What Lies at the Heart of Procrastination?
By: Karishma Joshi
If you’ve heard of the legendary tale where a witch who would do the rounds in a village at night and on reading the sign on every door, “Oh Witch, Come Tomorrow”, she’d put off her murder spree for later and scurry back home, you might sit thinking to yourself, She’s clearly avoiding her task. How lazy is that.
Mind you, you don’t have the right to call her lazy because procrastination is not always related to lethargy. Give the poor lady a break.
The word, “Procrastination” is derived from the Latin word, “Procrastinates”, which means pushing a task a day ahead. It’s like staring at your word processor screen and watching the cursor blink blink blink, followed by a gush of anxious emotions gnawing your innards and making you feel uneasy. I’m not even worth being called a writer. I don’t know what to write about. Why don’t I get ideas?
Am I dumb? Yes, the way you’re going, you probably are.
When a difficult job presents itself, our limbic system is quick to label it as harmful. This task is then seamlessly, without much ado, pushed ahead for another time and the subsequent free time that result out of it is identified as an award.
Though this award may seem rosy at the time, the anxieties that pile up post the reprieve may say otherwise. And till you place a full stop in between this anxiety-award-anxiety-award vicious cycle, it will continue to renew itself.
Therefore, it is crucial to identify words like, ‘self esteem’, self –doubt’ and ‘self efficiency’ as complementary to procrastination. More often than not, procrastination is to do with managing feelings of depleting self worth and creating an emotional balance within ourselves rather than managing time.
We will look at a few ways in which we can reorient our outlook on self worth. By way of these small but nevertheless necessary additions we can push procrastination out the window.
- Plan your day out before heading to bed
Penning the next day’s schedule down before calling it a day allows one to wake up with an organised to-do list. It shoos away the groggy monster in the morning that would otherwise rise with 20 different tasks to be done, overwhelming and clouding the mind. With a clear cut schedule, you can prevent negative thoughts – Why is this so hard? What if I can’t finish it? Why don’t I just start tomorrow? – From bogging you down. It will keep you on track and lessen the chances of you putting it off as you’ve allotted a specific time for it beforehand. Suddenly, you will see that the decision maker in you garners greater control.
- Think of the positive outcome of your task
You can motivate yourself by indulging in the fruitful future that’s in store for you. Just think of the pay raise your boss promised you if you really impress that client. Think of the front page of your novel displayed in a bookstore few months down the line. Think of your child’s A grades in the coming semester grade card.
Sometimes, dwelling on the positive results of a task helps to steer clear of the daunting effects of the task itself. It’s a motivational booster in a way. Whatever feelings of deteriorating self esteem creeps up gets stomped upon with a new layer of hopeful anticipation.
- Write a motivational note to yourself
It can’t get any better than this. Spend some time writing down your achievements. They don’t have to be earthshaking. Perhaps you managed to finally upload your resume for job offers or prepared an exquisite dinner for two. It could be as simple as these! Having it written down on paper or on your notes page in your mobile phone can provide the motivation you’re longing for when you’ve hit rock bottom. Baby steps, my friend, baby steps.
Alternatively, you could make note of a motivational quote that could get your bearings back in motion.
“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone”
― Pablo Picasso
Okay ouch, that hit hard.
- Allay the anxiety
Before applying your bottom to a chair in order to complete a task, it is essential that the heaviness in your chest is put to bay. Anxiety can surely blow over if you are careful to adopt certain measures before tackling a task. Go for a walk, meditate, crank up the music in your room. Do something that makes you feel awesome.
Then, make sure you get your work done.
This way you won’t have to start off with a scattered mind that is busy cooking up excuses in your head. With a sense of calmness, you’ll see your focus gradually increasing.
- Set a break alarm
Yes, breaks are important. Moreover, breaks give you something to look forward to. If you desperately want to find out what happens in the next episode of your favourite show, set a time bracket, say, after 2 hours of intense focus on work, you can grant yourself permission to grab a bag of popcorn and indulge. But this doesn’t mean you take shortcuts and compromise on work quality and ethics. Sure, anticipate fun times but don’t go overboard.
- Hit snooze on your instant gratification siren
Ahh, in today’s day and age we just cannot rule out instant gratification in whatever it is we are doing. It’s a slow killer, coaxing you to stray from the task at hand and it runs hand in hand with procrastination. Everything is at your fingertips and with distractions galore, there’s no room for escape. It’s best to keep your mobile phone at a distance to prevent you from unconsciously grabbing it every chance you get. Put it on flight mode while you’re at that. This will not only heighten your focus but also save you hours of time. It’s a rabbit hole you definitely don’t want to dive into.
- Do not let your bad days define you
This cannot be emphasized enough. Do not let the bad outweigh the good. It’s a natural human tendency to accentuate the days where you wallowed in a pool of failure. And every time you fall down, these days loom like a gigantic green monster on the verge of gobbling you up. On such days, you must do quite the opposite and envision your successes before you. Be kind to yourself, always. You can never learn without a few mess ups here and there. When good days surface again, they will point you in the right direction.
Always remember that under a thick layer of reasons to procrastinate, lies a deep rooted layer that’s connected intrinsically to how you view yourself. If you begin to see yourself in a positive light, inevitably your confidence will surge and procrastination will never be able to shove its way in.
Perhaps the witch will though. You can’t fool her forever. Keep your doors locked. Don’t procrastinate.
