Why Put Off To Tomorrow...

Procrastination drives me nuts.  While we all are guilty of doing it from time to time, when it comes to procrastination, I think most people fall into one of two camps. 

Some people are the type who drag their feet and put off as long as possible doing things they don’t enjoy doing.  The rest of the population is comprised of the type who gets things done right away (even and especially if these tasks are not things they enjoy) so that they are done and then you can spend the remainder of your timing doing the things you prefer to do.  As suggested by the first paragraph, I fall in the latter group.

I often wonder about the first group and their motivations.  Do you think putting something off might mean you won’t have to do it?  Are you banking on someone else doing it or maybe hoping it won’t even need doing at all if you wait long enough?  I guess that’s possible but it’s probably the exception rather than the rule.  Instead, you have to keep that item on a list or keep remembering that it still needs doing.  If you don’t do either of those, it means that a family member, friend, your boss or colleague needs to keep on top of you to make sure that you do it.  Sounds to me like far more work than actually just doing the task in question.  Like Nike used to say, “Just Do It”.

What I also don’t get with this group is that when they finally get around to doing the task, they take FOREVER to do it.  I get that you may not enjoy it and it’s certainly not your favorite thing to do.  But then why not power though it and put it behind you.  I mean, really.  Rip off the bandaid.  The only thing more unpleasant than having to do chores or tasks that you don’t enjoy is doing those same things for a LONG period of time.

Maybe I’m wired differently than those folks but when I have a list of things to do, I try to get through them as quickly as possible.  It’s not that I’m saying I do a half-assed job on them.  That only leads to having to go back and do the task again to complete the job or to do it better.  I’m talking about sitting down, focusing, completing the task and putting it behind me.  I find it hard to relax when there are things on my mental TO DO list that still require attention.  To me, peace of mind is knowing my list is done and I have the next hour to go sit on the bed and catch up on Homeland. 

Which camp do you fall in?

Frosty