Can´t gain momentum to work although severe consequences

[JKuehl]

Hello everyone,

in 6 weeks i have to hand in and finish my final thesis for my bachelor degree, and i approximately have only worked on it 60 hours in the last 6 weeks.

This thesis makes up 50% of my final degree, so i know how important this one is and that i should work 8 hours or more per day on it rather than just one...

But it´s so hard for me - the more you know in PD, the more tricks and sneaky ways you find to keep yourself from working...

Usually the last few weeks i spend hundrets of hours watching tv, browsing forums, checking email, chatting, talking to friends, etc etc... instead of working on my thesis.

Well i tried several thing: first of all i shut off telephone and mobile phone, moved every game and icq off from my computer to an exernal hard drive.

Problem is: i need to use the internet for my thesis, as 95% of the work i have to do in php is something i don´t have any experience in and therfore i need to google alot - books are not an alternative for this.

Secondly, i tried something different: i left my room in the morning, went to university in the next city ( not my own! ). Took me about 30 Minutes in the morning and 30 more in the evening. Therefore i had "lost" an hour which would be e severe punishment, if i didn´t accomplish anything in between or work on my thesis.

The second thought for this decision was, to work in the quiet library in another university, because no one knew me there and couldn´t distract me from working.

Today i managed to work 3 hours at home by simply moving my notebook to the kitchen and working from there.. problem was: i had no internet and had to walk 10 times or so to my room to look something up...

I don´t know why i struggle so hard in getting this done or gaining momentum to begin with it... Since 6 hours, i haven´t worked on my thesis, although i only wanted to take an one hour break....

I also tried to break it down into REALLY small pieces, like: (1) write the function that opens the database (2) write the function that opens the textfile (3) write the function that parses the textfile into an array... Didn´t work either.

Big problem maybe is: since i began Personal Development i got into an attitude : "Whatever happens, and whatever i decide: life goes on and it´s not that i´m going to die.." In some things this led to some really great changes in my life, like quitting my part-time-job which stressed me too much - well i haven´t had much income since then - but who cares about money?

When "in the flow" for about half an hour or an hour, it´s not quite that hard to keep working but the SLIGHTEST distraction throws me completely off course, and i think: "Well, so much done already - let´s do xy!" or "Well so much done already - i´ll get my reward!"

So: although i know the painful consequences of procrastinating on this thesis, i can´t get myself to work on it..

I can´t seem to find any concept in any of the PD Material i read in the last 2 years, to overcome that problem ( or at least not develop a way to trick myself and render that technique useless..... )

At least i had SOME success.. As i realized that my headaches and eyeburn couldn´t have been initialized phiysically, but rather as a way of my mind to keep me from working ( "i can´t work or concentrate with that headache!" ) i hadn´t had headaches or eyeburn in 2 weeks - at least everytime it comes up i laugh at myself :"Yeah right, don´t try to fool me and keep me from working this way - it won´t work!"

Edit: the only way i can think of right now to keep me working is something like that: cellar, desk, chair, notebook, crate of water... Don´t let me out till a milestone has been reached. Any distraction as slightest it may be, and off i am from my work to something more pleasurable and fun...

[Antiventurecapital]

Originally Posted by JKuehl

Big problem maybe is: since i began Personal Development i got into an attitude : "Whatever happens, and whatever i decide: life goes on and it´s not that i´m going to die.." In some things this led to some really great changes in my life, like quitting my part-time-job which stressed me too much - well i haven´t had much income since then - but who cares about money?

Are you sure that you didn't get into Personal Sabotage by mistake instead of Personal Development? That is the strangest description of PD I have ever come across.



A couple of years ago, I saw a movie with John Travolta and Scarlett Johansen. It has a title like "The Love Song of Bobby Long" or something similar.

Travolta plays an ex-academic, now alcoholic trying to help Scarlett get into college. In one scene he defines the word procrastination for her as:

"To drag one's ass in such a pathetic manner as to ensure one's place in life as a loser."

Since procrastination has been something I have struggled with, I wrote it down.

[Michelle]

Sounds like a rebellion. Against what?

Why not just forget about writing the thesis. Just don't do it.

What would happen? How would you feel?

[rock1000]

Originally Posted by JKuehl

Hello everyone,

in 6 weeks i have to hand in and finish my final thesis for my bachelor degree, and i approximately have only worked on it 60 hours in the last 6 weeks.

This thesis makes up 50% of my final degree, so i know how important this one is and that i should work 8 hours or more per day on it rather than just one...

But it´s so hard for me - the more you know in PD, the more tricks and sneaky ways you find to keep yourself from working...

Usually the last few weeks i spend hundrets of hours watching tv, browsing forums, checking email, chatting, talking to friends, etc etc... instead of working on my thesis.

Well i tried several thing: first of all i shut off telephone and mobile phone, moved every game and icq off from my computer to an exernal hard drive.

Problem is: i need to use the internet for my thesis, as 95% of the work i have to do in php is something i don´t have any experience in and therfore i need to google alot - books are not an alternative for this.

Secondly, i tried something different: i left my room in the morning, went to university in the next city ( not my own! ). Took me about 30 Minutes in the morning and 30 more in the evening. Therefore i had "lost" an hour which would be e severe punishment, if i didn´t accomplish anything in between or work on my thesis.

The second thought for this decision was, to work in the quiet library in another university, because no one knew me there and couldn´t distract me from working.

Today i managed to work 3 hours at home by simply moving my notebook to the kitchen and working from there.. problem was: i had no internet and had to walk 10 times or so to my room to look something up...

I don´t know why i struggle so hard in getting this done or gaining momentum to begin with it... Since 6 hours, i haven´t worked on my thesis, although i only wanted to take an one hour break....

I also tried to break it down into REALLY small pieces, like: (1) write the function that opens the database (2) write the function that opens the textfile (3) write the function that parses the textfile into an array... Didn´t work either.

Big problem maybe is: since i began Personal Development i got into an attitude : "Whatever happens, and whatever i decide: life goes on and it´s not that i´m going to die.." In some things this led to some really great changes in my life, like quitting my part-time-job which stressed me too much - well i haven´t had much income since then - but who cares about money?

When "in the flow" for about half an hour or an hour, it´s not quite that hard to keep working but the SLIGHTEST distraction throws me completely off course, and i think: "Well, so much done already - let´s do xy!" or "Well so much done already - i´ll get my reward!"

So: although i know the painful consequences of procrastinating on this thesis, i can´t get myself to work on it..

I can´t seem to find any concept in any of the PD Material i read in the last 2 years, to overcome that problem ( or at least not develop a way to trick myself and render that technique useless..... )

At least i had SOME success.. As i realized that my headaches and eyeburn couldn´t have been initialized phiysically, but rather as a way of my mind to keep me from working ( "i can´t work or concentrate with that headache!" ) i hadn´t had headaches or eyeburn in 2 weeks - at least everytime it comes up i laugh at myself :"Yeah right, don´t try to fool me and keep me from working this way - it won´t work!"

Edit: the only way i can think of right now to keep me working is something like that: cellar, desk, chair, notebook, crate of water... Don´t let me out till a milestone has been reached. Any distraction as slightest it may be, and off i am from my work to something more pleasurable and fun...

I have a similar problem - bigger in magnitude - with my Ph.D. thesis. I achieved some progress by a simple technique. I (attempt) to write for 15 min - thats not hard. Then have fun for 15 min and then write again. I now do blocks of 30 min.

Don't think of the overwhelming end product. Just think about the next 15 min. Don't worry that you will not get flow - believe me you will. Just do whatever it takes in those 15 min. You will soon find things are different and its not that hard, after all.

Start with 10 min if not 15. Or maybe even 5. Give it a shot for 1 day, don't think about tomorrow. Just today, next 5 min. Now, get to work.

Good luck.

[renie408]

Try reading 'The NOW Habit', if you haven't already. It discusses procrastination as a symptom of fear of failure, etc. This book helped me to understand that I was using procrastination to protect myself from things that intimidated or scared me. It helps you to understand WHY you are putting things off, which helps you get to work on them.

Do you think there is a chance that you might not WANT to finish school and get out into the world? Or that you are so intimidated by this overwhelming task that it is easier to just put it off than to work on it? Maybe you are not comfortable with the quality of the work you are producing? I am not an analyst, so I can't think up all the reasons this could be freaking you out. But maybe you could spend some time figuring out WHY you want to ignore this thing and that might help you stop.

[Isabelle]

I think Rock1000 is right.

If breaking down into small pieces doesn't work for you, the best way is to set your timer for 15 minutes. You focus on your job and when the timer beeps, you take a break.

I really think that any task will take the time we have to allow to it. When I feel too lazy to clean my kitchen after dinner, I set my timer for 15 minutes. I always finish before it beeps. And then I am so proud of myself ! Even if I worked only for 15 minutes. (well, it is not like writing a thesis, I know, but a task we don't want to do makes us feel the same way, whatever it is)

Make sure you have all what you need to work, set your timer and Just Do It !

Another tip that works for me is to visualize and imagine what it will look like when I'll be finish and to feel how I'll feel.

Also, let go your perfectionism. You can do a really good job even if it's not perfect.

By working 15 minutes and taking a break 5 minutes, you will accumulate 45 minutes of good work during one hour. Set your timer for your breaks also. Do something you like, then say: Time to go back for another little 15 minutes !

Sometimes, I chat with my sisters and friends and we do that together. It is funny ! If you know someone who has a big job to do, you can work together. I say we work for 15 minutes, ready set go, and 15 minutes later we are back on MSN and write all we have done.

Well I hope this will help... Good luck from me too !