Understanding procrastination (You could be guilty of doing it right now!)

Why study for an important test that's a few days away when you could binge watch the latest widely praised show on Netflix while gobbling on premium ice cream? Are you supposed to be doing something else now than reading Steemit posts?

After all you're a smart guy, so why do you end up waiting till the very last moment to get things done? (Before you kick yourself over for being a complete moron you should know that it has nothing to do with your intelligence.)

Like everyone I've had issues with procrastination. Now if you were waiting for me to say I've completely cured myself I have bad news for you. I'd be lying if I told you I didn't procrastinate at all anymore. However I've managed to cut down on it significantly. I barely even made it to damn High School some years ago because I was too busy watching tv-shows and browsing very important clickbait articles. I didn't touch my schoolbooks let alone study methodically.

The ways in which procrastination can damage our lives are endless. Dropping out of college, missing job opportunities, skipping workouts, life altering disasters etc., you catch the drift. Underachieving life at it's finest. For some it can become a terrible issue. 

So it makes sense to not procrastinate, right? Have you perhaps tried not procrastinating? 

Of course you have but it just doesn't work like that does it?

Procrastination has a lot to do with bad habits and lack of self control. The latter leads to giving in to instant gratification like sugary sweets, Netflix binges etc. without the blink of an eye. What does one gain from those indulgences? Fleeting satisfaction if even that (likely followed by guilt mixed with sadness unless you managed to convince yourself you really did do the right thing by reading inane Reddit threads and researching 'Top 10 unexplained alien sightings' for 5 hours instead of preparing for your finals.) 

I'm not saying to never have fun. I'm saying to not have undeserved fun.

Thus begins your quest of kicking your inner procrastinator's ass and revealing your full potential. Your first step is to gain self-awareness on your issue. What do you default to doing when an important and urgent tasks comes knocking? Do you open Netflix? Do you dive in to Youtube's related videos until you feel sick? 

There are some more deceiving ones like reading self-improvement articles for that motivational boost you use for reading more motivational articles instead of closing your laptop and doing something more sensible. (Ironically I'm actually procrastinating right now by writing about procrastination.) (I won't write about it in this article but motivation is bad to rely on to get things done. It can help but you can't become dependent on that pump it gives you.)

A very common reason people procrastinate is anxiety.

You know that thing that keeps going "aaaAAAaaAAAAAAAA" in your head? The easiest way to shut its damn mouth is to indulge on undeserved fun. With its mouth full of delicious undeserved cake it'll tone down the screaming but only for so long. Then the screaming starts again, increasing in volume. Don't feed the monster.

A common technique among avid procrastinators is to let the "aaAAAaAA" continue until it gets so loud your body has no option but to do what it has to. I.e. waiting till the last moment panic. You gain superhuman intelligence and focus, devouring several books in mere hours. This feat might work out mighty fine at times but it's a bad idea to rely on it. Fear the day the screaming stops affecting you because it will come. Not everything can be finished in the short amount of time you can enjoy your enhanced self anyways. What if there's something you want to do or have to do that doesn't have a clear deadline? What if you're not satisfied with mere B-'s after cramming? All in all it's bad in the long run and solves nothing. You have to deal with the underlying issues.

One possible reason for anxiety is perfectionism.

If you're a perfectionist you're never satisfied with your work. Having high standards is good and can drive you further but when you're not putting in work equal to your standards you run into problems. Being realistic is key here. Some tasks aren't worth all the extra effort you might think in the end. Making mistakes is fine. A simple search engine query will result in many decent sources that'll help you to deal with this issue.

Other sources for anxiety include fear of failure (and success too!).

Simply disliking the task at hand.

Sometimes you have to do things you don't like. Procrastinating because of this eventually leads to added anxiety. Good habits and well aimed willpower are the solution. I could write about them at great length but I'll have to save it for another article. For now here's some recommended reading:

 www.artofmanliness.com/2012/01/01/willpower/ 

 https://www.amazon.com/Power-Habit-What-Life-Business/dp/081298160X 

Learning time management skills is also very important. Keep a schedule.

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If you have any questions, critique, comments or personal success stories to share please do so!

I'm planning on writing a lot more about procrastination and self-improvement in general.