(Link to YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arj7oStGLkU)
My aunt recently introduced me to a Ted Talk by Tim Urban (writer of the blog ‘Wait but Why’) called “Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator”. I was immediately enlightened, and I felt very heard when he talked about his struggles with procrastination - especially since he’s a writer himself.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve struggled with procrastination. Having a constant weight on my shoulders because I know I have tasks to complete is something I’m very familiar with.
It can be fun to procrastinate and not do work until you realise that you have a test tomorrow and you know absolutely nothing about your unit. This is exactly why I loved the example Tim used when he was explaining procrastination. He explained the three parts of a procrastinator’s mind:
The rational decision-maker
The part of your brain that suggests all of the rational choices; the one that begs you not to do your work only the day before it’s due.
The instant gratification monkey
The one who provokes all of the procrastination. The monkey only lives in the present and doesn’t think about the past or the future. The monkey is the one who loves having all the fun and doesn’t care about any work you have or other tasks you have to complete.
The panic monster.
This is the guy who suddenly wakes up the night before an assignment is due or the day before a test.
This is pretty much what goes on in a procrastinator's mind.
Now Tim made the procrastination cycle pretty clear in his talk. Here's an example.
Say I have an assignment due in the next week. The rational decision maker suggests that we do a little bit every day, so we don’t have to leave it till the last minute and stress out. The instant gratification monkey, however, wants to have fun and waste time mindlessly scrolling on TikTok. Unfortunately, the monkey usually wins the scenario, and before we know it it’s Thursday night and the panic monster appears. This is usually around the time I end up pulling an all-nighter and using ChatGpt.
Even though Tim explained the cycle of procrastination very clearly, he never really talked about how he deals with his procrastination. So when I finished the video, it left me with the question “What do we do if the panic monster never appears?”
Tim explains how there are two types of procrastination. The first one is procrastination with a due date - this is usually when the panic monster gets involved. But what about procrastination when there is no deadline?
Trying a new sport, for example, there are no deadlines for doing something like this, because nothing is happening. Nothing is happening until you take the first step to get things going.
He goes on further to talk about how this form of procrastination is overlooked; people prefer to talk about the deadline type of procrastination. People suffer from this type of procrastination privately, even though it’s the hardest type of procrastination. It leads to frustration and guilt, not because we aren’t able to achieve our goals, but because we aren’t taking that first step that guides us to our very reachable goals.
Something I’ve recently procrastinated on is getting back into consistent exercising after quitting gymnastics. I did that sport for around 8 years, and suddenly not having a routine was a really weird experience. It’s taken me a while, but I found that having stability in my daily routines helped a lot in dealing with my procrastination. It was getting into the routine of consistently working out that was the hardest part. Social media was a big help when it came to taking the first step, for example watching videos of other people who deal with the same procrastination issues I deal with when it comes to exercise.
But once I took that first step, everything became easier. I’ve been consistently exercising for a while now, and I’m so glad that I took that first step because I feel so much more productive.
It can be hard, but learning how and when you work best is something that I’ve found really useful when it comes to procrastination.
What are the ways that you deal with procrastination?
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