Anybody else here procrastinate out of anxiety?

Post Reply New Topic

Everytime I try to practice my drawing skills, I always back down. I try to make some dumb excuse about why, but it ultimately comes down to anxiety. Is there anyone else here like this? Also, advice isn't needed, but welcomed.

Um, yes, all the time! I procrastinated finding a therapist for >1.5 years because making the phone call caused so much anxiety. I procrastinate things at work that make me anxious, and that's bad as the putting it off makes the anxiety worse. I've been working on not procrastinating - or at least not as much - by reminding myself that putting it off doesn't make it any easier and in many cases actually makes it worse when I get around to whatever it is.

I have procrastinated many times in my life when not feeling confident about some new challenge or event that provokes anxiety.

Now, at such times, I tell myself this:
"confidence comes after doing, not before".

musing on that little mantra helps control my anxiety level and move out of the comfort zone to face a new challenge.

Not sure I'd call it procrastination, but if I feel overwhelmed, which readily occurs, I tend to "shut down" and do something which has no consequences. Something which is unrelated to any of those things I'm suppose to be doing.

I get easily distracted and I find it difficult to get back into something if I've been distracted by something else, then I end up avoiding everything.

I did result in people often yelling "SQUIRREL" at me at work. Ha! Funny stuff. But it is actually a serious problem.

It is, of course, detrimental to employment.

The following may be helpful:

Try to lower your expectations, and try to draw more easy or basic things first. Then, gradually work your way up, drawing more challanging things.

Don't think about how your work compares to the work of others. Just do your thing and have fun.

Happens to me often. Only thing to do is suck it up and press on if possible.

Yes.

Big time. Which is a vicious circle, because the approaching deadline and diminished time remaining cause even more anxiety.

I'm going through this at the moment. I'm struggling making basic art decisions. I can't decide on what to start. I have several choices. The negative thoughts are draining me. It's like I'm turning the key on a car but the engine isn't doing anything. Everytime I turn the key it drains me and I'm becoming more anxious and depressed that the car isn't doing anything,so I turn the key again,it drains me,and.....vicious cycle. I'm feeling overwhelmed,severe anxiety/depressed because of this. I'm not sleeping,not going out much unless someone is badgering me too get out. It's rolling over and effecting other parts of my life like what tishirt to wear etc. Can't decide. Art is therapy to me but I can't do that and it's becoming severely depressing.

Not necessarily anxiety, but I do occasionally procrastinate out of fear of other failures. For instance, with my latest musical project, I put it off indefinitely because I was afraid my computer would BSOD on me or pull some other shenanigans in the middle of a recording session. Thankfully the problems were relatively few when I finally did start recording the thing.

YES.

Perfectionism is mentioned a lot in terms to procrastination. I wouldn't say fear of failure is the primary driving force behind my procrastination but I imagine my tendency for perfectionism an make a task feel more demanding.

I could talk about procrastination for ages but instead here's a fun piece on procrastination someone shared with me on a Facebook ASD group. There's a lot of metaphorical language but I'd say it's a fairly simple concept.

http://waitbutwhy.com/2013/10/why-procr ... inate.html

I experience something like this. When I have several big tests or tasks coming up, I start feeling really anxious because I can't decide on which one to focus on. This results in me neglecting studying and I end up performing badly on all the tests. It happens with other things too, but this was the best example I could think of. I try to get my parents to help encourage me, but it doesn't always work.

I have procrastinated often, including when I was still in college, because I am sometimes unmotivated. And I am sometimes unmotivated, because I am anxious or depressed. And my anxiety or depression is a result of not having any close friends and not having a job that I really like. Hopefully, both of those, especially the latter, will change in the near future.

I went to grad school for three years and got my Master's degree. My Master's degree may be useful for my career prospects. However, I really did not like my Master's program and wish that I had gone to work instead. There really may be such a thing as too much education, especially if you've never really lived in the real world before. I wasted four years of the prime of my youth (I lived at home for a year in between when I got my Bachelor's degree and when I started grad school, which I hated doing.) and my parents wasted a bunch of money, while I got a relatively worthless second degree. A friend of mine from my Master's program agrees with me that our degrees are worthless.

I procrastinated often in grad school because I was unmotivated and did not really want to be there. There were several times that I really wanted to quit and do something else. I seriously wanted to go to the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School (even before I started grad school), but I wasn't sure if I could pass the physical fitness standards, and I'm still not sure that I could do so in the future. I also did not like not having any close friends while in grad school(unfortunately, I wasn't that close to the friend whom I mentioned, but we still do talk regularly on Facebook message.) I have so much wanderlust and really wish that I studied abroad in college or grad school or even gone to work abroad. My academic/career field is international affairs. But when I was still in grad school, I was hesitant and even scared of going abroad for an extended period of time.

I was accepted into a graduate school program in Washington, D.C., which of course is the place to be if you are an American and are interested in politics and international affairs. However, in order to live in a place as expensive in D.C., I had to have a job and I couldn't find one there. Unfortunately, I probably didn't look hard enough for a job in D.C. At the time, I was afraid of going outside of my comfort zone, so I only applied to certain jobs. When I didn't get a job in D.C., I couldn't go to grad school in D.C. So I stayed at home for over a year and was unemployed for most of that time except for a four month internship. I then applied to and was accepted to the Master's program that I eventually attended. I didn't apply to it earlier while I was still an undergrad, because I wanted a better Master's program, especially in a city farther from home. I really only did this Master's program, because I had nothing else better to do or fall back on. During the last semester of grad school and into the summer following graduation, I did an internship on a U.S. Army base. I had been trying to get this internship for over two years. Unfortunately, the internship turned out to be a real downer and I really wish that I had done something else instead.

The only bright spot from my Master's program (and the internship) is that it (and the internship) probably got me a conditional job offer from a U.S. government agency. This is a job that I really want. However, the background check process for this job takes several months to a year (it's already been five months since I got the offer) and I don't know for sure that I will even receive a final job offer from the agency. And if I don't get a final job offer, I really don't know what I will do. But I might try to find a job abroad then. So I know that there are likely always happier times ahead, whether in the social sphere or in the job sphere. I have also decided to try to find an Asperger's support group when I move back to Washington, D.C. (I recently completed an internship in D.C., but I'm now back home temporarily.) after I get another job there while waiting to hopefully receive a final job offer from that agency.

futuresoldier, your first paragraph basically sums up the situation i'm in, minus the college part.

I take dogs, hiking, in the mountains. Sometimes, they pull me away from hazards. Sometimes, I pull them away. Anxiety can be your friend.

In my experience, a dayjob will never realistically leave you with enough time, energy, or money, for the career you actually want.

Has it ever worked, for anyone else?

If you have taken an unsustainable course, and are feeling anxious, that is a legitimate warning, not cognitive dissonance. It is not a show of character to put yourself in jeopardy.

Yes