuckness with a hidden error, then humiliation and self loathing whn it’s a misplaced semicolon…AGAIN. Finally elation again of getting over the hump, but wanting to stop and savor the victory and not soil it with the next stressful challenge. Knowing I’m about to walk into that again leads me to all kinds of time wasting. And that’s for exciting tasks, to say kothing of when hand-de-duplicating records is on my plate.
I feel this. I waste time at the beginning, middle and end of the cycle on boingboing, and I know when I put off boingboing for an hour or two at the start of work I feel better. I also try to draw rather than bbs sometimes when my mind breaks, to disengage without re-engaging in bbs stuff and really let my brain float. That break can be so productive if used right. I couldn’t solve a problem at work for 30 mins, stepped aeay from my desk, and the solution immediately arrived in my head.
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Actually, the anime Mouretsu Space Pirates is based on a novel unfortunately titled Miniskirt Space Pirates. And it’s even better than it sounds!
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I don’t know if that was intentional, but my latest revelation in this realm is that it’s counter productive to beat yourself up about stuff like this. So, if you procrastinate in the morning, don’t let it ruin your afternoon too by getting all angry or sad with yourself but rather accept that it went poorly and try to do better.
C’est la vie.
Or as my brother would say “You can’t always roll a six”.
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This was spot on!!! Its a viscous cycle of self sabatoge. Put off= I’m a loser rumination= repeat! Sometimes I can catch when in doing it but mostly its automatic.
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I think you mean ‘vicious’ 
. But viscous is quite applicable too, as it feels viscous. Like wading through sirup.
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I think you mean “syrup” unless you’ve been procrastinating since the 15th century… 
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"People engage in this irrational cycle of chronic procrastination because of an inability to manage negative moods around a task.”
Okay. I buy that. But couldn’t another factor involve the inability to see the benefit in performing a task? Going further, could some procrastination be based on a conscious, rational decision that a task has no worthwhile benefit?
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probably english is not my first language.
The only reason I corrected the ‘viscous’ was that I wanted to make the (admittedly rather lame) syrup joke, and then I spell syrup wrong 
ah well. off to bed.
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I still liked your joke! 
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Boingboing is my biggest procrastination destination…damn you!
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I think that there are also probably multiple reasons people procrastinate. To try to lump it all under one monolith is, despite being its own kind of odd human compulsion, probably inaccurate and not too useful.
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Most people want to make themselves useful.
I’ve a hunch laziness is often a response to feeling forced or coerced into doing something you don’t want to do.
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To me this is unequivocally true in a very large way. I have suffered greatly with the agonizing repurcussions that have come from my procrastination and avoidance habits,that I’ve practiced this past year. It’s a relief just to read this article. Procrastination and putting things off,is most definitely a way of coping with scary,negative and unwanted emotions,that are tied to things,(important things),that we are facing in our lives. Thank you.
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“I’d gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today”
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While this is true, it doesn’t work that way regarding procrastination. At least for me. I can procrastinate for hours just because I have a hard time starting. While the thing I’m starting actually is something I want to do and like to do.
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I, for one, will first read the comments on this topic and try to think of a way to make self-deprecating funny comments.
The fact that I am extending my tea break for even writing this - is that self-care or self-harm?
ETA: read the comments. Happy Cake Day, @inactivist, and welcome to BB both @Easily_Distracted and @stacildcobey. The fact that you signed up to comment on procrastination shows that you can get shit done.
Now, let’s work on those “repercussions” viscous vicious circles, shall we? I suggest we smash the system which forces us to a) pursue a strange form of ‘happiness’ and b) expects us to be productive in an even stranger form.
How about the pitchfork and guillotine solution?
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