For as long as I can remember I have been a super procrastinator. However, I'm also pretty smart which helps me fake it so that no one else notices. I think part of my problem might be that I grew up with an entitlement complex as I was valedictorian, near perfect SATs etc. and I never did shit in high school.
Now that I'm in the real world it's starting to really gnaw at me. I make $130k as a 21 year old and I probably put in 3 hours of real work a day. I'm a good enough programmer that I can bullshit my way through most stuff and at this point I think people are starting to realize that I'm a bit slower than I could be. I still push out a lot of code, but I secretly spend 7-8 hours a day doing bullshit at work (reading online, games, etc). I know that I've been given a gift and that I'm a fucking idiot for wasting it, but I've just become a chronic procrastinator and it sucks.
I could be changing the world but instead I'm putting in the bare minimum and no matter what trick or method I try I can't seem to beat it. I've never had a strong willpower to begin with and now it seems to be getting worse (looking back I wish I played more sports).
Any advice on how you taught yourself to focus on tasks, build willpower, and get shit done would be helpful. Although, I wonder if I really fucked my brain/habits up so much that I'll never reach my full capacity. I've been like this for the past 6-7 years and it doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon. My dad is also very similar in that he's smart enough to bullshit through life but he only works at 10-20% of his full capacity and he never completes anything.
Help!?
I have one piece of advice - one technique that I got from a cognitive behavioral therapist that helped me. It's pretty simple:
Pick a task you don't feel like doing. Set a timer. 10 or 15 minutes. Work on the task. Do not worry about the end result, or getting to a "good stopping point" or anything. When the timer stops, stop working on the task. Play another game or watch another YouTube video or something. When you feel like it, set the timer again and repeat.
The trick is that if you aren't worried about finishing the task you want to do, you can do the work without that feeling of discomfort and dread that makes you want to stop and distract yourself with something else.
The first time I did this technique, it was actually with dirty dishes and not work. I used to let them pile up because I just couldn't deal with it. I set a timer for 5 minutes and washed the dishes. It was a carefree experience. I walked away at the end, but then something funny happened - I soon wanted to go back for another 5 minutes. Pretty soon I finished the whole load of dishes and it wasn't unpleasant at all.