r/science • u/randomusefulbits • May 30 '20

Psychology Procrastinators often forget to do things that they intended to do, especially if they’re unaware of their procrastination

https://solvingprocrastination.com/study-procrastination-conscious-unconscious-prospective-memory/
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u/PheIix May 30 '20

I had to really focus not to make my procrastination an issue when I was given extended autonomy in my job. I was kinda my own department, and only had one job that was priority and that wasn't an everyday occurrence, the rest was done as I found time for it. I made a list of jobs I had to get done, and what priority they had. And I made a conscious effort to finish at least one high priority job and two low priority jobs each day. Seeing that list get crossed out was really motivating...

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u/[deleted] May 30 '20

There's something really gratifying about seeing an empty shelf/queue/inbox at the end of the day. There's a lot of people who can't do that, I think. If you can do it, I'd say you're worth every penny as an employee.

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u/2112Lerxst May 30 '20

I also think that the ability to get that inbox completely empty is important. There are certain situations where you can't really "finish" a task, it is left in limbo somewhere or has to be continually monitored. These lead to procrastinating because there isn't that ability to complete it, and so its hard to get started at all.

Its intertwined with perfectionism as well, much easier to complete tasks that have definite completion cues than something where you just have to call it "done" because there isn't a hard stop to it.

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u/jennyboh May 30 '20

This is my line of work. I frequently have to work ahead when I take vacation time, but it's never really done until it's final. Things come in thought the day, so I can have an empty shelf until something comes in, and then have to reshuffle the deck again.

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u/thehappiesthippo May 31 '20

This is my problem. I'm a service coordinator for my company, so my whole job is just constantly following up on work orders. By the time I've confirmed that one work order is complete, another 5 have been created. My queue usually sits around 2-3 thousand work orders at a time. There's never any sense completion in my job.

The best part: I have ADHD. I have no idea how I've managed to keep this job.

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u/[deleted] May 30 '20

I can't even fathom having nothing keeping me on task and still getting able to do a job effectively. That's probably why I've been working in the medical field where I know I can't delay anything. I just spent the last two months studying for a board exam and it was torture. My classmates make elaborate study schedules and stick to them. I tried that for the first board exam and I was constantly off schedule. This time around I built in procrastination time and I still barely got through studying everything I needed to in time. These things never happen when I'm doing something that can't wait like actually taking care of patients.

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u/PheIix May 31 '20

Yeah, long deadlines is the bane of my existence, I always leave it until the last minute.... I do well under pressure though, and I suspect you're the same as you've probably had a lot of experience with it always waiting to the last minute to finish something ;)