How I’m fighting Procrastination every day?
Disclaimer: This article won’t help you to stop procrastinating. This is just me sharing my journey of battling with procrastination and what I have learned on the way.
TL;DR — No solution/elixir/hack will stop you from procrastinating forever.
Seneca, the Roman stoic philosopher, mentions procrastination(Idleness) in his book Letter from a Stoic in 63 AD. It has been 2000 years if there was a magical, *one fit* solution for all, it would have been discovered by now, otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading this article & I wouldn’t be writing one. So perhaps for a moment, we all should pause our search to find a cure and look at the problem in a new light.
The Elephant in the Room
Hint — procrastination, it is derived from a Latin word procrastinatus, meaning belonging to the future. Procrastination is when we do something despite knowing we should be doing something else, that proves to be more rewarding in the long run. When we procrastinate, instead of working on important, meaningful tasks, we find ourselves performing trivial activities that quench our momentary thirst for pleasure.
Have you ever noticed, when we procrastinate on work we never say we will never do it, we just say we will do it, but not just right now. This moment seems far too important to miss out on what your favorite character is up to, in the latest series you have been binge-watching or to spend hours searching on YouTube on what to watch or to check what’s trending on the plethora of social networking apps that are available at our disposal.
And then comes the night, ah sweet sweet night, when we are about to sleep, that’s when the reality strikes and we realize we have wasted one more day. The feeling of guilt creeps in & we feel abhorred by our action & our inability to stick to our pledge taken last night, not to procrastinate.
By now it ends in two ways for me:
- I swear not to procrastinate from tomorrow.(*notice I didn’t say I won’t procrastinate this moment, even my pledge about procrastination is procrastinated for tomorrow 🤦♂️)
or
- End up watching videos like “How to stay motivated?” and make my sorry ass, which has been guilt-ridden for procrastinating that day, to feel better about itself. (P.S.- This daily “feel-good motivational session’’ usually continues till 1:00–2:00 a.m. without realizing that I’ve actually delayed the start of my next day and hence increased the probability of my targets being unfinished, due to this late start)
My Story
I first became acquainted with procrastination, in 2015 when I was pursuing my bachelor’s degree. Around the same time, I had just bought a new laptop and we were provided with unlimited high-speed internet connectivity in our dorm rooms. Needless to say, these two kicked off my occasional habit of postponing important work to catch up with my newfound love i.e. F.R.I.E.N.D.S. It was in those days, I discovered a new pal, and now my best friend — PROCRASTINATION. We were inseparable.
By the time I realized that this relationship (and sadly the only relationship I ever had…😅) was a toxic one and decided to get it over with, I was helpless and already mud deep into procrastination. I tried all sorts of desperate measures to terminate this bond and in one such attempt, while watching a YouTube video, I fumbled upon a suggestion to read War of Art by Steven Pressfield. I immediately bought the book, thinking it would help me stop procrastinating, however that didn’t happen. (looking back at it now, this particular outcome seems pretty obvious… almost like the ending of any Karan Johar movies.😁)
Then I asked my friend to call me every night to have a tab on me for what I have done that day. It worked, for as long as he called me…And I went back to the same habit once the calling stopped. I started watching more & more YouTube videos on how to stop procrastination, half of them are still in my watch later list 🤦♂️. Around this time, apart from my procrastination habit I also picked up on a new hobby i.e. reading. It grew on me pretty quick and soon became my new thing.
Fast forward to 20 April 2020 while I was reading Man’s search for meaning, I realized one way or another, all the books were trying to convey a similar message. As I connected the dots, I came to these two realizations which were an amalgamation of all the books I have read so far. 👇🏿
Eureka moment
- I’m in absolute control of MY ACTIONS…. Always.
What happens to me might not be in my control, but how I react to the situation is always under my command and I have the power to control my actions and thus my life. (*a staunch belief validated by Stoicism as well)
2. I have to fight Procrastination EVERY MOMENT (and believe you me, the fight is real).
There will never be any particular day, a designated hour or a specific moment when procrastination will just vanish into thin air. It’s a fight until death and every single moment I have to make a conscious decision whether I want to slack or work.
By what right do I, who have wasted this day, make claims on tomorrow?. — Alain Fournier
Sorry Alan, but I’d disagree on this one.
To substantiate my point, even if I win the fight against procrastination today, I still have to fight the same battle tomorrow starting from scratch with the same attitude. Similarly, my failing short of my targets yesterday doesn’t signify that I can’t win today. It is the current moment that holds importance and nothing else. So it doesn’t matter how many days I have wasted in the past or not, what matters is whether I’m wasting this very moment or not.
To each his own:
Time wasted is existence; used is life. — Edward Young
Speaking strictly for myself, I have been in the habit of getting all hyped up by reading articles like these & watching videos on stopping procrastination, just to return to the same reckless state, of being ignorant about my time usage & squandering it like I have an unlimited supply of it. Take everything that I have said as a grain of salt and experiment yourself, fiddle with the idea in your unique ways and improvise it in your personal capacities. I know you can come up with something more aligned and suited to your distinct individual personalities.
The question is not “if” you’ll get an answer, it’s just a matter of “when”.
I’m pretty sure you will have your eureka moment too, just don’t give up on your quest…. NEVER.
Book recommendation
- Letter from a Stoic — Seneca
- On the shortness of Life — Seneca
The ONLY takeaways (if you wish):
- No solution will stop you from procrastinating forever.
- I’m the only person responsible for my life and I alone have the power to sprung into action at any moment.
- You have to fight procrastination every moment for the rest of your life.
- We don’t have an unlimited supply of time. One day this rapid stream of time will dry up.
What’s Next*
(*This section is more for the future me, reading this article 😁)
Becoming reconciled with the concept that every moment I have to fight this urge to postpone things has not completely eradicated my procrastination problem. Even after the insightful realization, there were some days when I just lay on my bed and watched Anime but there are some days now when I move my ass and start working on things from my bucket list. I have lived one-third of my life(I’m freaking 26), and I can’t afford to put things off anymore, because if I continue this, there might not be a tomorrow left to postpone. And I have so many things to Learn.
- Calligraphy
- Wall Painting
- Reading Books
- Learn Spanish
- Personal Website
- Traveling
- Smiling for no reason :)
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Please consider sharing your journey in the comment section below or message me on twitter, I would love to connect.
Thank you Aprajit for the edits ❤️❤️❤️
