How to Stop Myself From Procrastinating.?

Question by jason mclug: How to stop myself from procrastinating.?
Hey there. I am a 14 year old black boy. So yea, i have this HUGE addiction to my computer because of my games there, my long distance relationship with my girlfriend, and my best 2 friends (also long distanced). I usually tell myself in my mind “There’s enough time to do my projects and homework” and before i know it, it’s bedtime. My grades are slightly slipping and my mother is really unhappy about that, especially myself. Please, i need help to stop my addiction. Thanks in advance 🙂

Best answer:

Answer by drdr
It sounds like you may have been predicting your own failure, then you lived out your prediction (the psychological concept of self-fulfilling prophesy). It is frequently necessary for individuals to change their habits, which is a difficult process. Establishing a habit is very difficult, particularly if it involves laziness or lack of motivation. If you start slow and gradually increase you will have a better chance of making it a habit. Of course, it will take 3 weeks or more to establish the habit. During those 3 weeks you have to commit yourself to doing something you don’t really want to do.

Guided imagery is a common technique in improving athletic performance and in cancer treatment, among other things. It involves mentally picturing a specific image or goal and imagining oneself achieving that goal. Those with cancer are taught to imagine their bodies fighting cancer cells and athletes are taught to see themselves executing their sport with proper form. With a phobia, it could involve gradual desensitization; such as picturing the feared object from a safe distance under controlled circumstances and gradually moving closer mentally. Or, it could involve imagining the creation of new neural connections and weakening of old neural connections (or both).

See: Seligman, “Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment;” there are several questionnaires at http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.… From the web site: “Positive psychology interventions can also lastingly decrease depression symptoms.”

The way to get good grades is to score well on tests, the way to score well on tests is to know the material. Knowing the material involves committing much of the information to memory. I believe the best way to learn something is to read it, write it, and say it; the three different actions help by utilizing different areas of the brain, and doing each action in close proximity time-wise links them together and strengthens the memory. The more this is repeated, the more one is likely to remember the material.

Gagne, Briggs, and Wager (1992) identified three empirically supported principles of learning design that improve learning and make retention more certain: 1) Contiguity: simultaneous stimulus and response; 2) Repetition; and, 3) Reinforcement: satisfaction or reward follows the act (reward yourself).

And, learn how to write. Practice writing. Seek out good examples of the types of essays you will need to do [essay exam, multi-page essay (synthesis, analysis, supported conclusion, etc.)], learn from them, model your writing after them. Take advantage of all tutoring opportunities offered by the school and ask instructors and counselors about getting tutoring.

But keep in mind the need to not over-do it:
“Experiments have shown that repetitions beyond the satiation point lead to variation, inattentiveness, fatigue, and finally to a complete disorganization; in other words to an ‘unlearning’ in the sense of inability to carry out an activity previously mastered.”
Kurt Lewin, 1951

Do not underestimate the importance of the basics: eat right, seek out whole grains, fruits and vegetables, seeds and nuts; avoid junk food, caffeine, and sodas; do not get less than 8 hours of sleep each night (avoid the habit of staying up late, even on weekends); exercise regularly, avoid excessive socializing; don’t drink, don’t smoke, and don’t use drugs (over the counter or otherwise).

Depression self-help: http://www.helpguide.org/mental/depressi…

We form habits and then our habits form us. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time. Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)

Self-pity is easily the most destructive of the nonpharmaceutical narcotics; it is addictive, gives momentary pleasure and separates the victim from reality.
John W. Gardner

A man is but the product of his thoughts, what he thinks, he becomes.
Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.
John Milton, Paradise Lost, Chapter 1 (1667)

Add your own answer in the comments!

Holistic Treatment to Addiction: Holistic Treatment at Clarity Way – Found of Clarity Way drug and alcohol rehab center, Justin Daniels, explains the benefits of holistic treatment and settles the dispute of how it works in re…

Viewpoint: We Need to Rethink Rehab

Filed under: principles of drug addiction treatment

These drugs have proved so effective that Steve Shoptaw, an addiction specialist and psychologist in the department of family medicine at UCLA, says, “I won't treat opiate addicts unless they take Suboxone.” Most researchers agree that no single …
Read more on TIME

Assessing April 12 Demonstration – a Moment for Transformation or Transgression

Filed under: principles of drug addiction treatment

Being energized and fascinated by Western and Eastern principles, development and system of government; these perceived 'revolutionary comrades' categorized themselves as 'progressives', probably because they thought on a wide range of new or modern …
Read more on AllAfrica.com

Top brain scientist is 'philosopher at heart'

Filed under: principles of drug addiction treatment

This also has implications for treating addiction. In one experiment, scientists altered a mouse's brain so dopamine neurons — involved in the sensation of pleasure, as well as addiction — could be turned on with light. They delivered brief light …
Read more on CNN – Canada