Bit of a tangent (I know we all love those), I was writing about the Eisenhower Decision Matrix recently. Might be of interest to anyone struggling to prioritise things…

Introducing the Eisenhower Matrix

(that’s not my article BTW, it’s the main source I used)

OP chronic procrastinator here too and, like you, it has cost me dearly over the years.

I’m still trying to deal with it but a few things have has helped me, mainly simplifying tasks. I read “complexity is the enemy of execution” somewhere and it resonated with me. I’m a bit of a perfectionist and over thinker as well.

So, I would procrastinate about going on a ride due to all the faff of getting ready. I now make sure I have all my riding kit accessible before Saturday morning and have the bike in the car Friday night. I go out first thing so it’s just stepping into my gear and then into the car.

Another useful exercise was deliberately only allowing a short time to complete certain tasks eg mowing the lawns usually took me around 45 mins but I would then set a 30 min timer to just get it done. I carried that over to other stuff.

The other thing that helped me was getting my thoughts organised. Sometimes it’s the jumble of stuff you have to get done that is the obstacle.

Good luck and I hope some of that ramble helped.

Make a list and then do one and only one off it day. It really is that easy.

I do this at work and simply go home when I achieve my daily goal.

Forget ‘medical’ diagnoses, it’s just part of the normal range of human character traits.

Unless it isn’t then a medical diagnosis and appropriate treatment make life livable.

OP, I would explore an ADHD (with or without hyperactivity) diagnosis. It sounds a lot like it tbh. If you’ve got money then just go private as NHS can be a joke depending here you live. If anyone says “it’s just putting a label on yourself and it doesn’t change anything” they can sack off. Even if you have no interest in medication, it’s so so useful to understand your disorder and once you understand how your brain works then it helps 100% to figure out ways to help yourself. There are some great Facebook groups and online resources to help manage your work and life taking into account the way your brain works.

I’ve put off replying to this.

Thanks everyone lots of thoughts and stuff to read. I’ll do that later…

A procrastinator club does sound epic in its doomed to failure.

I have actually arranged a workplace “study club” for a few of us who have stuff to do… degrees, chartership etc. First meeting next week… We’ll see how that goes.

once you understand how your brain works then it helps 100% to figure out ways to help yourself.

Many of us probably have a good idea of how our own brains work. The people who really need this information are our bosses!

A diagnosis may help with that too.

Many of us probably have a good idea of how our own brains work.

Not so sure about that. Lot of people don’t seem to know what the best learning style is for them.

Not so sure about that. Lot of people don’t seem to know what the best learning style is for them.

Possibly just as well then that education thinking is moving away from the idea of learning styles altogether then?

A fair amount of research evidence coming through now that suggests that there are certain ‘universal’ elements to learning (especially in terms of recall and retrieval) that work regardless of personal preference or individual need.

Bookmarking thread…

Oh yes recognise all that.

Can you ditch stuff that you feel you ‘ought’ to do but don’t want to or can’t actually manage?

Even look at stuff like 5/3/1 task allocation – sounds perverse to suggest stuff that forces you to get on with things but maybe it’s the fear of making the start.

Even starting to make a list of what you’ll need for a task (repairing bust tyre) is an achievement.

Funnily enough starting isn’t a huge problem unless I really don’t want to do it.

Interestingly I don’t tend to do stuff I want to do in place of tedious tasks. I seem to have the “you should do this before you have fun” then just sit there not doing it while I think about all the other things I could do.

A fair amount of research evidence coming through now that suggests that there are certain ‘universal’ elements to learning (e

Largely as a complement to what we understand about visual vs auditory vs reading as the most efficient way to remember/ recall but also, and more importantly, understand information. That’s what I was referring to.

Funnily enough starting isn’t a huge problem unless I really don’t want to do it.

Interestingly I don’t tend to do stuff I want to do in place of tedious tasks. I seem to have the “you should do this before you have fun” then just sit there not doing it while I think about all the other things I could do.

Which is pretty common to both procrastinators and folks with things like adhd. If you don’t have enough e.g. dopamine to keep your mind ticking over, doing something unrewarding is really difficult. The tyranny of the shoulda. What happens if you do the fun thing first – are you able to them do the boring stuff?

Interestingly I don’t tend to do stuff I want to do in place of tedious tasks. I seem to have the “you should do this before you have fun” then just sit there not doing it while I think about all the other things I could do.

This rings true with me. lost count of the times i have sat and thought about what i should be doing to get a job finished (that i’ve already started) and not achieved anything!

My current plan is to only have one job on the go at one time (as mentioned above) work steadily to the goal of completing that single task, no matter how small, and (try) not starting anything else until its done.

Interestingly I don’t tend to do stuff I want to do in place of tedious tasks. I seem to have the “you should do this before you have fun” then just sit there not doing it while I think about all the other things I could do.

I get this every week day. I don’t feel like I should go riding when I should be working, but I can’t make my brain work, so I STW all day then it’s too late to go riding and I haven’t done any work either.

It does help to just think **** it and go riding anyway.

In answer to the OP, it does seem you can get treatment for this. There was a lady on Woman’s’ Hour today who did just this, well worth a listen. I started off thinking it was another First World Problem therapy but she made some really good points that got me thinking.