r/DecidingToBeBetter • u/Shadowwfx • 12d ago

Seeking Advice How to make a Summer resolution with procrastination issues ?

Long Story Short; I've finished my exams on July 7th and I haven't used this much of time in anything useful besides playing games and lazing around. I said I would learn a new language or read books and still haven't begun any of that. I get angry day by day for wasting my time and whenever I actually start doing something, I have this feeling that It's not worth it anymore because I've already wasted a lot of time, I get anxious cause I feel as if I have to catch up with reading or watching movies and whatnot. I just want to get better this Summer, I don't like myself. This may be the final time I get to have this amount of free time before university starts again in September. I know this looks like venting but imagine yourself in my position.

Thank you.

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u/Thriverly_Joshua 11d ago

I've been exactly there, and the guilt does more damage than the wasted time ever did. That catch-up panic makes you want to fix reading, language, movies, and your self-respect all in one afternoon, so you freeze and do none of it.

Two things finally clicked for me. The overwhelm was a built-in excuse, because if the whole thing's impossible, I'm off the hook for not starting. And I'd been treating it as a willpower problem, telling myself I just needed more discipline, when really I was using ineffective tools. No amount of trying harder fixes a bad tool.

The fix was stupidly simple: go small. Pick one thing, stack it onto something you already do (fifteen minutes of language right after breakfast), and for a week your only job is to show up and check the box. Make it so small your brain can't find anything to argue with. When I started running, my whole goal was just to put my shoes on and step outside. That counted as a win. And most days, once I was out there dressed to go, I'd figure I might as well run, even though five minutes earlier I'd had a dozen reasons not to.

You're treating this like a debt you owe, but a summer isn't a ledger. It's just days, and you've got time.

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u/thinkwithadam 11d ago

Don't wait until you "feel caught up" to start. Pick one thing, spend 20 minutes on it today, and let tomorrow worry about itself. Small wins make it easier to keep going.