Procrastination is not a habit. It’s an art.
Procrastination — a word you should keep in and out of your mind right now.
Leonardo da Vinci. Pablo Picasso. Vincent van Gogh. Michelangelo. Most of us Filipinos.
Wait, wait, you could be asking why we are lined up together with the world’s most renowned and sought-after painters and sculptors, or artists in general.
Well, da Vinci, as y’all already know, stroked two of the most famous paintings known to man — ‘The Last Supper’ and the ‘Mona Lisa’. The latter is a special one, because it’s the only painting that can look that way at you when the world can’t even give half their eyes on you.
Pablo Picasso, who spearheaded the Cubism movement, is the Spanish artist behind the critically-acclaimed ‘Guernica’ and ‘The Weeping Woman’, which not only showed his exceptional knack at painting, but also his awareness of the social scenario at his times.
Van Gogh, on the other hand, was a master of still life paintings and I’m sure y’all know ‘The Starry Night’ that came off his creative brush. His works belong to some of the world’s most expensive paintings, and that already speaks about the quality he stowed in his works.
Italy gave rise to pizza, and Michelangelo, its most celebrated sculptor. If you come across the sculptures crafted during the glorious Renaissance period, Michelangelo’s creations will often be mentioned to its best superlatives. Albeit known as a carver, the Sistine Chapel ceiling paintings, which is most known for two guys playing, you know, who had the cleanest nails, was also a product of his unparalleled craftsmanship.
What do we Filipinos bring to this exhibit then?
We actually forgot to bring our presentation, so we asked the onlookers if we can present at a later time, although we actually have enough time to get it back, without knowing we already exhibited the art we’re very good at — procrastination.
Exhibit A | Procrastinating defined, right now
If you always feel like you want to skip a very doable task for another episode of your anticipated KDrama or another Mobile Legends game, chances are the spirit of procrastination has already taken over you.
It’s needless to define actually, because, y’all know it already (I am procrastinating here, y’all, hahaha). You pass up on a certain task which you can actually accomplish at this moment because you feel like you can do it any other time. Like, ‘nah, I’m good, that one can wait for me’.
Procrastinating was believed to be introduced by the Spaniards during their 333-year vacation-occupation in the Philippines. It was termed as the ‘mañana habit’ which in Spanish meant ‘tomorrow’, which when Tagalized, perfectly brings us to the phrase ‘mamaya na’. Believe me or not, procrastination has close affinities with yet another Spanish specialty that they brought here together with tobacco and Christianity — ‘bahala na’. As to how this inheritance became a full-blown art, let’s get to know it.
Exhibit B | The making of Procrastination, oil canvas on Filipino lives, circa unknown
First and foremost, we need to thank God for not letting the valiant heroes of the past be preoccupied with procrastination and battle their way towards liberating our country from the overstaying Spaniards.
But they forgot to combat one thing, and it would soon make its way to the Filipino lore’s bodily system and infect it with the capability to turn task-delaying into a unique craft that most Filipinos of any age and affiliation could excel at.
Fast forward to now, and the habit of procrastination has indeed become an art — it is now in line with the Filipino’s collective behavior, it has even shaped our daily lives, it has formed into a seemingly-unbreakable habit, it has put additional colors to our cultural identity that it has now reserved a space on it, and the resulting texture becomes untouchable and we already valued and embraced it.
Students are undoubtedly the best case study sample for this. And, for sure, y’all have stories to share about it, all of which are full of ‘I’ll do it later’ or ‘the deadline is not yet near’. Most students would like to stall incoming projects beforehand and instead run out the clock finishing another Netflix series — even completing all 10–12 episodes of a series in a single binge-watch. It looked like procrastination has also given rise to talents I deem worth flexing too.
But, of course, in the first place, procrastination is an awful response to an already-daunting task, and can cost you more than just what you can think of.
Exhibit C | Procrastination, a murderer on the loose.
I am no TikTok fan, but who am I not to recognize the numerous dance and content trends that got everyone dancing and laughing?
One particular trend I got interested in is ‘tell me without telling me’. A lot of celebrities cashed in on the fad, and they cheated their way to doing so because they can really tell who they are without even a mention of their name. But if I am to tell myself I am a Filipino without telling me I am a Filipino, I’d rather tell it to you later, and that’s it.
Okay, turn the TikTok app off now. We will now enter the dark, grim, gruesome angle of procrastination that makes it so badly consequential. I hope you have worn enough safety equipment because this is not a hell of a ride, but rather, a ride to hell.
Last February, the Philippines’ Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), a portmanteau of government agencies tasked at creating policies related to COVID-19 response in the country, has decided that the deadening disease that has completely shaken up our lives since February 2020 could be well on its way to slowing down, ultimately leading them to decide to reopen economy by allowing several establishments to operate at full capacity, such as ‘driving schools’ so people can learn to run away if the virus transforms to its more fearsome human form, ‘traditional cinemas’ so that people can generate ideas to prevent the virus from clever movie characters, and ‘video and interactive-game arcades’ so that people can practice their strategies in-game ahead of the virus potentially worsening, all of which taking effect a month later. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) also released the same policy on gradually reopening businesses. Policies in tourism are also softened but required most establishments and people to remain compliant with the health protocols.
Unfortunately, in the same time frame, the new kids in town came in, I mean, the new COVID variants. 18 additional cases of the B.1.1.7 variant from the UK were detected in the country, totaling the count to 62 the time it was reported.
South African and Brazilian variants also set foot in the country passport-free. The United States Center for Disease Control has warned that these variants are way more contagious and ergo, dangerous than their common father, the Wuhan variant.
Why am I bringing this COVID data and news up? Because from late February until this month, our cases went from dormant and almost non-relevant to berserk and ‘hey, think y’all forgot about us, so, we’re back at it again’. Early February began with our cases tallying below 2,000. Now, it has increased almost five-fold. Just a few days ago, we reported a record-high 9,838 new cases, and from then on, 9,000+ cases per 24 hours is seemingly becoming a regularity.
And, this has something to do with procrastination. Obviously, the agencies concerned from the IATF have not foreseen the fangs the new variants are carrying, evidenced by non-imposition of travel ban among countries with confirmed cases of the new variants. The response instead was this — softening travel restrictions to incoming Filipinos and foreigners from countries that already recorded cases of these minacious COVID-19 rip-offs.
Additionally, no strengthening of healthcare capability is made, leading to NCR hospitals announcing overcapacity and more patients left hanging.
And ultimately, waiting for cases to breach 9,000 before enforcing ECQ season 2. Saddening, but rather, more disappointing.
This is what you get when procrastination reaches its ultimate pinnacle; its most visual embodiment. And, that, ladies and gentlemen, shows how big can procrastination cost us, from losing our shot to submitting our projects at school very early to more and more numbers of lives contacting the disease of COVID and suffering the ramifications of a measure aimed to reduce it, but should have been done very early and on point. Still, a salute to the government for finally realizing this is a must.
And, wait, I also believe procrastination is also the prime suspect behind our failure to procure 10 million doses from Pfizer to open up what should have been a very optimistic 2021, as shared by Sen. Panfilo Lacson.
Exhibit D | Digging deeper
It’s very easy to remind everyone to run away from procrastination whenever it chases us, but, funnily, we also procrastinate while trying to remove the habit of procrastination in ourselves.
According to Dr. Tim Pychyl, psychology professor and fellow at the Procrastination Research Group at Carleton University in Ottawa, procrastination is more of an emotion regulation problem than time management problem. We often tend to respond to the negative emotions underlying the task than the task itself, which more often is true. And, the response is to put it off for now.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque has recently touted the country’s ‘excellent’ response to the pandemic as the country neared one year after ECQ season 1 went on air. It was a feeling of elation, an assurance, a guarantee that nothing is broken that needs fixing. Sometimes, too much optimism and leniency can also interfere with our ability to oversee something that actually needs to be corrected. And the end results will only be read and documented via newspapers and media outlets.
We really waited for a lesson this unacceptable to recognize how horrendous procrastinating could get. But I still hope it’s not too late to make amends.
If a task is too big, divide it. Plan on how and when you will accomplish each one of it.
Transform your working environment, your desk, or office table into something that can induce your interest towards something you’re working on.
Throw your phone off the window whenever you begin focusing on the task. Delete your Netflix account and make sure to block procrastination-inducing sites on your desktop.
Be with people who can motivate you to work on it, not those who can easily take you out for a samgyupsal treat while your deadline is just hours away.
Last but not the least, just do it. Do the damn task, excellently, right away.
Procrastination might already be embedded in our culture, but it should not mean it must not be uprooted. Will y’all let this be the ID card of our great race? Will y’all let procrastination hamper our way to already-elusive progress we’ve been long dreaming of? If you’re with me, make the move; be lazy being lazy and for sure, if all the stars and services of our leaders align, we could be steps away to finally ending our perennial cellar-dwelling in Asia’s economic setting.
And, to end this one, I’d like to show you a rare but awesome picture that would let you take your eyes off this damn article and go head to your unfinished business as soon as possible. Enjoy!
