The Thief of Time
Procrastination and why we should learn to embrace it.
When I was a newbie to this whole ‘adult’ thing it became quickly evident that being ‘responsible’ is a real thing. It was no longer a myth or a word high school teachers apply to their more mature students at parent's evening. The future also became real and not some magical place you can hide those mythical responsibilities.
The oh so wise and omnipotent senior generation would preach ‘Eighteen is a fabulous age… Your life begins here… The world is your oyster…’. Another myth that still rings in my ear.
A friend’s sharp summary at the time — “it’s finally time, now there must be a new dancing queen. Applicants must be young, free and only 17”, — implied we no longer fit the bill. Despite our maturing palettes, I found oysters to be a scary, complicated and unpalatable delicacy.
My assumption that all 18-year-olds nowadays are still drowning in revision, coursework and college/university applications is likely hypothesis. Let’s just ignore the apparently compulsory pressures endured from those charming materialistic aspects of adolescent norms; money, appearance, friends… The minute I turned 18 I felt the oversized pungent wedge of stilton-esque responsibility flung into my begrudging arms.
It reached the sad point where humble tasks such as eating, sleeping and daily hygiene were all moved to the category labelled ‘Procrastination’. I felt frequent guilt about not studying and worried constantly about what I ‘should’ have been doing.
I put myself under a crippling amount of pressure to meet the high standards I had set for myself. To tackle this paralysis, I spent a large chunk of my time trying to work out how to motivate myself and avoid the sin that is procrastination.
I am now several years into official adulthood and still commit this sin on a daily basis.
At 18 I listed rearranging bedroom furniture, perfecting your arpeggios, writing novelty articles and drinking copious amounts of caffeinated drinks on the ‘FORBIDDEN’ list. And instead drank copious amounts of green tea.
I resorted to fear. I added to my revision schedule an alarm clock. I set a series of loud piercing alarms (I am yet to find the word for ‘phobia of loud beeping noises’) throughout my revision period signalling to me when I have to move on. What encouraged a pleasingly productive work pace is the fear of the approaching shrill. Which is almost as frightening as the dreadful guilt that settled upon you after an hour had passed and you had achieved as much as a three-toed sloth. You will never outrun your ticking opponent but to stop procrastination being the cold-hearted thief of time it is worth a shot. Even if it means living with a self-inflicted fear of loud beeping noises for the rest of your life.
An optimistic perception of procrastination is not that the majority of us are highly skilled in this particular field — we all deserve recognition for this practiced and perfected sport. No, let us appreciate that the work you do whilst procrastinating is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life.
Maybe we would be happier if we allowed ourselves more time to do the things we think we should not be doing. If we followed and accepted our distracting desire to Marie Kondo the underwear drawer would we hate ourselves a little less?
The current education system disqualifies this theory completely. Unfortunately, it is exams and qualifications that are credited with granting an individual the recognition they need to progress on a successful life journey. So I bite my tongue.
The pressure applied in such systems causes us to push at deadlines. Yet we manage to reach completion of each task in the nick of time — effectively through fear — as that old ‘fight or flight’ hormone kicks in (thank you evolution).
Like the marvellous composer, Gioachino Rossini; the man who was locked in a room on the opening night of his opera The Thieving Magpie to write the overture he had not yet written.
I certainly put myself in the category of people who work best under pressure. But these days, I prefer myself and produce better work when I am not consumed by stress.
Over the past decade, I have learnt how to approach stressful situations and responsibilities with grace. I have systems in place that allow me to feel prepared for challenges. And, if I do start to feel overwhelmed, I have various tools in my toolbox to help me unwind, destress and reset.
One of these tools is in fact the thieving magpie that is procrastination. But I prefer to call it ‘free time’ now.
