Productivity and Procrastination
Pondering amidst a pandemic
As of today, we are several weeks into lockdown. With online classes happening in a relatively unregulated manner, we arguably have the most free time we have ever had and will ever have.
Personally I have cribbed a lot about not having enough time during regular college days, with hectic schedules, long tiring days and insane deadlines. “If only I had more time, I would have done so much better. I would have been so damn productive.” I am several times guilty of uttering these words. We all are.
“If only I had more time, I would have done so much better. I would have been so damn productive”
So logically, now that I do have time, I should have done everything I wanted to. I should have been up to date with all my classes. All my hobbies should have developed into alternative job options by now.
But none of that happened.
The amount of work I got done was unbelievably little compared to how much I could have done. This made me wonder. What kind of twisted relationship does productivity have with time?
What is productivity?
Simply put, it is the output divided by the input.
The input is what we expend in order to get work done. That’s basically time and effort (physical and mental). The work we get done is ultimately our output.
Do time and effort go together?
Let us take two cases.
In case A, let us say you have a study holiday of 2 months before an exam.
In case B, you have 2 weeks before a similar exam.
More often than not, the marks or the grades you get remain in the same range in both scenarios.
Has that ever happened to you?
Time and effort don’t always go together. They can if you are extremely focused and dedicated to your deadlines, ultimately producing high quality work. But more often than not, they don’t.
The effort you put in doesn’t vary much. You just manage to put in the same amount of effort in a considerably shorter period in case B.
Effectively in case A, the extra time you had is just pulling down your overall productivity by increasing the denominator.
This phenomenon is explained by Parkinson’s Law.
Parkinson’s law states that work expands to fill the time available for completion.
So then what do we fill up the extra time with?
Procrastination.
The science behind procrastination
It’s simple. It’s in our biology.
There is a constant battle between 2 parts of our brain:
- The limbic system consisting of the thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus and amygdala
- The pre frontal cortex.
The limbic system is that kid who insists on getting whatever he wants right that instant. He lives in the present and feeds off temporary euphoria. He does what makes him feel good. The limbic system, which we share with a host of other animals drives most primal instincts and apparently it loves to procrastinate. Through procrastination, we are replacing unpleasant work with something we don’t mind doing or something that makes us happy. Think of procrastination as the little pieces of candy you give the little kid to make him calm down when he’s cranky.
On the other hand, the prefrontal cortex is a relatively newer developmental addition to our brain and is quite unique. It is involved in decision making, thinking and planning. Think of it as the sensible guy who plans ahead and makes sure that the work is completed on time. He lets the kid run around for as long as he is unable to see any flashing red signs (a.k.a. deadlines).
Deadlines
Fun fact: “Deadline” comes from the 1860s when it was used to describe a line around a prison that was not to be crossed. Prisoners would be shot if they crossed the “deadline”.
Deadlines are arguably the single most important driving force that keeps the society up and running. As deadlines come closer, the prefrontal cortex gets worried. It sends distress signals to the limbic system which now understands that the consequences of not doing the job might be more unpleasant. This pushes procrastination to the back seat, thus helping you get your work done.
Everyone is a procrastinator, just at different levels. Our unique biological framework ensures that our brains are similar enough to react to deadlines but different enough to react at different time points in different ways. But if there are no deadlines, then what do we do? Simple. We don’t react. We sit and watch as time passes on like a motion picture in the screen before us. And before we know it, the time runs out.
We sit and watch as time passes on like a motion picture in the screen before us.
People who are more focused tend to be people who have stronger and earlier internal deadlines that they strive to meet. This is why they seem to get their work done way ahead of the actual deadline which is an external one. Some of them might also have self made external checks by reporting to their friends or parents about what they’ve been doing, thus creating a sense of accountability and responsibility.
On the other hand, people who are quintessential procrastinators thrive on the purely external deadline and end up finishing the work just before it is due.
So, if there is anything that you’ve been wanting to do but haven’t done yet, set a deadline and believe it to be a hard limit. Your pre frontal cortex will take care of getting the work done.
Revisiting the Parkinson’s Law and dragging in a new one
If work expands to fill up the total time available, does that mean we can go on decreasing the time we give to a task and still manage to get decent results? This works but only up to a point.
When there’s very little time, we get stressed and motivated. We hit a productivity sweet spot at which we function really well. If we have even lesser time, then this stress itself becomes counterproductive and prevents us from working well. The Yerkes – Dodson Law tells us exactly this.
To sum it up
- Work expands to fill the time we have.
- A huge part of that time is spent procrastinating.
- Procrastinating and then working very hard just before the deadline is due to a battle between the limbic system and prefrontal cortex.
- Deadlines are important to put an end to procrastination.
- Optimal deadlines result in high productivity
- Very long deadlines and very short deadlines are both bad.
So go set your optimal deadline now. Well maybe not now. Maybe in some time…. :)
