Procrastination - My Greatest Vice

I was supposed to write and publish this article last month, but…

“Hello procrastination, my old friend” I sing to the tune of Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel – when I don’t leave the bed as soon as I wake up in the morning and instead mindlessly scroll up and down on Instagram, Etsy, and Tumblr, when I finally decide to open the half-read novel I last read two weeks ago but instead the spider skillfully building its web in the corner of the walls has a stronger hold on my attention, when I eventually choose to go on a walk in the evening but the comfort of remaining snuggled in my bean bag is too tempting and I plant myself on it for hours, when I go to bed at 10 PM and feel excited about getting enough sleep but Instagram reels and YouTube shorts keep me entertained for the next 3 hours, and when I have a strong urge to cook a nice meal on the weekend but I end up binge watching a whole season of The Last Kingdom on Netflix while eating takeaway.

Procrastination is the act of delaying or putting off tasks until the last minute, or past their deadline.

Now why do I procrastinate so much? I’ve been told that I have the attention span of a chicken and that most definitely adds to this. But I’m well aware that the way I have conditioned myself to be entertained by electronic devices and other less significant things while pushing the possibly better lifestyle to the sidelines is probably one of the major reasons for the way I procrastinate in different ways.

I’m not a serial procrastinator – I just have my moments or days. But I can confidently reveal that procrastinating has never affected my work. I’ve never allowed it. But I neither take pride in it, nor does it absolutely justify my delays. As a lecturer, when my students would tell me how they pulled all-nighters to finish their assignments which they only started the night before the deadline, I would be disgruntled because they were wasting their time during the day and were sacrificing their sleep to work. But then I’d realize that I had also made delays in evaluating their assignments and exam papers, because c’mon! Irrespective of age, gender identity, career, status, religion, nationality, etc., we all have the tendency to procrastinate in one way or the other. Some give in to it, and some don’t. I do realize the negative consequences of procrastinating, but like many, controlling my inner conflict between doing and not doing things can be hard sometimes. There is a voice in my head that constantly tells me that I’m supposed to be doing something more productive, but ignoring it is sometimes a conscious decision, and other times it happens automatically.

Like I mentioned earlier, I am not a serial procrastinator. There are days and times when I’m able to get things done in or on time. I make this happen by doing the following.

• Schedule the task – Making a schedule is an effective way of getting things done, whether you procrastinate or not. When you have a sheet of paper with your timetable on it, placed or stuck somewhere that's always visible to the self, it reminds you to get the job done. Marking your calendar on your electronic device, maybe phone or tab or laptop or whatever you can afford that give off alarms can remind you to complete your tasks. I’ve always preferred writing/drawing my schedules. I am pretty organized and artistic and therefore would make my timetables super neat and colorful which would have my constant attention and that would help me finish my work on time. Since my current job requires me to constantly use my laptop, I’ve switched to marking the calendar on Microsoft Teams, and that helps too.
• Make a list of pros and cons – This is something I do when the dilemma is intense. The questions I ask myself here are “what good is going to come out of this?” and “what are the negative consequences of not doing this?”. Then I make two lists side-by-side where I note down the answers to these questions, which are nothing but the pros and the cons of the situation. If there are more pros than cons, it motivates me to get the job done. And if the cons surpass the pros, then it scares me, and I end up completing the task. It’s a win-win!
• Substitute insignificant activities with productive distractions – The thing that makes me procrastinate the most is my phone. Mindlessly scrolling through things on social media is obviously a hurdle. So, when procrastinating takes place deliberately, and I just can’t get myself to do the scheduled task, I substitute the phone with something else that adds to my well-being. I either go for a walk, read a book, clean the house, rearrange the interior of the house, or work on my art. If I’m allowing myself to get distracted, I’d rather distract myself with something I can benefit from.
• Seek social support – I consider myself lucky to be surrounded with supportive people. My social system is something that I can depend on when things aren’t hunky dory for me. If writing an assignment as a student was hard for me, I’d have friends I could sit with, and we’d complete the assignment together. If preparing a nice meal seems like a task, the call my parents give me pre-lunch to ask what I’m eating motivates me to work on it. If I’m unable to get myself to go on that walk I decided to take, my sister will drag me with her for a stroll. It’s a privilege that these people pop up for me when in need. And if they don’t approach me, I believe that there is absolutely no harm or shame in asking them for help myself.
• Reinforce self – I believe that as an adult, I still deserve and need reinforcements. For me, reinforcements don’t always have to be materialistic. When I complete a scheduled task, the satisfaction and joy I get from completing it act as reinforcement. And when it comes to reinforcing myself with something materialistic, I tell myself that I can watch the episode of The Last Kingdom only after I have completed the task. So, the anticipation of watching an episode (or two) of my current favorite show keeps me going. If the task is intense and requires a lot of hard work and mental strength, I allow myself to get a little treat – dessert!

There is a major need to understand that all humans are flawed – “nobody is perfect”, they say, and I believe that it’s true. We, as humans, tend to do good, do bad, be lazy, be productive, be slow, be quick, bla bla bla. These are basic human traits. Procrastinating is one of the many “negative” traits or tendencies a human can have. There have been instances where procrastinating has saved lives (an exaggeration, obviously), but that’s a discussion for another time. What I intend to say is that it isn’t fair when you beat yourself up for not doing things on time. Yes, it definitely is faulty behavior. So, taking the blame for procrastinating is the least that one can do. But at the same time, we need to become aware that it is never too late to learn, there is always room for improvement, we all have and can create our own coping mechanisms to deal with such issues, and that we are only human.