As sit at my so-called dining room table in my college apartment on my Macintosh computer, I stare at a blank word document. A white canvas waiting to be filled with Times New Roman size 12 font by my diligent typing and selective thoughts that will flow through my finger tips - if only I get started. But my Microsoft Word shares a screen with three different Internet tabs: Facebook, Blogger.com, and Google. My mind is equally stretched thin by also reserving data space for my long list of “To-Do’s” before the weekend, how many hours left until I can take another dose of my decongestant, and while still seeming to be interested in my roommate’s complaints about her team she was put for next weekend’s Beer Olympics. How is it already 1:45 AM?
Procrastination is a battle of the mind by attempting to justify excuses by occupying one’s self with other activities. Because you see, before starting that 30 day work out challenge - need the day to catch up on rest so you start the 7th season of Entourage. Before picking up playing the piano again you might as well check your email real quick and make sure you didn’t miss any of our notifications on Facebook – just to get it out of the way first. Procrastination is about defeating yourself by thinking about how you think. No organizer or time management app you buy will ever make you get the things you wish you could finish actually completed. The reason so many of us wait until the very last minute to buy Christmas presents or write that weekly response for class is because we let ourselves cave in to choosing what we want right now rather than what we should do for the future. That wanting, yearning, feeling of instant gratification will never go away. I will always want to start drinking on Wednesday rather than start studying for my exam on Friday, but sitting here now realizing I would be better off sleeping than writing knows the benefits of getting things done in a timely manner. The trick is to think about what you know now is right, but that the you right now is not the one going to be tempted or making the decisions – it is the future you. See, right now as I am currently reflecting on how I failed to not procrastinate I am disappointed in myself. What I should have done was accepted that the future me was going to give in and if I did I was going to hate myself for it (which I do).
Being productive has nothing to do with will power or desire – it is about playing a game within your mind. You must out smart yourself from checking if someone has commented back on the Toddler’s and Tiara’s video you posted on Facebook but instead fulfill your New Year’s resolution of stretching for 15 minutes a day. You will constantly make yourself empty promises by running to the HUB at 11 o’clock at night to print out paper’s for a class tomorrow when you know you should be starting your rough draft on a paper due next week. Procrastination is an idea everyone has to work around and live with on a daily basis. It isn’t something that we can completely delete from our lives but over coming it by mastering your mind is a skill only the present you can teach the future you, you choose to be.
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