Procrastination?

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I know procrastination is a trait anyone can have. I don't have a diagnosis myself, but I've been wondering if aspies are more inclined to procrastination, or if it affects them differently than it does other people.

My mom recently reminisced about what a chore it was to get me to do my homework when I was younger... I'd nearly forgotten, but she's right. But because she was so persistent in making sure I got it done, I always did. I guess that stayed with me, and even though I continued to laze about and do nothing rather than work as I went through high school and college, I still always got it done... eventually.

This has been gnawing at me lately, because I've been at my job for 5 years, and feel like procrastination is really hurting me. It's not hurting me with my standing with my boss or anything... the problem really is, no one cares. My job is such that I can accumulate a backlog of work, but I rarely have deadlines imposed. People think the world of what I produce, and it honestly kind of makes me feel bad because it's too easy to make people perceive that I was working hard. I just let the backlog build and sometimes things take longer to get done than it really should've. I guess this sounds like it's not really a problem, but I'd feel better about myself if I was actually done with my work while I browse the Internet for hours on end. Instead, I just waste time and I'm lucky enough to understand how far I can push it. It still makes me feel a bit worthless, though.

I'll just stare and stare and stare at the work, thinking about how much I don't want to do it. It's hard for me to engage in things that I don't have an interest in. I'll open the program that I need to use, feel like that's enough, and go back to read the same site I was just reading, or take another look at Twitter. I'll then open the project, and then spend another who knows how long wasting time. I might make a couple changes in the project by the end of the day.

I just have an aversion to things that are boring to me. I often think about how everyone reads magazines or plays dumb cell phone games in waiting rooms. Those might be good for wasting time, but I'd rather stare at the wall than engage in an actual activity that wastes the same time. It's only when I'm excited about something that I get anything done in a timely manner.

Something I think I've realized to myself over my years working... I used to think of myself as a person who preferred to have a project to perfect, rather than doing a moment-to-moment job that, when the moment is over, your work is done. In my job, I actually have to do both things a lot. I often have to attend scheduled events during the day. But lately, I've realized, it's easy for me to show up on time and just do the on-site work, but I'd rather someone else deal with finishing the work after the fact. Unfortunately, that's not exactly going to happen. It all falls on me, and I wish I could just have the discipline to get it over and done with.

Oh yes, I am a huge procrastinator too! (I am supposed to be working right now )

The part of the brain that makes you do the boring work instead of looking at the shiny web page is called "executive function" these days, and I believe this is one of the areas where AS and ADHD can sometimes overlap (since you mention you don't have a diagnosis yourself).

I think that for someone on the "spectrum" the issue is caused by not understanding how your boss and co-workers think of you and your role in the company. You say you have anxiety that you are not keeping up with the workload, but everybody says you're doing a great job, keep up the good work! So you are experiencing doubts like, "what do they think of me?" "what is expected of me?" "if nobody seems to care about this project, then why is it worth doing?" etc.

So my advice is to just "detach" from any meaning or significance to the work. Just DO it, don't ask "why" or "what does it mean" or "who cares!" Realize that there are office politics and productivity issues you will never fully understand like an NT, but that's OK as long as the boss is satisfied and the paychecks keep coming!

In ADHD it is a similar behavior (procrastination) but the underlying cause is different.

That's all I got, I'm not an expert/doctor!

I've spent a lot of my life being told I am a procrastinator. Procrastination though, is putting things off intentionally that ought to be done right now. That isn't what's been going on with me at all.

For me, it's been a lack of ability to prioritize along with an annoying ability to take on way more than I can possibly handle. I've done this repeatedly and consistently all of my life. When you've got so many different plans, schemes and projects on the fire, it becomes near to impossible to let go of any of them, which leads to trying to keep all plates spinning only to have many of them come crashing down because I just can't keep up.

Unfortunately, many of the things that do fall apart are more important that some that I do manage to keep up with, because I can never seem to figure out which ones are truly important at any given moment.

Prioritizing is tricky because what is most important keeps changing over time, and Autism (along with ADD) severely inhibits my ability to know for sure which is most important at "this" moment.

Perception of others is that I'm putting off the most important things. The truth and reality is, I'm not putting anything off at all. I just can't tell which things I should be doing "right now."

The worst thing is, I never know until it's too late.