Current score: Procrastination - 1,948,495,395. Me - 0.
I've always been a procrastinator - It's the reason why I was up at all hours of the night in high school trying to finish my chemistry homework hours before it was due. It's the reason why I never went to bed before 3am in college during the week. It's the reason why I cannot seem to get into work at an early hour. It's the reason why I'm late for everything. I always think I can fit just one more thing (and really, I never can). Procrastination is also the reason I take forever to get started on my workouts (not a good thing when you have other plans for later in the day). Let's take this morning, for example. My alarm went off at 5am for my hour-long workout. When did I actually get started? 6:20am. And what was I doing for that hour and twenty minutes? Nothing except laying in bed, saying "five more minutes," or "maybe I'll just do the workout this afternoon after work instead," or "I need more sleep, I'll just eat a quicker breakfast." Etc, etc, etc. Eventually, of course, I got my sorry self out of bed and out the door and enjoyed every minute of my workout. Just like I knew I would. Just an hour and twenty minutes later than I intended. So why was it so hard to get moving, even when I knew I'd be glad I got out there in the end?
This is just one small example out of MANY of how I waste alot of time. And I really don't have alot of time that I can afford to waste. Anyone have any tips on how to stop the vicious cycle of procrastination? I could use any and all advice.
8 comments:
Just think about all your competition out there training. I used to be the queen of "I am too tired, I'll do the workout after work" and of course in never happened. I think you just need to keep yourself reminding all the time that work needs to be done and done there and then.
No tips but I'm interested to hear what others say!
I'm awful with procrastination ... it's something I'm trying to conquer myself right now. I've been trying to set reminder alarms in my phone 30 minutes before I'm supposed to start a work-out to get my mind in the right place ... but I'm a sucker for the morning "Just 5 more minutes" myself, so any advice on how to beat that would be great!
totally bizarre, but i only have this problem in the winter! in the summer i can bounce right out of bed and get moving...but winter....nope. i'm ashamed of the time i finally got in the pool this morning.
@Angelina - I do tell myself that all those fast girls I'll be racing this year are probably out of bed and halfway done with their workouts. That usually gets me moving. Overall I've been good about getting the workouts in, I just get started on them much later than I initially plan.
@Em - that's a really good idea, I might have to give that a try.
@Katie - it is dark, cold and dreary in the winter. Pulling the covers over one's head is infinitely more appealing than going running in the freezing cold. I have this problem year round but it's usually worse in the winter.
I think I need to start setting a schedule and a daily to-do list for myself (both for tri and non-tri related stuff) and really make myself stick to that schedule. I also need to NOT turn my computer on because social networking and blogs have become the ultimate time suck for me.
And maybe I should have my mom move in with me, she was always good at keeping me on task when I was in high school. Yes, I'm thirty and I totally need my mom to tell me what to do. That would make life easier.
Pete Snell, winner of a handful of Olympic golds, used to say, "When it's pouring rain and you're bowling along through the wet, there's satisfaction in knowing you're out there and the others aren't." So replace "the wet" with "the dark," "through the morning" and get after it. I know a lot of elites who tape their goals next to the alarm clock as well so that it's the first thing they see when the alarm goes off.
Interesting post. For some light relief here is a funny about procrastination
http://caroleschatter.blogspot.co.nz/2012/02/cartoon_23.html
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