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I'll respond to my own thing so people have more options to respond to for the "Invalid Item"  task.

Do you have problems with procrastination in your own life? What types of tasks do you procrastinate the most on?
Procrastination was a topic during therapy this week, so I figured I'd toss it in here and get some more viewpoints on it. I told my therapist, I've pretty much come to accept that I have zero intrinsic motivation to do anything. If there isn't some kind of external reward or benefit, I'm just not interested. I hate that it is that way, but it just is.

Here's the thing, if something at any point begins to feel like work then I need to be paid to do it or I won't have any interest in doing it. Things start feeling like work for me when:
          - there's no recognition for my doing it. Basically, if I'm treated the same whether I do the thing or not, then the thing doesn't interest me.
          - it's expected that I do it. It's assumed that I'll do the thing and I'll only be acknowledged if I don't do it.

If the above 2 are true, I'll only have motivation to do the thing if I'm being paid. And even then, I'll drag my feet on it. Because a person should be paid for doing work, right?
I've had issues with motivation for these reasons in most aspects of my life. I've had it in relationships, at school, hell, I've even had it here on WDC. Of course, the 'real life' things are a more pressing issue.

Looking at all of the listed causes of procrastination in the article, which ones do you see as being a problem for yourself? Which have you experienced most frequently?
Of the items in the list, this is the big one that stands out:
Being disconnected from the future-self

Having borderline personality disorder, I'm not connected to my future self, my past self, or even my present self. I'm always scrambling at the last minute when I briefly reconnect and realize that there's a red alert thing that needs to be dealt with.
And looking at the list through the lens of BPD, you can throw in Self-sabotage, Impulsivity, Lack of motivation.

Another biggie is task aversion. I'd say over half the time when I'm procrastinating, it's because I physically don't want to do the thing that needs to be done. It's unappealing to me in some way. I don't want to do it to begin with. So if I am going to have to do it, my brain expects some kind of reward for doing the "work" that the tasks requires.

Those don't even begin to cover the perfectionism of OCD.

Taking your list of procrastination causes, what are some things you can think of to overcome procrastination issues?
This is the funny part of therapy or self-examination in general. I don't lack self-awareness. I'm so disconnected from myself that I feel like a third party observer most of the time. I can tell you exactly what the problem is. I can break down the components of a problem and point out specific mechanisms that make it a problem in the first place.

Like, I even started this post out with, "I've accepted that I have no intrinsic motivation." I just don't. I've done everything imaginable to get myself to do schoolwork. I've set up reward systems for myself. I've gone into an empty room and tried to brute force it. I've listened to music or put a movie on as background noise. I've started study groups in the hopes that I'd be motivated while working with others. I've punished myself by not allowing myself to do enjoyable things until I get a paper written or get an assignment done.

What more can a person do? It's just not there for me. If I was getting paid? I'd probably be studying for midterms instead of writing this right now.

Best,

Charlie


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