Structured Procrastination

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

I don’t know how anyone, but I, if I have some kind of serious work that requires perseverance, I become a rare scrupulous owner. A pen in hand and then … my eyes find just a blatant mess everywhere, which requires immediate action. Those. right now, without delay. How can I write at a time when my "crocodile is not caught" and "the coconut is not grown." And, surprisingly, just extraordinary joy and pleasure from the fact that I, after all, climbed onto the highest chair and wiped the dust in the most efficient corner. And I did it right when I needed to do other things. Those. after 1-2 hours, the feeling of dust destruction is not at all the same.

Sometimes you don't want to do something because you know it won't work out perfectly. For example, in order to listen to a certain number of lectures, write a certain number of texts, etc. requires quiet and productive activity for, say, 5 hours. But somewhere you know inside that it is just so calmly and productively that it will not work out. It will be boring, nautzhno, and there are so many interesting and pleasant things around. You sit all day, or you don’t finish it and you’ll freak out, or you finish it, you’ll be exhausted and you’ll have no strength for anything. Or after everything is done, you just stupidly poke at the keyboard. There will not be this joyful "done the job, walk boldly." Just fall on the bed, fall asleep, and tomorrow morning to a new project.

And all of this makes you feel bad right now, this very minute, you are already tired and therefore you want to go to bed right now and poke at the keyboard. Needless to say, the better we represent some pictures and feelings, the more real they become for the brain. At some point, he loses the subjective sense of the time difference between now and then. The horror from torment over some business and despair from the aimlessly spent years of life becomes a current reality. And somewhere else to go, to do something to make it worse? No, thank you.

Many people think they only have one area of procrastination. This is wrong. Procrastination is a cool trick for the brain to avoid negative feelings. Each person procrastinates in several areas of their life, but often these areas are simply not so critical. Well, I couldn’t wash my plate right after breakfast, I’ll come back after work to wash it for breakfast and dinner. I haven’t bought milk today, I’ll buy it tomorrow, but for now I’ll interrupt. That is, we can postpone some procrastinated cases easily and without special psychological problems for a while and not suffer much from this. We just redistribute some of them, swap places with other actions, and everything goes its own way. It may be slower, but things are moving forward.

Problems begin when the procrastinated gave for us very emotionally significant, connected with a sense of guilt and our self-concept (if I do not do it on time, I am a dunce / mediocrity / bad mother / lousy mistress …). The greater the burden of responsibility and shame, the more likely you are to start procrastinating.

And the problem deepens if the procrastinator does nothing productive while procrastinating. He just wastes time at the computer, TV, in stores, etc.

This is where a rather strong charge forms, which keeps a person in place and only aggravates procrastination.

But Jack Perry, a professor at Standsford University, suggests structural procrastination. Take a few procrastinated areas and not waste time. One is not done, use the opportunity to do other things that also stood. And in general, which would be just good to do “here and now”.

He also advises making a to-do list, which will include very small household activities that have long been done on the machine. For example, I brushed my teeth, made coffee. It doesn't look very "impressive", but it gives the impression that things are going on. He notes that if only global big things are on the list, the urge to avoid them increases.

And most importantly, fighting procrastination is "giving yourself permission not to do your job perfectly, especially when it's not required." If during work you get up, switch to something else, it doesn't matter. You don't have to fit the image of an effective worker.