PROCRASTINATION
Procrastination umm long word right but do you know what exactly this means? There are a tons of questions about procrastination like: what is procrastination?, what causes procrastination?, how to avoid procrastination?, is it good or bad? and lot more. In this blog post I will tell answer you all these questions one by one.
WHAT IS INSIDE A PROCRASTINATOR'S BRAIN?
There are two types of brains : procrastinator's brain and non - procrastinator's brain. Both brains has a rational decision maker in them but the Procrastinator’s Brain also has an instant gratification monkey. Now, the rational decision maker will make rational decision to do something productive ,but the monkey doesn’t like that plan, so he actually takes the wheel and he says, “actually, let’s do something more interesting ”. Then we leave our desk go over the fridge eat something and then the YouTube cycle starts where in starting we are watching Newton’s first law of motion but ends up watching Justin Bieber’s mom’s interview. Now what’s going on here, this gratification monkey is a guy that you don’t want to control the wheel, he lives entirety in the present movement he has no memory of the past no knowledge of the future, and he only cares about two things: easy and fun. Now in the animal world, that works fine, for example if you are a dog and you spend your whole life doing nothing other than easy and fun things, you’re a huge success! And to the monkey, humans are just another animal species, you have to keep well – slept, well – fed , and propagating into next generation which in tribal times might worked OK. But, if you haven’t noticed, Now we are not in tribal times. We’re in an advanced civilization, and the monkey doesn’t know what that is. Which is why we have another guy in our brain, the rational decision maker, Who gives us the ability to do things that no other animal can do. We can visualize the future, we can make long term plans and he wants to take all of that into account. And he wants to just have us do whatever makes sense to be doing right now. Now, sometimes it makes sense to be doing things that are easy and fun, like when you are having dinner or going to bed or enjoying well earned leisure time. That’s why there’s an overlap. Sometimes they agree but other times, it makes much more sense to be doing things that are harder and less pleasant, for the sake of the future. And that’s when we have a conflict. And for the Procascinator,that conflict tends to end a certain way every time, leaving him spending a lot of time in this orange zone, an easy and fun place that’s entirely out of the makes sense circle. I call it the dark playground. Now the dark playground is a place that all of you procrastinators out there know very well. It’s where leisure activities happen at times when they are not supposed to be happening. The fun you have in the dark playground isn’t actually fun, because it’s completely unearned, and air is filled with guilt, dread, anxiety, Self- hatred and all those good procrastinator feelings. And the question is, in this situation, with the monkey behind the wheel, how does the procrastinator ever get himself over the blue zone, a less pleasant place, but where really important things happen? Well, turns out that the procrastinator has a guardian angel, someone who always looking down on him and and watching over him in his dark moments, someone called the ‘panic monster’. Now the panic monster is dormant most of the time, but he suddenly wakes up anytime a deadline gets too close or there’s danger of public embarrassment, a career disaster or some other scary consequences. And importantly he is the only thing the monkey is terrified of. Now the panic monster explains all kinds of pretty insane procrastinator behaviour, like how someone like me could spend two weeks unable to start the opening sentence of a paper, and then miraculously find the unbelievable work ethic to stay up all night and write eight pages. And this entire situation, with the three characters, this is the procrastinator’s system. Now our task is to knock out this monkey that is controlling our mind.
WHAT IS PROCRASTINATION?
Procrastination is the avoidance of doing a task that needs to be accomplished by a certain deadline. It could be further stated as a habitual or intentional delay of starting or finishing a task despite knowing it might have negative consequences. It is a common human experience involving delay in everyday chores or even putting off salient tasks such as attending an appointment, submitting a job report or academic assignment, or broaching a stressful issue with a partner.
What causes procrastination?
After reading the above paragraphs I think you know what causes procrastination. Let's just take some lines that defines what causes procrastination.
Some common reasons of procrastination :
Procrastination umm long word right but do you know what exactly this means? There are a tons of questions about procrastination like: what is procrastination?, what causes procrastination?, how to avoid procrastination?, is it good or bad? and lot more. In this blog post I will tell answer you all these questions one by one.
WHAT IS INSIDE A PROCRASTINATOR'S BRAIN?
There are two types of brains : procrastinator's brain and non - procrastinator's brain. Both brains has a rational decision maker in them but the Procrastinator’s Brain also has an instant gratification monkey. Now, the rational decision maker will make rational decision to do something productive ,but the monkey doesn’t like that plan, so he actually takes the wheel and he says, “actually, let’s do something more interesting ”. Then we leave our desk go over the fridge eat something and then the YouTube cycle starts where in starting we are watching Newton’s first law of motion but ends up watching Justin Bieber’s mom’s interview. Now what’s going on here, this gratification monkey is a guy that you don’t want to control the wheel, he lives entirety in the present movement he has no memory of the past no knowledge of the future, and he only cares about two things: easy and fun. Now in the animal world, that works fine, for example if you are a dog and you spend your whole life doing nothing other than easy and fun things, you’re a huge success! And to the monkey, humans are just another animal species, you have to keep well – slept, well – fed , and propagating into next generation which in tribal times might worked OK. But, if you haven’t noticed, Now we are not in tribal times. We’re in an advanced civilization, and the monkey doesn’t know what that is. Which is why we have another guy in our brain, the rational decision maker, Who gives us the ability to do things that no other animal can do. We can visualize the future, we can make long term plans and he wants to take all of that into account. And he wants to just have us do whatever makes sense to be doing right now. Now, sometimes it makes sense to be doing things that are easy and fun, like when you are having dinner or going to bed or enjoying well earned leisure time. That’s why there’s an overlap. Sometimes they agree but other times, it makes much more sense to be doing things that are harder and less pleasant, for the sake of the future. And that’s when we have a conflict. And for the Procascinator,that conflict tends to end a certain way every time, leaving him spending a lot of time in this orange zone, an easy and fun place that’s entirely out of the makes sense circle. I call it the dark playground. Now the dark playground is a place that all of you procrastinators out there know very well. It’s where leisure activities happen at times when they are not supposed to be happening. The fun you have in the dark playground isn’t actually fun, because it’s completely unearned, and air is filled with guilt, dread, anxiety, Self- hatred and all those good procrastinator feelings. And the question is, in this situation, with the monkey behind the wheel, how does the procrastinator ever get himself over the blue zone, a less pleasant place, but where really important things happen? Well, turns out that the procrastinator has a guardian angel, someone who always looking down on him and and watching over him in his dark moments, someone called the ‘panic monster’. Now the panic monster is dormant most of the time, but he suddenly wakes up anytime a deadline gets too close or there’s danger of public embarrassment, a career disaster or some other scary consequences. And importantly he is the only thing the monkey is terrified of. Now the panic monster explains all kinds of pretty insane procrastinator behaviour, like how someone like me could spend two weeks unable to start the opening sentence of a paper, and then miraculously find the unbelievable work ethic to stay up all night and write eight pages. And this entire situation, with the three characters, this is the procrastinator’s system. Now our task is to knock out this monkey that is controlling our mind.
WHAT IS PROCRASTINATION?
Procrastination is the avoidance of doing a task that needs to be accomplished by a certain deadline. It could be further stated as a habitual or intentional delay of starting or finishing a task despite knowing it might have negative consequences. It is a common human experience involving delay in everyday chores or even putting off salient tasks such as attending an appointment, submitting a job report or academic assignment, or broaching a stressful issue with a partner.
What causes procrastination?
After reading the above paragraphs I think you know what causes procrastination. Let's just take some lines that defines what causes procrastination.
Some common reasons of procrastination :
1. A Fear of Failure
In my experience one of the most common causes of procrastination is a deep-rooted fear of failure. If you fear the consequences of failing, then a logical extension of this is a disinclination to take action.
This is because you are guaranteed not to fail if you don’t attempt something (although the argument can easily be made that not attempting is the same as failing in the first place – which is an important point to consider).
Procrastination is comforting when you fear failure. It serves as a protection mechanism, shielding you from the possibility of real failure – as opposed to the more subjective failure that accompanies not attempting something in the first place.
Cure: Understand and accept that failure is not fatal. Most mistakes can be fixed, and you will get a second chance to right any wrongs. Obviously don’t go into a task with a mindset of failure … but realize that mistakes do happen.
Furthermore, train yourself to understand that failure to take action and give something a go is actually worse than being unsuccessful in its execution. If you try and fail, you at least have the opportunity to learn from your mistakes. If you never tried in the first place, then you’ve got nothing to show at all.
2. Excessive Perfectionism
Another common cause of procrastination is excessive perfectionism. If you are a self-confessed perfectionist, then you might find it difficult to take action unless you know you can do a job with which you will be totally satisfied.
This becomes a problem when you have to try something new, or different to what you are used to. Because of an ingrained perfectionist mindset, you will either consciously or subconsciously worry about being able to reach an end-state that will be to your liking.
It’s a great thing to be proud of the work that you do, and to want to do your best. However, when your mental picture of something you want to complete is actually beyond what you can reasonably expect to do, then you have a problem. Basically, you know that you won’t be able to do as well as you want … so it’s easier to do nothing at all.
This excessive perfectionism causes procrastination by encouraging you to put off attempting a task until you think you can do it perfectly. In many ways, this is similar to the “fear of failure” concept I outlined above; except that instead of believing you cannot succeed at all, you worry that you cannot meet your own high standards.
Cure: Aim to do your best, and be happy with the output. Accept that there is no such thing as a perfect job (especially if someone else will be critiquing your work – their idea of perfection will differ from yours).
3. Low Energy Levels
Another frequent reason for procrastination is experiencing low energy levels. If you are lacking energy, then it stands to reason that you will not feel like doing much at all.
This is a common cause for those of us with relatively unhealthy lifestyles. Whether you get insufficient sleep to “recharge your batteries”, or your diet causes you to feel sluggish and tired, lifestyle factors can play a huge factor in how inclined you are to get up off the couch and take action.
You should be able to easily identify this problem in your life: If you want to be active and productive, but simply lack the physical energy to do so (i.e. the mind is willing but the flesh isn’t) then you are probably suffering from low energy levels.
Cure: Work on developing a healthier lifestyle. Experiment with sleep, diet, and exercise to find a balance that works for you. There is a wealth of useful information online about making positive lifestyle choices – and you’ve probably already got a fairly decent idea already of what changes you could make.
If you cannot get any positive results (in terms of raising your energy levels), then consider consulting a healthcare professional in case there are underlying causes of low energy that require comprehensive medical treatment.
4. A Lack of Focus
A lack of focus in life is another frequent cause of procrastination. Although some people like to claim that “the person who does not know where they are going always travels further”, this idiom does not mesh well with those of us who are predisposed to procrastination.
You probably have a lack of focus if you frequently feel directionless, or that you do not really have a purpose in life. If you do not have any goals set, then it is almost certain that you will be lacking in focus – as you have no target to work towards. You may simply feel as if you are just drifting through life.
This lack of focus causes procrastination by preventing you from homing-in on an “end point”. Instead, you will wind up expending all your energy in the here and now, with nothing to guide you towards productivity.
When I was younger I suffered greatly from a lack of focus. I had no strong goals or targets to reach, so I simply frittered away most days. It wasn’t until I learned the art of effective goal setting that I became able to overcome procrastination and achieve more with my life.
These days I set goals for just about everything I do. I have goals for my fitness (e.g. wanting to squat twice my bodyweight by the end of the year) through to long-term financial goals.
Cure: Set yourself some inspirational-yet-attainable goals. It’s important to set the bar high enough to encourage you to take action, but not so high that you are likely to fail (which isn’t good for your motivation and drive).
A good goal encourages you to take action, because you do not want to disappoint yourself by failing to achieve what you set out to do.
