Another valid reason to procrastinate doing something, there's something else that NEEDS your attention FIRST. (Like the thing I need to go do now, that I've already been procrastinating on for weeks. I might come back and post more later.)
I'd been putting off an application for a new role at work, despite really wanting the position. All I had to do was update my resume and write a short cover letter. Half an hour tops. After two weeks, I realised it wasn't a good time to start a massive learning curve, right after recovering from a month long bad health run followed by two weeks of poor sleep while my night-shift working ass wrangled a loan for a car out of a non-conforming lender. Just wasn't a good time. And the position I currently work in is basically the most important on the production floor, and most of my supervisors' team has left over the last few months already (not her fault) and our staff retention rate on night shift is so bad, she hasn't been able to replace them. So I made the decision to stay where I was, get back onto my recovery efforts (two decades of undiagnosed ADHD adulting left its marks) and when the position becomes available again, see if I'm up for it then. I figured in the end, I scrambled to get the job I have now, so I know I can, but the niggling feeling in the back of my head whenever I opened up my resume was my brains way of telling me, 'Just, not the right time'.
Sounds sensible. It sounds like that's more about timing rather than dreading the task. You might list the reasons you're putting it on the back burner and what needs to change so you can make the leap.
I'll make a video about this. One of things we talked about in ADD & Loving It?! was 'Starting Small.' When I'm resisting writing a script, shooting a video, or creating a power point for a talk I start very small. If it's a script, I pick one of the topics that our Patrons requested, open a word document which is a script template I created, and then I type in the title, or tentative title, and speedily type out whatever ideas I have. Thoughts. Questions. Topics. Examples from my life. I may even go to Thesaurus.com and find a bunch of synonyms and add those in, because they spark ideas. I give myself 5 minutes. More often than not I end up writing for at least 30 minutes. Often two hours if I'm not interrupted! Same with cleaning the kitchen. I'll choose to do it for 3 minutes. Easy. I can manage that. Or, "I'll read two emails..." and of course I read a dozen, reply to some, toss some, etc..
I took this to mean that we should give ourselves a break sometimes. My wife told me the other day that patience is a virtue, to which I could only reply "then I am not very virtuous". Also, beating yourself up truly is exhausting, isn't it?
Patience can be a virtue. Or it might be a screen for procrastination, a way to control you by people who are unable to handle change, keeping you from unleashing your creativity.
Literally what I am doing right now, with three psych assignments due in 48-96 hours. Help me as I am terrified of starting, and of failing, and am still on RUclips because the atmosphere just isn't right for writing an opinion piece, a diagnosis assessment and defence, and a research report
Yeah. I deleted a bunch of apps. It helped. For a while. Then Putin invaded the Ukraine and I am checking the news 6 times a day. One of the experts who has done webinars with our Patrons, Dr. David Teplin, told me he watches 30 minutes a day, at 6:30. And that's it. I thought that was a great idea. And it remains a great idea. I will cut back soon. Soon...
Beta? Not sad, CLASSIC. ;-) This is the first video I've seen on the upside of procrastination, Rick! I think some procrastination has to do with timing. I look at it as "gestation" of sorts. Things need time to germinate and grow. I think, like you describe, when you try to force yourself to get to the next thing, and are struggling to make it work, there is value in rest and play. Even though it looks like we're not doing anything, things are percolating in the subconscious and will bubble up when they're ready. Welp, that's all the metaphors I have for today! 🙂
We have done some Patron webinars where everyone logs into a Zoom room and we each share one task we have beed avoiding for a long time. (Sometimes it's months or years!) Then, while we're still logged in we all start. Every so often we check in. Most people leave their cameras on. Some chat as they work. If they get stuck they explain the problem and 20 or 30 people from around the world offer support and ideas they've found works with their neurology. It's amazing. I remember one fellow from New Orleans had bee putting off some paperwork for years and he got it done in 30 minutes. Being around people can be helpful. Not that they are doing anything, just their presence, can make a difference. I am sure it's why some people can't wait to get back to the office rather than work remotely, and many people put on music (I've got an 80's Rock channel playing at the moment. ZZ-Top - Sharp Dressed Man) or go to a coffee shop, get some caffeine in a cup and spend 2 hours working on their laptop.
@@RickHasADHD Ooooooh, LOVE that! I just joined Take Your House Back (organizing with Dana K. White, Cas at Clutterbug, Dawn at Minimal Mom). They have something similar with an all-day organizing session. Cas is diagnosed ADHD and Dana has been armchair diagnosed by her followers! Dana, in particular, has been instrumental in helping me declutter and get organized. Life-changing, really. Also, who doesn't love a Sharp Dressed Man and ZZ Top? ;-)
I retired 2 years ago. I immediately bought 20 more books that I’ve been wanting to read along with all the other books I haven’t read yet. I’ll get around to it. Boy do love books. 😊 📚
We keep donating books that we've read and then going to book sales at churches or the local town hall. My wife, Ava, likes to keep good books so she can see what she's accomplished. I keep a lot of books that I know I'll read more than once.
Sometimes the only way I can do the thing is to use it to put off doing the other thing. Now maybe I don't need to worry so much and I can do neither of them. Oh no! (grinds to a halt) Seriously thought Rick, this is all very good advice - much appreciated.
Yeah. They didn't make a lot of them. The joke is the face sort of looks like me, but it's the spitting image of Allan Foster from Virginia. He worked with PBS to launch The Red Green Show in the USA.
No! The railroad is in an urban setting. Interesting fact about the set--the log walls were actually brick walls from an earlier series that I worked on with Steve Smith called The Comedy Mill. The walls were painted to look like logs. Only if you got up close did you realize it was brick.
I still have a Beta and about 400 tapes, that I need to go through... one day. There might be something interesting on them that I recorded in the early 80's. The Royal Wedding or a Barry Manilow concert or something...
Procrastination can be good if we avoid making bad decisions… perhaps going to complain to a store. Or shovelling a driveway here in Vancouver … as it will rain shortly anyway.
Yeah. But I'd call that smart thinking. Looking ahead. Considering how things might work out and if they're worth doing. If you do decide not to go to the store to complain and just accept whatever is wrong, that's good. You let it go. It's a problem when a year has passed and you still have the bag and the receipt hanging on the front door, waiting for you to find time to take it back. A reminder of another 'incompletion.'
@@RickHasADHD Very good point - and from that approach you're fully correct. One thing I didn't comment upon was the overall distress of the reminder of those "uncompleted tasks" ... ugly side of it for sure.
Are you signed up? They come out every Friday. Just go to our new website, "RickWantsToKnow.com" and sign up. We've been putting them out for 8 years, but now it's from our new website. Long story.
Procrastination has saved me from many a bad idea... and many a good idea.
Oh, ain't that the truth!
watched this while procrastinating ❤
I wrote it when I wasn't procrastinating. After weeks of procrastinating. Finally just started writing. (See what I wrote to @Davi J Vay above.)
I really liked the cozy atmosphere in this one
Thanks. It's my cubbyhole. Like a man cave only 1/10th the size.
Another valid reason to procrastinate doing something, there's something else that NEEDS your attention FIRST. (Like the thing I need to go do now, that I've already been procrastinating on for weeks. I might come back and post more later.)
Absolutely!
Rick, at 55 I still hate having ADD. Everything you say 100% correct. Thank you for talking publicly about this.
You are welcome. Procrastinating is still an issue for me. Just less often.
I'd been putting off an application for a new role at work, despite really wanting the position. All I had to do was update my resume and write a short cover letter. Half an hour tops.
After two weeks, I realised it wasn't a good time to start a massive learning curve, right after recovering from a month long bad health run followed by two weeks of poor sleep while my night-shift working ass wrangled a loan for a car out of a non-conforming lender.
Just wasn't a good time. And the position I currently work in is basically the most important on the production floor, and most of my supervisors' team has left over the last few months already (not her fault) and our staff retention rate on night shift is so bad, she hasn't been able to replace them.
So I made the decision to stay where I was, get back onto my recovery efforts (two decades of undiagnosed ADHD adulting left its marks) and when the position becomes available again, see if I'm up for it then.
I figured in the end, I scrambled to get the job I have now, so I know I can, but the niggling feeling in the back of my head whenever I opened up my resume was my brains way of telling me, 'Just, not the right time'.
Sounds sensible. It sounds like that's more about timing rather than dreading the task.
You might list the reasons you're putting it on the back burner and what needs to change so you can make the leap.
i don't know where to start and the goal is vague are my hang ups from as young as 3 or 4 through all of my school years and even now.
I'll make a video about this. One of things we talked about in ADD & Loving It?! was 'Starting Small.' When I'm resisting writing a script, shooting a video, or creating a power point for a talk I start very small. If it's a script, I pick one of the topics that our Patrons requested, open a word document which is a script template I created, and then I type in the title, or tentative title, and speedily type out whatever ideas I have. Thoughts. Questions. Topics. Examples from my life. I may even go to Thesaurus.com and find a bunch of synonyms and add those in, because they spark ideas.
I give myself 5 minutes. More often than not I end up writing for at least 30 minutes. Often two hours if I'm not interrupted!
Same with cleaning the kitchen. I'll choose to do it for 3 minutes. Easy. I can manage that.
Or, "I'll read two emails..." and of course I read a dozen, reply to some, toss some, etc..
I took this to mean that we should give ourselves a break sometimes. My wife told me the other day that patience is a virtue, to which I could only reply "then I am not very virtuous". Also, beating yourself up truly is exhausting, isn't it?
Oh God. My father used to say that cliche all the time
Patience can be a virtue. Or it might be a screen for procrastination, a way to control you by people who are unable to handle change, keeping you from unleashing your creativity.
I'll wait to watch this
No problem. I waited to make it!
I get a fear of the task,then I start rationalizing avoiding it...I just zone out with my phone..living in fear.😮
Literally what I am doing right now, with three psych assignments due in 48-96 hours.
Help me as I am terrified of starting, and of failing, and am still on RUclips because the atmosphere just isn't right for writing an opinion piece, a diagnosis assessment and defence, and a research report
Yeah. I deleted a bunch of apps. It helped. For a while. Then Putin invaded the Ukraine and I am checking the news 6 times a day. One of the experts who has done webinars with our Patrons, Dr. David Teplin, told me he watches 30 minutes a day, at 6:30. And that's it. I thought that was a great idea. And it remains a great idea. I will cut back soon. Soon...
Ohhh, that's a mood
Beta? Not sad, CLASSIC. ;-) This is the first video I've seen on the upside of procrastination, Rick!
I think some procrastination has to do with timing. I look at it as "gestation" of sorts. Things need time to germinate and grow. I think, like you describe, when you try to force yourself to get to the next thing, and are struggling to make it work, there is value in rest and play. Even though it looks like we're not doing anything, things are percolating in the subconscious and will bubble up when they're ready. Welp, that's all the metaphors I have for today! 🙂
We have done some Patron webinars where everyone logs into a Zoom room and we each share one task we have beed avoiding for a long time. (Sometimes it's months or years!) Then, while we're still logged in we all start. Every so often we check in. Most people leave their cameras on. Some chat as they work. If they get stuck they explain the problem and 20 or 30 people from around the world offer support and ideas they've found works with their neurology.
It's amazing. I remember one fellow from New Orleans had bee putting off some paperwork for years and he got it done in 30 minutes.
Being around people can be helpful. Not that they are doing anything, just their presence, can make a difference. I am sure it's why some people can't wait to get back to the office rather than work remotely, and many people put on music (I've got an 80's Rock channel playing at the moment. ZZ-Top - Sharp Dressed Man) or go to a coffee shop, get some caffeine in a cup and spend 2 hours working on their laptop.
@@RickHasADHD Ooooooh, LOVE that! I just joined Take Your House Back (organizing with Dana K. White, Cas at Clutterbug, Dawn at Minimal Mom). They have something similar with an all-day organizing session. Cas is diagnosed ADHD and Dana has been armchair diagnosed by her followers! Dana, in particular, has been instrumental in helping me declutter and get organized. Life-changing, really. Also, who doesn't love a Sharp Dressed Man and ZZ Top? ;-)
I retired 2 years ago. I immediately bought 20 more books that I’ve been wanting to read along with all the other books I haven’t read yet. I’ll get around to it. Boy do love books. 😊 📚
We keep donating books that we've read and then going to book sales at churches or the local town hall. My wife, Ava, likes to keep good books so she can see what she's accomplished. I keep a lot of books that I know I'll read more than once.
Sounds so familiar! I also borrow or place holds on books at the library and end up returning them overdue ... and unread!
Sometimes the only way I can do the thing is to use it to put off doing the other thing. Now maybe I don't need to worry so much and I can do neither of them. Oh no! (grinds to a halt)
Seriously thought Rick, this is all very good advice - much appreciated.
Ha ha! You find the lesser of two evils. 'Which do I dread less?'
@@RickHasADHD I have used that more times than I can count!!
7 more great reasons to procrastinate:
Reason #1:
idk I'll come back to this later
Or will you? 😝
I got my taxes in with 20mins to spare..was late for work again..😮
Who do you fear more? Your boss? Or the Tax department?
Oh Great Guru Rick! We bow before thy great wisdom! We shall strive to do all you say as often we can! (Starting tomorrow.)
I see the Bill bobblehead there. I still can't find one for my dashboard.
Yeah. They didn't make a lot of them. The joke is the face sort of looks like me, but it's the spitting image of Allan Foster from Virginia. He worked with PBS to launch The Red Green Show in the USA.
5:59
Other things that come and go…
Chameleons of the karma variety.
It makes life interesting, doesn't it?
Thanks, Rick 👍
Namaste.
Great vid Rick your writing is on point
Thank you!
Totally random question: Have you ever built a model of the lodge or other sets of the Red Green Show? Would love to see it!
No! The railroad is in an urban setting. Interesting fact about the set--the log walls were actually brick walls from an earlier series that I worked on with Steve Smith called The Comedy Mill.
The walls were painted to look like logs. Only if you got up close did you realize it was brick.
The Frantics… Wait… Boot to the Head…?! 😮
The very one.
😂Adversity builds character ….love it!
I still have a Beta and about 400 tapes, that I need to go through... one day. There might be something interesting on them that I recorded in the early 80's. The Royal Wedding or a Barry Manilow concert or something...
Oh, now I need to go back and listen to everything you said after Beta again
@@TheAllSeeing8Ball Haha! Hey, I have to watch videos 4 times because I zone out, spiralling off on an idea or a phrase...
Commenting now but I'll watch the video later.
Where can I see more of your models, dude????
Quite a lot of it in this video here ruclips.net/video/MPBLxZmDp14/видео.html
In the basement.
Oh, and the video I did on how hobbies can reduce stress.
ruclips.net/video/MPBLxZmDp14/видео.html
Hi Rick Green, I watched your "UNOFFICIAL ADHD TEST" video a long time ago and loved it. Can you please repost it ? ❤❤❤❓❓❓🙏🙏🙏🙏
Procrastination can be good if we avoid making bad decisions… perhaps going to complain to a store. Or shovelling a driveway here in Vancouver … as it will rain shortly anyway.
Yeah. But I'd call that smart thinking. Looking ahead. Considering how things might work out and if they're worth doing. If you do decide not to go to the store to complain and just accept whatever is wrong, that's good. You let it go. It's a problem when a year has passed and you still have the bag and the receipt hanging on the front door, waiting for you to find time to take it back. A reminder of another 'incompletion.'
@@RickHasADHD Very good point - and from that approach you're fully correct.
One thing I didn't comment upon was the overall distress of the reminder of those "uncompleted tasks" ... ugly side of it for sure.
Where are the Friday Funnies?
On Friday
Are you signed up? They come out every Friday. Just go to our new website, "RickWantsToKnow.com" and sign up. We've been putting them out for 8 years, but now it's from our new website.
Long story.
progflakasnating
Gesundheit! 😅
🤣