I'll Procrastinate Later

In case you can't tell by the title, this post is about procrastination (yes, run along non-procrastinators). As it turns out, there are a ton of reasons why people procrastinate. You might procrastinate because you want perfection,  you get distracted easily, you fear failure, you don't believe in yourself, you're overwhelmed, you can't prioritize, you're disorganized, etc. The most common procrastinating is casual procrastination (e.g. you stop what your doing to check your Facebook or text someone). I bet that sounds familiar.


Have you figured out why you procrastinate yet? Chances are, if you procrastinate you have plenty of "logical" reasons for doing so. You work better under pressure? Or maybe it's just that the other thing you're doing is important too? Perhaps you're just too stressed and you need to relax right now? Of course, the most famous excuse is that you have plenty of time to do it later. Figure out what your "reasons" are, and remind yourself that they're not really reasons, just bad excuses (usually).

In fact, most people who "work better under pressure" actually don't. And while you might feel productive doing another task, you need to prioritize-- decide which really needs to be done first. Choosing to relax now and stress later is actually a common idea (known as instant gratification). Actually, you're not really going to relax. Somewhere in the back of your mind you'll be stressing over the work you still have to do-- but, if you do the work first and relax later, you'll actually relax. Oh, and if you think you have plenty of time, you probably don't, and you probably already know that, deep down (which means more stress).

I guess you could always blame it on the world; tell yourself there are too many deadlines, too many things to do, that it's not your fault, etc. (more on blaming later). But, I think it would be better to try and solve the problem, not just ignore it. (Here's a good article on how to stop procrastinating.)

Story time! (Woo!) You didn't think I was just writing this for no reason, or making it up, did you? No, I have procrastinating problems too. After reading a few articles, I've come to the conclusion that I procrastinate casually, and because I'm somewhat of a perfectionist. I also tend to procrastinate by doing something productive instead of what I should be doing, even though it's not as much of a priority. For example, I'll work on my science homework that's due at the end of the week instead of my history homework that's due the next day, because I like science and hate history. So, guess what happens? My science homework is done in plenty of time, and I might even feel a bit accomplished, but I still have to stay up late finishing my history homework. Not fun. Oh, and I'm also one of those not-as-bad-as-some procrastinators who will finish their work no matter what. In other words, some procrastinators never get around to completing a task, but some will still do it just, well, later. Have you noticed that most of my posts are at around 11:30 pm? Procrastination. I do make sure to finish the post that day, just barely. (Sometimes, I am actually really busy though.) Fortunately, I think I'm actually getting better about not procrastinating as much. Taking small steps is really important. (Read more about procrastination here.)

Tell me your procrastination stories! I, as well as other readers, would love to here your tips or problems. Also, have you ever tried to stop procrastinating, and did it work?