This is one of those topics that have always made sense to me: put off what you could do today for tomorrow. What harm could it do? Seriously, though, it might seem like a good idea at the time to say you’ll pick up the mess in your living room tomorrow, but tomorrow, will you think the same thing? It’s an ongoing cycle: you say you’ll do something tomorrow, but then tomorrow comes and the house is still messy. Your clothes are still all over the ground and nothing’s been fulfilled besides false promises. Is this a productive strategy to get work done or just a crux so you don’t have to do anything at all? Also, why do people procrastinate to begin with?
For me, at least, I know I’m a perfectionist. I want things to come naturally to me – to have the words sound as good as they can be, so I feel satisfied at the end of writing something, for example. The mood has to strike or the words, or the household chores, or the birthday card is never complete. I know a lot of people are like this – they say that they like the adrenaline rush, but in the end, they’re only stressed out once the deadline pops up in the near future and nothing’s done. Other things were deemed “more important,” except for the one thing that would eventually be important in the LONG TERM. Long term planning is the worst because it’s so far in the future, at least in your mind, but it just creeps up on you unless you get a jump on it ahead of time. Procrastination is a reflex for people who want “just a little bit more time” to think and “prepare,” but in the end it’s only hurting you to not be on top of what’s coming.
Something I recently read about procrastination – it really does make a lot of sense: “Procrastination is not a problem of time management or of planning. Procrastinators are not different in their ability to estimate time, although they are more optimistic than others. ‘Telling someone who procrastinates to buy a weekly planner is like telling someone with chronic depression to just cheer up.” I feel like that by trying to manipulate every little thing to make it right, it doesn’t always work out the way you planned anyway. Therefore, I do what feels right and sometimes it happens that once I realize that I have no time left, it all just comes flowing out and I’m able to be productive. It sometimes is counterproductive, but at other times, my creative rush wouldn’t have come otherwise.
If you yourself are a procrastinator which one are you?
1. Arousal Type/Thrill Seeker– those who wait till the last minute for a rush.
2. Avoider – those who may be avoiding fear of failure or even fear of success and are very concerned about what others think of them.
3. Decisional Procrastinator– those who can’t make a decision, therefore, absolves them of responsibility for outcome of the situation.
It’s hard to pinpoint anyone as one “type” of person, but in general, procrastination allows for bad habits like indecisiveness and avoidance to overshadow the good characteristics, like being strong at handling pressure. Cheers!
