What Procrastination Looks Like from the Inside

What exactly is procrastination? Let's explore it and what it really looks like from the inside.

Follow us on all the things:

Research for this video provided by: Farah Mahmud

"The Show Must Be Go”, “Carefree”, “Life of Riley”, “Bittersweet”
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

[mlwgurl]

The worst is when there is a large daunting project with NO deadline - but it still needs to get done...

[Ahrpigi]

My ADHD "procrastinate then do it later with the time pressure motivation" very frequently gets sabotaged my anxious depression "you'll fail anyway so don't bother." So I end up worrying about it the entire time the deadline is coming, feeling just as bad as if I'd already failed, while still being unable to actually start it. It's so frustrating when the positive, superpower parts of ADHD get hijacked by the comorbidities.

[rondalynn]

Thank you for this. Tears in my eyes, seeing myself in every word. Procrastination is literally a part of my every day life😔 Both active and passive. The hardest part is doing the daily tasks that will obviously change your future, like writing that book, or starting that business, or taking that course… but what do you do when you have no deadline to Make you finally start? What can you use for motivation?🥺

[michaelchildish]

The Tim Urban Ted Talk "inside the mind of a master procrastinator" is also really good. Procrastination regarding Tasks with deadlines, which usually result in at least *something* being achieved, even if not best work;

As opposed to a life-ruining, procrastination over your own life goals. No deadline, won't even *try*. It never happens, tragic.

[Joselle_b]

I’m procrastinating right now by watching this video😭

[mrsmarlasinger]

That was so wholesome! I tend to get confused over how long things actually take in general, and procrastination is a big issue in it as well, as it’s hard for me to hit the sweet spot of „close enough to get into the hyperfocus zone“ and not slide into „oh dang, now I’m totally stressed out because the pressure is too high“.

[mamzellenoodolls]

What about when you keep procrastinating on things (even things you like and get pleasure out of) because you feel stuck and your brain keeps getting drawn to faster and easier dopamine-giving sources?

I don't feel like it feels quite like passive anxiety-perfectionism driven procrastination, but doesn't feel like active deliberate procrastination either.

[RomanyFree]

Watching this as I lie in bed avoiding returning the phone call I missed this morning. 😂
I'm definitely a passive procrastinator. I've known for years that my procrastinating is a response to anxiety and overwhelm. If I even start to think about a task or project that causes anxiety, my brain changes the subject. It happens so automatically that it can be hard to catch myself doing it. Sometimes I can be quite productive and do tons of other tasks, but I still haven't found a great way to just make myself do the thing.

[beckyginger]

I just got on adhd medication and just made a dentist appointment the 1st in years! Wish me luck

[annabron]

Does anyone else have an issue with procrastinating even with activities that you love? I don't just procrastinate to put off deadlines and work, I do it with hobbies that I want to practise, friends I want to see, replying to messages from people I love, going for a walk etc. Of course, having GAD does not help with motivation because it makes you scared of everything 😅😑

[judyg]

The problem with actively putting something off until the last minute is that it's usually accompanied by a wildly over-optimistic concept of how much time it will take to complete the task, and a complete disregard for anything else that could come up (or already has come up) to make that last-minute rush futile. An example: I successfully started most of my college papers the night before, but I had no idea that a 20 page paper (for an 8 a.m. class, of course :) ) would take so much longer than a 3-page paper, especially when using an old manual typewriter...LOL! :)

[cwalsh-thebabysocialworker]

You are my hero for showing how you lost your tooth. I’m 32 in university and just got treatment finally but I never knew I had ADHD I just thought I was terrible! Your channel helps me feel less alone. You are amazing!

[vivica]

I struggle with this so much! I literally failed my very last exam because of procrastination. It's kind of like... the more important something is, the more difficult it is to start. I feel so seen.

[ArchMageMoks]

Awesome work. I'm in the process of getting diagnosed after seeing your video on "tell me you have ADHD without telling me you have ADHD" it started off a funny similarity but quickly dropped into "Oh.... oh no. This hit way too close to home to be a coincidence." Thank you for your videos! They've been a great help! P.s. I'm also missing a tooth because I procrastinated on going to the dentist.

[michaeldurkin]

I feel like sometimes I procrastinate because the thing I have to do bores me to tears. I don't really want to do it, so I don't. Other times, I procrastinate because it is complex and I need to get some kind of actionable plan together that I can act on. Typically, for me, the act of putting together the plan is exciting and I do not procrastinate that once I have a good starting point. But, I will get bored with actually implementing the plan. I would rather delegate that to someone else so I can go back to planning the next big thing. One of my old co-workers called me the 'Idea Man'. I came up with the ideas, the rest of the team implemented them. It was a good fit for my brain.

[OriSnori]

Im excited for this video...procrastinators blame themselves when usually they arent able to acknowledge the obstacles standing in their ways.

[tainadeoliveira]

I'm definitely a passive procastinator and I feel exactly how you mentioned... I experience myself doing it both to reduce anxiety and because I don't feel confident that I can do the task. I end up doing the task eventually feeling really bad about my performance, not doing it at all (if it is really bad) or feeling VERY tired. Even finishing the task seems harder than if I had just faced it head on, from the beginning.

Though sometimes I procrastinate accidentally because I forget what I am supposed to do

[grantzimmerman]

This is great. I'm always a big fan of 'Name it to tame it, ' and 'Label to disable' strategies, so breaking it down as active and passive is really helpful.

[jenniebeez]

I used to do a lot of active procrastination when I was in university and I didn't understand *why* I had to clean my entire house before I did any schoolwork. The benefit was my house was clean but I would leave my work to the last possible minute. I just went with it and accepted that I had to do this, but I deeply wish I knew I had ADHD earlier (I was diagnosed at age 31, many years past university). Sigh! Thanks for the video ☺️

[davidkistler]

I've found that fighting my procrastination urges is counterproductive, resulting in a lot of self-criticism and self-hatred but not much productivity. So instead, I worked out a way to leverage my procrastination tendencies. Whenever I encounter something I want to do instead of what I should be doing, I can procrastinate doing the thing I want to do and put off procrastinating the thing I should do. This will transform something I'm very adept at (procrastination) from a liability into an asset by procrastinating my procrastination. It's the perfect solution because it plays to my strengths!

At least, that's the theory. I'll get around to testing it out one of these days.