Into The Mind Of A Procrastinator !

I was procrastinating even before I knew such a word existed ! This is a problem that I’ve faced for years but never really considered solving. I would often shove things away by saying, “Oh it’s no big deal. I just like doing my work in a deadline-induced panic!” Now that I’ve thought hard about it I’ve realized that it’s high time I need rescuing from this monster and, I know, so do many others; and what better way than putting it down on paper and holding it in front of my eyes ? After all, I will only be able to solve a problem if I admit that I have a problem !

So, what makes people procrastinate ? Research has shown that procrastination is in fact a big deal. There are several psychological traits associated with it. The biggest of them all is lack of motivation. Let’s face it, it’s easy being de-motivated. I personally get uninspired if I start feeling like the task that I’m supposed to be doing will not have any big impact on my life, or if the task at hand is too difficult or complicated for me to not stress about it. Most of my procrastination results from trying to avoid the stress associated with doing a difficult job- like solving physics questions ! Another thing that makes me delay my work is the fear of failure. Yes. If I get a feeling I won’t succeed in doing something there’s a high chance I’ll keep putting it off just to prevent myself from feeling like a loser.

Research also suggests that some people procrastinate simply because they are in denial. They obviously don’t like failure ! But they like the idea of being able to console themselves later on by saying, “I had the best chances only if I started earlier. It’s not like I lack on skills or that I actually need more studying to get a grip on the subject !”.And of course, the biggest evil, Laziness !

It’s not like procrastinators do not realize the danger. We are constantly fed by guilty conscience. The only things that save us are ‘panic’, ‘fear of public embarrassment’  or just plain DEADLINES ! but while all these things sound obvious they aren’t quite fun to live with. They provide the same stress that we were trying to avoid in the first place. What do I do when panic starts reaching the maximum level ? No, I don’t start doing my work. Like a pro, I switch to Youtube videos on ‘How  To Stop Procrastinating’ !

While the posts on the internet claiming procrastinators are actually super talented and secret geniuses might be true( makes me happy to think it is) it is better to remember the saying,

“Hardwork beats talent if that talent doesn’t work hard”

To make use of our potential we need to work hard and for that we HAVE TO stop procrastinating.Thankfully, there are some well thought out ways on just how we can do that.

The one that I thought would work best is to just stop overthinking and start doing. I’ve personally noticed that once I overcome the temptations and take my first step, things start escalating very fast from then on. So from now on if I struggle with writing a blog I will sit with a pen and paper and start scribbling what comes to my mind, and when I “feel like” not learning my lessons I will at least take out my book and a pencil and read through the text like I’d do for a story book.

Another way of doing this of course is to break up the big task into small fragments so it doesn’t seem intimidating. We’re much likely to get our hands on smaller simpler task that something that resembles a mammoth ! So from now on I’ll plan my study route accordingly and divide the big chapters into smaller sections and try my best to achieve my daily goal.

The final thing that I thought would be of help is to seek daily motivation. Everyone has different things that they seek inspiration from. I get inspired when I read meaningful quotes by the people who I look up to or by watching documentaries on people who’ve achieved a great deal in their lives. Sometimes even a photograph of a neatly organized desk with books and notes motivates me to study!

There are just so many things a person can do to stop procrastinating and each person can do what suits them best; but we all have the same goal and that is to make a more productive person out of ourselves. And nothing is impossible if we put our heart and soul into it. I hope I’ll be able to deal better with this problem in the future and so will many of you.

We’re in this together, my friend.