Procrastination is not a joke
This is post 2 of my series Inside the Mind of a Procrastinator.
It’s not trivial, although as a culture we don’t take it seriously as a problem. It represents a profound problem of self-regulation. And there may be more of it in the U.S. than in other countries because we are so nice; we don’t call people on their excuses (”my grandmother died last week”) even when we don’t believe them.
When I was in my early twenties, I was laid off from a job. At first, this seemed like an opportunity for a short vacation. However, the late nights out and sleeping in until noon became far too comfortable. Looking for a new job got put off, as I was sure it would only take an interview or two and I’d be working again.
I went through the bit of money I had very quickly and now I was unemployed and broke. You know what kind of motivation that gave me to get out and find a job? None! I started borrowing and mooching off friends and family. I pawned odds and ends to get more money, and still I didn’t look for work.
This went on for some time until I had to store my belongings with friends and impose on the hospitality of others. In the end I got a job, not because I had gone looking, but because someone who was hiring knew I needed work and offered me a job.
The cost of this behaviour was huge. I lost the respect of friends and family. In a couple of cases, I lost friends altogether. I was in debt and my credit rating was shot to pieces. Just because I had some money doesn’t mean I got around to paying bills.
People tend –or pretend– to see procrastination as some humourous personal quirk (see my kid brother’s comment on the intro post) or merely as a time-management shortcoming that can be fixed in 9 easy steps. (Or in my case, 6 easy steps.) For most people, procrastination is merely putting off the odd onerous task: eat that frog and the rest comes easy.
For the chronic procrastinator, it’s not necessarily the size or complexity of the job that is the problem. It’s the emotional and psychological issues that drive procrastination. In my story, the real reasons behind my reluctance to find a job had to do with being afraid of the rejection in the job hunt and well as avoiding the changes that would come with a new job.
More to come.
Related Posts:
10 reasons to procrastinate
10 Resources to Help Overcome Procrastination
Inside the mind of a procrastinator
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I’m waiting; don’t let me down (or yourself) -so far, so good.