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I'm addicted to wasting time.
I used to play a lot of computer games. I had a 1.8 GPA my freshman year in college because couldn't stop playing StarCraft to go to class. After dropping out, I got a job in Japan but blew a chance at a really memorable experience by playing World of Warcraft in all of my free time for the two years I worked there. I got married and went back to college for a Chemistry degree, breezing through this time with a 3.95 GPA due to a slight shift in priorities. I still haven't needed to study except for the night before exams, so I've still had a ridiculous amount of time to waste. I tried cutting out computer games, but I found myself just aimlessly browsing the internet for hours. I've discovered that at times I would rather refresh a forum page for 30 minutes waiting for people to reply than to get up and do something useful like weeding or the dishes. I have an amazing wife and it put a lot of strain on our relationship at first, but now she's pretty much used to it and doesn't really expect much from me.
I hate it though, and with the combination of an incoming child and medical school, I know I need to get myself properly organized if I want to achieve the goals I want. I want to contribute more to my family and I want to get into a competitive specialty, and both of those are going to require consistent hard work and dedication. I know this, but where the rubber meets the road I still find myself procrastinating and making excuses. It's hard to beat 25 years of habit. Where do I start?
 
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well first off, starcraft is okay but...i mean WoW seriously? If you want to get your life in order, the first thing you gotta do is burn your WoW stuff
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Shit dude, your not alone. I'm more or less the same.
Procrastination is seriously like the biggest problem I have. I could achieve so much by actually doing useful stuff with my large amounts of free time. What do I do instead? Browse, watch stuff like anime or play games with friends.
But I'm also trying to change.
When I was thinking about ways how to improve myself and ''find'' more time for stuff thats actually good, the answer I found was routines.
If you fill your life with simple routines like ''working out every other day at 18:00'', and stick to it (the hard part) it becomes easier after awhile. I'm slowly but surely adding more routines to my everyday life and wow myself to give them priority. (Doesen't always work.) But when I keep thinking about it, I even write it down, I start to feel bad not doing it and usually I start following my new routine. And once you start, it's easier to continue.
But your life seems to be in a very different stage then mine, with a family and all. So it might be harder for you. But still, maybe worth a thought.
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I played WoW for about five years and it took up 90% of my free time until I realized that the game is TERRIBLE. I probably don't have to the best advice, but if you want to stop procastinating, just keep yourself occupied with stuff. Go to the gym if you don't already, force yourself to get up every day and clean your house, etc.
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Sounds like the description of the typical male in the mid twenties. 
Speaking from experience I can say that once you child is born you might take things a little more serious.
Still, you won't exactly change by yourself. It's actually hard work for me to remember to do "something useful". I tend to just forget it or let it slip my mind.
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Wow, sounds very similar to my habits, just about 5-6 years older. Disregarding priorities to browse the internet aimlessly, ending up with lowering marks because of playing video games.
The only way I could think of stopping it is to get rid of my computer, but I would never allow myself to do this.
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Don't follow the advice regarding WoW in this thread. If you want to keep playing, just play it for an hour a day max and then have a 3-4 hour raid on the weekend.
EDIT: WoW addiction isn't a real addiction, it's incredibly easy to beat. I'm currently on my 3rd break from WoW.
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If you're going to medical school and want to pass through it, you won't have any problems with wasting time. Eventually you're going to be at the hospital for so long everyday you'll go home to eat, get your 6-7 hours of sleep, and go back to the hospital. Even if you're a genius and can memorize shit by reading it once there's no escaping the 80-100 hour weeks when you go on rotations.
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you're "addicted to wasting time"? haha, I love how in your OP you make it sound as though this is some inherent, despicable illness when in all honestly, what regular individual would rather weed the garden or do the dishes over enjoying oneself relaxing in front of the computer? and from the other responses in this blog, it seems like the preferable choice is pretty clear. obviously the solution to procrastination is self-discipline, but i think everyone who procrastinates (me included) would rather enjoy the now and put off the inevitable, though afterwards we'll be cursing ourselves and swearing that the next time we'll manage our time more efficiently.
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Thanks, Zeal. I'm certainly aware of how taxing third-year is on your time, as I've watched several friends go through that. I'm more concerned with the first two. I'm going to try to associate myself with classmates who have good study habits.
For the record, I haven't played WoW in years. It was just an example of how I always find something completely useless to fill the gaps in my day.
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On June 15 2011 22:52 RPR_Tempest wrote:
WoW addiction isn't a real addiction, it's incredibly easy to beat. I'm currently on my 3rd break from WoW.
WoW's addiction (to me at least) was more of a social addiction, I played because I made friends there that played, then as they start to quit, I found myself bored and completely quit rather easily (been 2-3 months now) I guess it's the same as the social networking craze... Easy access to a social environment without having to leave your house and it's cheap. (Those countless hours I spent in major cities jumping around, wtb my time back!)
Seriously though, just force yourself to do something you don't want to do, yes it's hard and yes it takes a lot of will power, but that's something you should be able to do.
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"Sitting on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
I'm just sitting on the dock of the bay
Wasting time"
One day another, the tide will take your free time away...
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Everyone would rather procrastinate than study.
If you find it hard to work. Take your textbooks to the local library. I'd also try avoid using a computer at all (because of your browsing problem). Print out what you need and then get off and back to the desk. I personally can't work at home (same browsing / games problem) but I can study at my uni library for like 10 hours a day.
It's got a lot to do with how much you care. Everyone wants to do well in college but not everyone wants it enough to actually do the work.
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I have a big addiction to games, but still I do find a balance between university and games - Finishing my master degree in 2 months.
Why can't you just put it down and go study for a few hours? Don't you find it interesting? If not, then you are taking the wrong education my friend.
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On June 15 2011 22:27 RubiksCube wrote:Sounds like the description of the typical male in the mid twenties. Speaking from experience I can say that once you child is born you might take things a little more serious. Still, you won't exactly change by yourself. It's actually hard work for me to remember to do "something useful". I tend to just forget it or let it slip my mind.
Awww man. I recognize myself in this paragraph.
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EPT
