I don’t remember exactly when I
recognized one of my most annoying behavioral traits, procrastination. In all
likelihood, I picked the horrid habit up as a child or teenager. It wasn’t
until I was in college, however, that I truly realized it was plaguing my life.
In college, most of us seemed to fall into
two camps. There were those who had
their papers stacked up in advance all semester, ready to hand in on the due
date. And, there were those of us who
wait until the last day, hour, or minute. I genuinely admired the first type
and identified with the second.
I’m the one who burned (and continues to
burn) the midnight oil. Or to be more exact, I’m the one who rises to get my
work done before the birds are awake. Luckily, I hit the ground running when I
wake up in the wee hours, and I do my best work very early. However, I am
constantly berating myself for leaving my professional or academic work until
the last minute.
While I have been writing this column, I’ve
taken breaks to empty dishwasher, write a few lists, check on a multitude of
emails, and straighten the linen closet. All worthy tasks, but certainly not
with the same deadline or importance.
“I work best under pressure.” “I’m maximizing my creativity.” “I always get it done in the end.” “I excel
at multi-tasking.”
Those are the delusionary excuses most
procrastinators come up with to justify the underlying problem of what can
often is self-sabotage. There are few benefits of procrastination. Is my
sharpest writing done under pressure? Probably not. Am I choosing between the
task that’s most important or least important? Not really. Am I managing my
time most efficiently and effectively? Certainly not.
I have no idea when procrastination was
officially defined as a behavior. Perhaps writers Shakespeare and artists
Rembrandt put off their least favorite projects for those they enjoyed more.
Procrastination involves more than professional and creative tasks like writing
and creating, however. Many of us put off personal tasks like paying the bills
or beginning meaningful conversations. We avoid health issues and delay
decisions. It can be an annoyance, or it can be a dangerous practice that keeps
us from success and self-actualization.
There is a plethora of books written to
help the chronic procrastinator and Minuteman libraries, and ours in Norwood,
have them on the shelves. They are in a variety of formats, both in print and
audio.
A title that pokes a bit of fun at the
serious problem of procrastination is John Perry’s The Art of Procrastination
(2012). Perry claims his book is an
effective guide to dawdling, lollygagging and postponing as a means “to get
things done.” Perry tells us that we should recognize that there are some power
people out there who have no problem creating and producing – such as Hillary
Clinton and Bill Gates. But, Perry
argues, the majority of the rest of us can use avoidance and get the creative
juices flowing to get some innovative work done. In fact, Perry, claims that as
a “structured procrastinator” he wrote his book while avoiding other deadlines.
His book is available in both print and audio format for the must-productive
multi-tasker.
A recent
audiobook is available in the Morrill Memorial Library Hoopla! catalog is Lee
Pulos’ Stop Procrastination (April 2015). Dr. Pulos uses the visualization
technique and promises to help you prioritize your projects, stay focused, and
finally complete the most important tasks through self-hypnosis.
A book
previously titled The Procrastinator’s Digest by Dr. Timothy Pychyl has been
republished as Solving the Procrastination Puzzle (2013). It’s a short book of
just over 100 pages that explain and describe why we procrastinate and why we
are self-saboteurs even while we have the best intentions. Of course, a
self-help book would not be particularly useful without suggestions for
changing our thinking and our behavior. Pychyl has all of those, of course.
Anxiety
and a feeling of being overwhelmed can be a cause of procrastination for even
those less inclined to habitual procrastination. We all know that worry does
absolutely no good in any circumstance.
The longest-living incumbent Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso or the
fourteenth) advises “There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.”
Now,
procrastinators may beg to differ. After all, we exclaim, it is fear of failure
and fear of missing a deadline that fires us up! Yet, in The Worriers Guide to
Overcoming Procrastination, authors Kevin Gyoerkoe and Pamela Wiegartz claim
that it is that anxiety that holds us back and causes us to feel guilty all the
time – even when we are attempting to do other things, like have fun and relax.
Negative energy, Gyoerkoe and Wiegartz say, are fueling the anxiety, and we
will all be better off without it. The problem is that many of us know only the
positive results of getting something done immediately before a deadline.
In The
Thief of Time (edited by Chrisoula Andreou and Mark White), many essayists
consider such philosophical questions as whether procrastination is the result
of a lack of willpower or lack of planning. Identifying a problem is often the
beginning of change and perhaps understanding your personal behavior can help.
Other
helpful books are The Seven Secrets of the Prolific by Hillary Rettig and Get
it Done (in 15 minutes a day) by Sam Bennett. Helping the problem before it
gets started in childhood is the subject The Everything Parent’s Gide to
Children with Executive Functioning Disorder (2014) by Rebecca Branstetter.
Time management skills, effective organization, good memorization, and clear
concentration are all helpful components of success throughout the school year
and life.
Of course, I’ve meant to do something about
my bad habit of procrastination. But, I’ve
been putting it off.
