Stage 1 · Lesson 6 of 6
When to ask a doctor
Almost everyone procrastinates and gets distracted, and the tools in this roadmap help most people. But for some, focus problems are much bigger: they have been there since childhood, across school, home and work, and they cause serious trouble, such as failing courses you understand, losing jobs or constant conflict over forgetting and lateness.
If that sounds like you, it is worth talking to a doctor or a psychiatrist, who can check for things like ADHD, sleep problems or low mood that affect attention. Only a professional can assess that, not an online quiz or a social media video.
Low mood can also look like procrastination; the Looking after your mental health roadmap at /roadmaps/mental-health/ helps there.
Common trapself-diagnosing from short videos, or never asking at all.
A question to check yourself come when you add the roadmap to your account. Add it
Resources for this stage
Start with
- VideoFreeInside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator (Tim Urban, TED2016)
Tim Urban (TED2016)
A funny, honest talk on what goes on inside a procrastinator's head
Practise
Also worth your time
Struggling right now? If you are in danger or thinking about harming yourself, contact local emergency services or a crisis line: Find a helpline (any country), Umang (Pakistan), Tele-MANAS, 14416 (India).