When do you, as someone with ADD, say "enough is enough" in terms of managing your procrastination?

I don't know how you feel, but I think most of with ADD can totally relate to the procrastination "symptom" if you will. I would certainly say this is one the most annoying aspects about ADD. For years, I fought this battle and I mean fight to try to manage it. I don't remember how many books, gimmicks, threats, etc. I've tried to motivate me to try to do what I had to do. The worst of it was the feeling of failure and assumption that somehow I was lazy whenever I couldn't seem to make it work. Even now, there are days when it can be a struggle just to get things done.

Now that I am diagnosed and on regular medication, the procrastination is virtually gone. Or if it does hang around, I know that it's ok because it really is limited to one day. So I'm controlling it, not the other way around.

Ah yes.. my point. Don't worry I'm getting to it! :p Do you ever wonder if there's a line to be drawn? I mean seriously, when is enough enough?

For example, I found it hard to stay away from the internet. It's not that I couldn't do it if I needed to. But my motivation was higher if I knew I was going to be in front of the computer. And guess what, it is. I'll go to the computer lab, plunk myself in front a computer and will literally live there for the next week. ;)

Don't get me wrong, if there is a struggle to get things done than it should be addressed. But even Dr. Hallowell recognized that for ADDers there is a limit.

Ah procrastination....


I've been on Aderrall for two months now and it hasn't touched my procrastination AT ALL! Actually I haven't seen that it has affected any of my ADD symptoms :(

Glad you are getting some relief!

No medication has done anything for my procrastination, unfortunately. And, in my opinion, with ADHD, there's never a time when "enough is enough." At least not for me. I'm the worst procrastinator I know, and it has caused me serious problems. For example, I can't attend school for the winter semester because I waited too long to register and the school had reinstated a policy of no late registration, which I was unaware of. ARGH! You'd think I'd learn, right? Nope. It just never seems to SINK in. I drive myself nuts everyday FIGHTING with myself, yelling at myself, threatening myself, you name it, to get things done. Yet they rarely get done. And the "things" I need to get done are all fairly simple, yet the consequences of not getting them done, are not. How hard is it to put the envelope with my rent check in it out by the mailbox so it gets mailed? It'll take 10 seconds at most! Yet I procrastinate. And the consequence, if done enough, is getting kicked out of my apartment. You'd think I'd learn, but it's like the alcoholic who can't remember the misery of his last drunk. It's frustrating to no end.

Procrasination is only a problem when the things that must be done by a certain time don't get done.
I've found that even these things can be done very well at the eleventh hour. OR Maybe I've become good at getting them done at the 11th hour because I've had so much practice putting them off. :p

I would say to gauge how well you manage procrastination by how well you achieve your goals or the results in life that you want.

If you are getting things done then what we call procrastination others may refer to as "stopping to smell the roses along the way".

When I am procrastinating I remind myself to stop thinking so much and start acting.

I was going to post on here last night but I didn't get around to it...Seriously,I only procrastinate about things that I find boring and sometimes that's a lot of things...I even procrastinate about having a shower..its such a waste of time..not to mention water..now we have water restrictions I can shower every second day if I want to and feel righteous about it. I think there are some people who actually enjoy being 'organised' and take pride in it..ah there but for the grace of God go I.

I procrastinate over boring things too.

for the past few weeks i've been asking myself this exact thing. when is enough going to be enough? it has been weighing on my mind for a long time, but for the past month I can't think of much else. sometimes I think my procrastination is far beyond repair. I was diagnosed back in november w/ADD, & got started on meds, which seemed to be helping for a little while, but recently, I feel like I am moving backwards almost to where I was before. which is depressing...i've let my procrastination interfere w/virtually every aspect of my life, and feel like I am in exactly the same place I was five years ago.

Michiko74, what meds are you taking that helped so much w/your procastination?

Something that helped me with mine, is marrying someone that's a procrastinator too.
No one does the dishes, clothes, cleans the house, COOKS THE FOOD, etc.
So, I just have to make myself do it.
I have time slots where things MUST be done.
Whether it's cooking a meal, cleaning the house, or washing clothes so I have something to wear.
I still have procrastination at work, and I have the type of job where I can go days without doing much of anything.
But then I'm busy when I get started back, because work has caught up with me.
In my personal life, as I stated above, I HAD to stop procrastinating.
If I didn't, I'd have nothing to wear, nothing to eat, a house I couldn't get around in (not to mention a house that would aggrevate my allergies), etc.
I honestly can't sleep now without making sure everything that can be done (dishes, clean kitchen, etc) is done.
5 years ago before I got married, I would eat on the last saucer (all the dishes were dirty), before washing everything! (I don't have a dishwasher)
Medication will only do so much IMHO, but you have to make some effort yourself and just say "enough is enough" when it comes to this.
Now if I could get my wife to stop this, I'd be a miracle worker.

Michiko74, what meds are you taking that helped so much w/your procastination?
I'm on a combination of strattera and dexedrine.

I have it bad. I can always find something else to do that is more stimulating than homework, thats for sure. Heck, Ive even sat staring at the wall before (granted I had a pretty good movie playing in my head). I haven't found a way to motivate myself yet, but I have gotten good at writing papers a few hours before bed. I tell myself every time that im going to start it earlier, but it just never seems to work out. Prior to being diagnosed, I thought i was just REALLY lazy!

I haven't found a way to motivate myself yet, but I have gotten good at writing papers a few hours before bed. I tell myself every time that im going to start it earlier, but it just never seems to work out. Prior to being diagnosed, I thought i was just REALLY lazy!
a page right out of my own book! I became the ultimate master of procrastination in college. I remember actually trying to study for a test last minute on the drive into school. ughh, so safe & effective :rolleyes:.

Oh I wasn't even that good :P It would be the day before the test and I'd give up an hour into studying and I'd just watch tv..

Wow! Procrastination is what got me in trouble at work and forced me in to see a counselor. The fact that I had ADHD became apparent so tomorrow I am seeing a psychiatrist to start meds. There isn't much that you all have said that could define my procrastination problems any better. I can ALWAYS find something more interesting to be doing rather than my work, even if it is something like counting the number of hairs on the middle knuckle of my left ring finger. I hate this about me and fight with myself constantly but I have such a short attention span even fighting with myself gets boring and then I realize my phone cord needs to be untwisted for the 3rd time today. Aaarrrrggg!!!!

Honestly, I hope the meds will help my procrastination because I really, really want to do a good job and and impress my supervisors. Plus, I despise people that are lazy and simply don't do their jobs. It seems that I am one of those and I feel trapped.