Why do we procrastinate on figuring out our lives after college?
Procrastination is an inherently emotional response. Procrastination does have its benefits — particularly when it comes to creativity.
However, the downsides of procrastination about our post-college journeys far outweigh the downsides. There is no one-size-fits-all methodology of when to procrastinate — we need to be judicious and strategic about it.
Tim Urban, author of Wait But Why, has a great long-form article on procrastination where he talks about the “instant gratification monkey” that often distracts us from the task at hand, and the “panic monster” that comes into play when we have a looming deadline — which keeps us on task.
The thing about “bad procrastination” is that we have a different kind of panic monster. One that’s screaming, “THIS IS TOO SCARY TO FIGURE OUT NOW SO I’M GOING TO PUT IT OFF UNTIL LATER”. Because that’s what we’re really doing when it comes to our career searches. The deadlines depend inherently on what it is that you want to be doing (consulting firms recruit college graduates a year ahead of time, whereas lots of other positions wait far closer to graduation).
If we’re not careful about dealing with that negative panic monster, we fall into the trap of pressure, where we see friends starting to interview and secure job offers so we start to play the same game — without thinking about where it is that we really want to end up.
So what’s the solution?
Pre-crastinate your procrastination (yes, pre-crastination is a real thing). If you take the time to read the Adam Grant article all the way through (rather than just reading the title and saying “procrastination is great!”), you’ll find that there are helpful tips and tricks to jumpstarting a productive process within which you procrastinate.
Maybe, start to think about how frightened/scared you’ll be if you put off the process of figuring out your life until the end of your fourth year. You’ll have missed several opportunities to explore opportunities you may not have considered, you’ll be starting from scratch without the safety net/zone of college, and worst of all, you may end up in a first job that you loathe.
If those thoughts start to get you motivated to figure out your life, you’re on the right path. But you might still be lost on how or where to start.
You’re not alone.
And that’s why we’re building a fall program to help college students find community, gain experience, and clarity in their life journeys. Because the earlier the start (ironically) the more you get to use your procrastination to help you, rather than be used by it.
