Is procrastination an AS trait?

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Indeed.

Yup, that's procrastination I reckon. One thing that rescues me quite often is that if I notice a job needs doing once or twice, even if I immediately push the idea aside as being too much for my head, I seem to find that by the time I notice it again, something's happened in my mind and I'll see a way through. It's quite a mysterious thing, and I never dare rely on it, but it does tend to work. Rather akin to the way some people say they can remember a name that's proving difficult to recall, by taking their mind off it and then going back to it later....the elusive name has a strange habit of popping up. The unconscious mind can be uncannily useful sometimes.



I have loads of spare lightbulbs in my horribly untidy cupboard, but it still took me a week to replace the bathroom bulb when it blew It's not that I was too lazy to just go downstairs and get a bulb, and even though the cupboard is untidy, I could easily find the bulbs (actually it's uncanny how many things I can retrieve from that disorganised hovel).....it was the thought of wasting a journey when it would have been so much more efficient to take one upstairs with me next time I was going that way. Of course the snag was, by the time I had a reason to go upstairs again, the memory had buried itself. As for why I need to be so "efficient," I think that's got a lot to do with my being painfully aware that I lavish so much time on my special interests, and the way that threatens to wipe out these maintenance tasks.

But actually buying the bulbs etc., that's fine as long as it's made it to my wish list. I always compile a shopping list from the wish list, and consult it ad nauseam while shopping. I might try to depend on memory if it's just a couple of items, but not for more than that. The moment I'm in the new setting (i.e. the shop), the memory is nearly always gone.

i think it's much more the overwhelming/inertia feeling that leads to or looks like procrastination. i swear i feel like i have a two ton anvil on my lap when faced with many tasks. could be complex, or just as simple as doing the dishes or laundry. and when i finally break free of the anvil and do the task and it takes all of 10 minutes or so, i feel so stupid and mad at myself and wonder why i do this to myself day in and day out.

i have a ton of things that need to be done, that should have been done weeks ago, that i will get money for when i get them done, and i can't make myself do them. or if i do finally get started if i hit a snag of any sort, it all goes out the window.

it has to be more than just laziness. at least i hope it is.

Yes that happens to me too, in spades. In my previous posts, I probably didn't emphasise the sense of dread I feel at the thought of starting a task that has any possibility of difficulty (and therefore failure) about it - though I'm sure it wasn't always like that. When I was younger I used to just get on with things. But these days, I can't even be sure to start work on a special interest. I guess eventually the mind realises that management defecit problems are likely to screw up the whole thing, so maybe it's a natural reaction - particularly in the light of Aspie perfectionism.

Before Aspie awareness dawned on me, I had a few theories about why this was happening: I thought I might be re-running my school days when I couldn't make a start on my homework, or perhaps the problem was a morbid fear of wasting time and effort, or maybe I was suffering from that strange condition the Earthlings know as depression. Or just plain old-fashioned lack of confidence.

I still don't feel sure that this is entirely an Aspie thing. For one thing, the fear of waste does seem to be a strong part of my psyche......not just my time or my life, but money too (which is arguably the same thing), and it's not just confined to my own domain - I can hardly bear to watch other people wasting these things either. Whenever I'm doing one thing, I'm haunted by a feeling that there's probably something else I ought to be doing instead that would be more fruitful, or that there's a quicker way of getting to where I want to be, that I just can't see. I'm sure I tend to do things in longer ways than I need to.....possibly that's because my brain doesn't easily flip out to look at the big picture. Though I also have a reputation of achieving results quickly, at least in some endeavours. Quite a conundrum.

I have procrastinated in many college homework assignments and papers. I usually do them the night or the week before the due date if assigned weeks ago. I often finish them one hour before they're due. This has led to situations where I ran from my dorm to the professors office all the way from my dorm in denton community (in the university Maryland). But I manage to get good grades.

I just need to stop this before I begin to fail in those papers.

I procrastinate, but I'm not sure how frequently. I'll mean to do something, but be too wrapped up in my current activity that I eventually forget. I'll even put off eating or going to the restroom until I'm mentally satisfied with whatever it is I'm doing. When it comes to deadlines, I tend to put things off until the last minute, then get it done with precision.

Procrastination and laziness are as natural to ALL humans as is breathing.

ruveyn

Sure, but the point was that sometimes when it looks like procrastination or laziness to the novice, in reality there is something going on which is very much different.

Being overwhelmed because of an executive dysfunction is not the same as laziness or procrastination; It's not procrastination when you can't start doing something you really want to do, something you know you will enjoy, but just can't figure out how/where to frakking start!

If your university has good autism inclusion policies in place, they should make allowances for you, such as contacting you to make sure you're not getting out of your depth, and being understanding and flexible about assignment deadlines. Of course you're wise to make every effort to meet the normal deadlines and "stop this," but there's a lot they can do to help, if they're aware of your disability and the way it's affecting your timing. It's a classic problem for students......I believe it's called the "start-stop" problem. YOu might do well to apert them to the problem you're having, if you haven't already done that, just in case they don't realise how close to the edge you've been.