“Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday”

–Don Marquis

Introduction

Good old procrastination, the stuff of legends, a crippling and yet prominent part of our lives that, for the most part, hinders progression and improvement. Everyone falls victim to it and everyone wants to stop it, but, I like to think of it as a double-edged sword. Just like with most things in life, too much of something is a bad thing and in the case of procrastination, you can find the good in the bad.

Why Do We Procrastinate?

Procrastination is the act of delaying or postponing a task or set of tasks. So, whether you refer to it as procrastination or Akrasia (as termed by the ancient Greeks) or something else, it is the force that prevents you from following through on what you set out to do.

Ok, now that we have defined procrastination let’s look at the reason why we procrastinate.

In behavioral psychology, research has uncovered a phenomenon called “time inconsistency”, it helps describe how procrastination draws us into its clutches in spite of our good intentions. The phenomenon entails how the human brain values immediate rewards over future rewards. Basically, human-beings find it extremely hard to delay gratification.

Let’s imagine 2 versions of ourselves, one present and one future. When your present self sets a goal, such as exercising, finishing a book or improving a skill, you are doing those things for your future self. You are detailing what you want your future self to have/know. When you think about your future self, it is very easy for your brain to see value at that moment, because your brain will be living in the future. Your future self also values actions with long-term benefits because It prioritizes goal setting. 

However, while the future self can set goals, only the present self can take the actions needed to reach said goals. Your present self loves instant gratification, hence social media addiction.

The present and future selves are always at each other’s necks. The future self wants to be slim and fit, but the present self finds that big mac alluring. Everyone knows you have to diet while trying to become fit, but their present self is way too invested in the moment to realize that, eating the burger will impact negatively on their physique.

The Drawbacks Of Procrastination

Procrastination has many drawbacks. It is very common to see people who procrastinate miss out on the things in life they should have taken action on. Not only missed opportunities but, like with that alluring burger, choosing to eat burgers every day in place of your diet because you decided to procrastinate might cost you your health in the long run.

Your dreams can be put on hold because your productivity was stunned and you decided to watch TV in place of reading that “how-to guide on money management”. 

Did you know that the top one percent of people procrastinate on procrastination? I know it sounds weird but it makes a lot of sense. They work as hard as they can in the present so that they can do whatever they want in the future. This takes the concept of procrastination and turns it upside down. Choosing to do it now gives you the opportunity to both, do whatever in the future and you can do that whatever with a load of resources. I mean, if you can start thinking about it in this manner, you’re bound to stop procrastinating faster than you’d think.

But just to make things solid, creating deadlines is a proven way to get that procrastination monkey out of your head. A deadline makes a task or activity of high importance in your mind, leading you to take action there and then. Think about it, remember that time during your formal education when you had an important assignment due the following day and they had given you the assignment 4 weeks prior. Well, the night before was when you did 99% of the project (the 1% was when you wrote your name the day it was handed out) and surprisingly you did a good job. Deadlines move people because there is a factor of urgency and urgency is what drives people to act.

How To Use Procrastination In A Positive Way

A positive way? You must be kidding me, right? Well no and, yes you can get procrastination to work for you. It’s not even that complicated.

You see, when someone procrastinates, they are quite literally allowing themselves time which can be used for reflection and introspection. See, if you aren’t writing or doing anything in line with your goals you’ll be able to objectively view how things are progressing. When you’re logged in the pursuit of achieving the goals you set, sometimes you get lost or forget the reason why you set out to achieve it in the first place. By let’s say, taking a single day off in a month you’ll be able to look back and see why you are doing it, how far you’ve come and how long it will take to get there. Appreciating your efforts allows you to truly engage deeper in your conquest.

End

Thanks for reading! I know for a fact you got something interesting from this. Having said that, I trust you’ll revisit next, when we take a look at “The People You Hang Out With Directly Influence Your Success”

If you enjoyed this be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments, like and share. It will mean the world to me.