Procrastination!

Procrastination.

Something we all, one time or another, fall prey to. D:

If you aren't familiar with the meaning, the definition of the word is this:

"The act of procrastinating; putting off or delaying or deferring an action to a later time."

In other words; you know that chore or bit of homework you were supposed to be doing, but suddenly eating something, or checking Facebook or E-mails, or even going to the bathroom, suddenly seemed so much more important?

...and then, before you know it, hours have passed, and the work is left undone.

Forgotten, ignored.

I'm sure this is a familiar sensation for everyone. Indeed, I myself have fallen very deep into the pitfall that is procrastination.

I mean, seriously! I've been putting off blog posts for almost a month now!

...and now I have to write two before midnight.

Oh, dear.

Anywho.

The main question, no doubt, is WHY.

Why do we put off things we KNOW are important, that we KNOW need to be done?

That we know if we don't do it that everything just piles up and becomes worse and worse..?

So, why do we do this?

Oh, sure, it's so very easy to chalk it all up to laziness, or the simple couldn't-be-bothered attitude so many of us have.

Or perhaps the fact that you despise the task ahead?

But is that really all there is to it?

I think not!

Yes, laziness may certainly play a big part, not to mention the dull boredom that is often associated with the task being avoided.

However, that's hardly it.

I mean, you may love playing piano, but never seem to get around to practising; something else always seems to need doing instead.

..and perhaps you are not lazy at all! All your other chores seem to get done, and it's not like you sit around doing nothing! 

But, if you love it so much, it's hardly a case of putting it off because you find it a menial task, is it? 

I find the same goes for many things - these blog posts, for instance.

I love writing! And messing about on random topics!

In fact, I love the idea of having a blog!

..and yet, I never seem to get 'round to it..

Rather recently, I found out the main reason for this.

I was attending a careers lecture, and afterwards had some time to speak to the lecturer. I don't entirely know how the topic came about, but very soon, he was telling me that ,"You know what the funny thing about procrastination is?

...it's that it's really mostly prevalent in people with perfectionist tendencies."

I was actually extremely surprised to hear this, (although some of you probably already know this) even though it actually did make sense.

It's because, you see, when one is a bit of a perfectionist, they naturally want things to be very good.

So, who hates the feeling of failure, or being inadequate, more than a perfectionist?

This then means that perhaps the main reason you never want to practice piano, is because you never feel like you know what you're doing, and all those blunders and mistakes not only make you feel terrible, but they look pretty bad, too.

...and maybe I don't get around to posting much, because I have no clue how to write a decent post, and will probably write far too much, or be too vague?

But this is still not all of it. We all have different reasons for putting things off, and I've only mentioned a few! Sometimes it IS simply because the task of doing those three pages of trigonometry questions seems like the most dull thing on the planet. Sometimes it is simply laziness, or the fact that, you know, the house could probably go another day or two without being vaccumed...

The trick to getting over it is really just to give yourself a kick, and make yourself get moving (or, if you're not quite that flexible, get someone else to do it for you!). I've always found check-lists and whatnot only provided more means of procrastination, rather than aiding to stop it.

Oh, and googling "how to stop procrastinating" more than once, at any time other than when you have all the time in the world, counts as procrastinating, too.

So, yes.

Procrastination = not so good for you, but more than just laziness. XP

If you stumbled across this through google... or, actually, if you read all of this, then you are also most likely procrastinating.

Go, go do that thing you're supposed to be doing!!

...I might actually follow that advice myself, actually...

^^"

Cya later!~

^.=.^