Eight Little Known Facts About Procrastination

Starting this blog is a large chore since I want to leverage my archives, the eight thousand files collected over a life time; there are a variety of topics though  most are related to personal goals and my struggles to implement  those goals.

I have had lots of goals and dreams, but less in the way of fulfillment; lots of striving but little to report in the way of actual accomplishment. Though strangely, or not, I keep trying and by dent of resilience, I guess,  I have sometimes had some small successes.

But mostly what has happened is that small victories in areas of diet, exercise, writing for publication have been accompanied by enormous amounts of dithering and avoidance.  Hence my interest in procrastination is born of close familiarity with its varieties.

I wanted this writing session to be about procrastination but  it is a scary topic for me because I have done so much of it, and feel badly about that. I don’t have a formula to produce a solution but I feel I am very acquainted with avoidance and its rewards.  Writing projects are particularly an anathema to me.

About the only kind of writing I do that I don’t procrastinate about is in my journal. And that is because I don’t have to worry about outside judgment since I am the only audience.  While I am easy to please, this gets boring after a while. Hence the push outwards to find au audience and to convince that audience to keep reading.

So here is what I have learned about procrastination from my files:

·        Procrastination predicts higher levels of consumption of alcohol among those people who drink. Procrastinators drink more than they intend to—a manifestation of generalized problems in self-regulation

·        Procrastination is only a problem when  one believes the total sum of his or her worth as a human being is tied up in performance. 

·        Procrastinators are made not born. Procrastination is learned in the family milieu, but not directly. It is one response to an authoritarian parenting style. Having a harsh, controlling father keeps children from developing the ability to regulate themselves, from internalizing their own intentions.

• Procrastinators tell lies to themselves. Such as, "I'll feel more like doing this tomorrow." Or "I work best under pressure." But in fact they do not get the urge the next day or work best under pressure. In addition, they protect their sense of self by saying "this isn't important." Another big lie procrastinators indulge is that time pressure makes them more creative. Unfortunately they do not turn out to be more creative; they only feel that way.

• There are three types of procrastinators:  arousal types, or thrill-seekers, who wait to the last minute for the euphoric rush.
• Avoiders, who may be avoiding fear of failure or even fear of success, but in either case are very concerned with what others think of them; they would rather have others think they lack effort than ability.
• Decisional procrastinators who cannot make a decision. Not making a decision absolves procrastinators of responsibility for the outcome of events.
• People who worry about being judged inadequate or unworthy usually are afraid that inadequate is exactly what they are. They are afraid to take a realistic look at themselves and find out whether they're as good as they hope or as bad as they suspect.