A message from Sandy. Procrastination manifest itself within every aspect of our lives. We all do it. You wait until the last minute to do your Christmas shopping. You put off your colonoscopy (you know who you are), you’re late filing your taxes, (again)! You forget to register to vote, you need an oil change, there is a pile of dishes in the sink, and by the way shouldn’t you do laundry before you’re down to your last set of clean clothes,(or contemplating how things might look inside out?….you know you did!) Perhaps the stakes are higher than choosing to play Angry Birds instead of exercising. You might have a deadline for work, or a family member that needs your help.

You’ll get around to it. You’ll start tomorrow. Before you do though, your think, “Maybe I should take a quick look at my e-mail, I might as well check Facebook and Twitter, just to get t out of the way.” Now you’re thinking–a cup of coffee would probably get me going again, it won’t take long to get one, and maybe just an hour watching your favorite show. Blah…..blah…blah..anything to avoid starting.

Procrastination affects everyone to some degree. With some it can be a minor problem; with others it is a source of considerable stress and anxiety. Procrastination is only remotely related to time management, you can try to fight back. You buy a daily planner, a to-do-list application for your phone, you write yourself notes, but procrastinators often know exactly what they should be doing, even if they cannot do it, which is why detailed schedules may not be of much help.

The procrastinator is often remarkably optimistic about their ability to complete a task on a tight deadline; this is usually accompanied by reassurances that everything is under control. (therefore there is no need to start) At some point you cross over an imaginary starting time and suddenly realize–you are almost out of time! Now a considerable effort is directed toward completing the task and work may progress, this sudden spurt of energy may lead you to believe that “you only work well under pressure.” Actually you are only making progress because you haven’t any choice. So if you pull if off, and the work is passable, the net result is reinforcement; the procrastinator may feel  rewarded and as a result, the counterproductive behavior is repeated over again. If you don’t pull it off,it may lead you to try and get someone else to take responsibility for what you did not complete, or it may result in a pattern of incomplete work/projects that someone else is now forced  to step in and complete. (which by the way doesn’t add to your popularity)

Thinking about thinking, this is the key. In our struggles between “shoulds” and “wants” most of us have figured out something crucial–”wants” never goes away.  Procrastination is all about choosing “want” over “should” because you don’t have a plan. It can be really to choice between now and later—later is a murky place where anything could happen. One of the best ways to see how you are coping with procrastination is to notice how you deal with deadlines. If you fail to believe you will procrastinate, and think you are awesome at working hard and managing your time, you have no opportunity to develop a strategy for out maneuvering your own weakness. Procrastination is  an impulse–it’s buying candy at the checkout. (who passes up the M&M’s?)

Spend some effort learning to outsmart yourself. What did you learn?

P.S. I started this blog last Tuesday!