# anxiety causing procrastination



## orchdorch925 (Aug 26, 2010)

Ok, I am a veteran procrastinator. I wait until the last possible second to do my homework. I try not to, but once I sit down to do something, I get anxious and so, as a consequence, I avoid doing it. Also, there's the whole rush of adrenaline when turning something in last second. It sucks, the stress, but I don't know how to overcome it. As it is, I have 3 major projects due soon and I can't seem to get myself started on them. Well, one of them, but still. It's like this feeling of too much pressure and I'd much rather waste my time playing games or coming on here than doing actual work. It also doesn't help that I'm often tired so my mind just isn't up to doing such strenuous thinking. Anyone else who can help or relate? And, before you ask, yes, I'm on meds, but they don't help the homework anxiety. :afr


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## Antis (Nov 2, 2010)

I have the same problem right now. I recently left it to the last lunch hour to do a 1500-word draft essay, I ended up doing 1000 words and lying about the word count (hope I don't get caught). Most of my time right now is consumed playing Black Ops and Runescape, in my final year before university.....

I never had this problem to this extent last year, but I find working away from home works best, that way you can't get near the games. What I'll be doing is, get a decent amount of sleep and head to the public library. Once you're there, you know why you're there and it should be easier to not get distracted.


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## Giraffe (Sep 7, 2010)

Orch, you sound like a perfectionist. (Takes one to know one...) Perfectionism is a major cause of anxiety. If you haven't already, you should check out _The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook_ which has some ideas about how to fight perfectionism.

One thing I decided on with my therapist was to make a three-column to-do list each day. In the first column, I would list the best case scenario ("Clean the whole house from attic to basement and do my homework for the next two weeks."); in the third column, I would list the worst case (but still acceptable) scenario ("Wash only whatever dishes I dirty today and do only the homework that's due tomorrow."); then in the middle column, I would strike a compromise between the two ("Wash dishes from today, clean the bathroom, do the homework that's due tomorrow, and read the next chapter from whatever textbook.")

Whereas before, I had tended to feel like a failure if I didn't get my best case scenario to do list done, I now feel like I can be a bit more lenient with myself if I at least get the minimum done. It's all about eliminating all-or-nothing thinking.


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## orchdorch925 (Aug 26, 2010)

Thanks, Giraffe! I probably should check that out. I am kind of a perfectionist, so yeah.  I do realize I'm setting much too high expectations for myself, thinking that I can get everything done in one afternoon or one weekend. I am trying to work on that for myself, but I might just get that book to help me out.


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## BluePhoenix54 (Sep 20, 2010)

Wow that sounds like how I am. =/
For some reason I always tend to put off assignments until the last few days or so. Right now I have a test tomorrow and i'm still studying despite having the study guide for about a week already. I then get all nervous thinking about it I can't study well, that and I start getting anxious about going to the college the next day.


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## seafolly (Jun 17, 2010)

I have that book! I can't believe I missed that bit.

Yes I can relate to this. I open the textbook to study and I stare blankly at the page not even reading because I'm too hyped up about doing well in the classes I care about. It got to the point where I didn't/couldn't study for my last midterm and didn't even write it. Ouch. Last minute papers are always the way. My ten page research paper was started the night before it was due...awful. But typical for me.


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## nothing to fear (Mar 23, 2005)

Yes, it sucks. It was always bad in high school and I hoped to get rid of the habit by college but since September it's just been getting worse and worse. Now it has gotten to the point where I leave so much to the last minute that I get very anxious about getting it done on time, I call myself all those very nice names to make myself feel "better", then I give up as I can't get it in on time. I'll decide to hand it in late but I still procrastinate about it and I get so much anxiety about going to my teacher to hand it in that I don't end up doing it. 

I don't know how my procrastination just gets worse when its more important, when there's more than one thing to do or when there isn't much time left. It's pretty bad. =/


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## LessThanThree (Oct 5, 2010)

If you figure out the solution to this, let me know, because it's exactly what I'm doing at the moment.


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## seafolly (Jun 17, 2010)

It's awful when it effects exam studying because you can't push those - it's set at a certain time, no ifs ands or buts!


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## anonymid (Oct 16, 2005)

Yeah, I'm a procrastinator/perfectionist, too. It's been a few years now since I've been in school, but writing papers was a major problem for me. Somehow I always responded to the pressure of the last minute and was able to do acceptable work, but it finally caught up to me in grad school, where I wasn't able to get away with last-minute BS anymore. By that point I was completely paralyzed, and I wasn't even able to make myself write at the last minute anymore. I blew off papers completely, took incompletes in a bunch of courses, and dropped out before ever finishing them.

I'm not doing anything with my life now, but the problem is still there. If I'm ever going to become a functional person again, I'm going to have to deal with my procrastination/perfectionism/anxiety issues. In my case I think it has a lot to do with ADD, but I'm not sure.


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## Attica! Attica! (Oct 8, 2008)

Giraffe said:


> Orch, you sound like a perfectionist. (Takes one to know one...) Perfectionism is a major cause of anxiety. If you haven't already, you should check out _The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook_ which has some ideas about how to fight perfectionism.
> 
> One thing I decided on with my therapist was to make a three-column to-do list each day. In the first column, I would list the best case scenario ("Clean the whole house from attic to basement and do my homework for the next two weeks."); in the third column, I would list the worst case (but still acceptable) scenario ("Wash only whatever dishes I dirty today and do only the homework that's due tomorrow."); then in the middle column, I would strike a compromise between the two ("Wash dishes from today, clean the bathroom, do the homework that's due tomorrow, and read the next chapter from whatever textbook.")
> 
> Whereas before, I had tended to feel like a failure if I didn't get my best case scenario to do list done, I now feel like I can be a bit more lenient with myself if I at least get the minimum done. It's all about eliminating all-or-nothing thinking.


ugh, that makes so much sense! I will try this. I have major procrastination and perfectionism problems.. If I can't do everything I want to get done as best I can, I have a break down and don't do anything at all.. it sucks


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## mooncake (Jan 29, 2008)

I'm procrastinating right now :| I have four essays left to hand in this semester and so I've had to set myself strict sub-deadlines for each, so that I don't end up having to do them all at once. But all I seem to do when I sit down to write them is get all anxious about it and then I end up faffing about on the internet or whatever I can find that's _not_ my work. Even though I've set these deadlines and targets for myself, in the back of my mind is that niggling "don't worry, you still have time... just put it off until tomorrow" type thoughts. So each day I'm not being very productive I promise myself that tomorrow I'll get stuck into the work, but of course the same happens again when tomorrow comes around...

This problem has always been there for me, but obviously being that the work is much harder now that I'm at university, leaving things until the night before just doesn't really work anymore. It's stressful because I will actually start my assignments with plenty of time to spare but I suffer from such writer's block, coupled with the awful procrastination, that progress is minimal.

I think I feel even more stressed because I don't have concrete 'relaxation' time; I'm just always trying to work but not managing to get anything productive done. I'm incredibly envious of those people who manage to lead busy lives yet can still sit down for a few hours in the evening and be productive with their work. The amount of hours in the day I waste is just insane.


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## cat001 (Nov 1, 2010)

Have you heard of 'Student Syndrome'? I suffer from that terribly lol, always waiting till the last minute, avoiding work till the very end...though i don't mean to avoid it, it's just a peculiar anxiety about doing it...


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