Examining Life, In General: The Fine "Art" of Procrastination!

I'm sure there are people out there who don't procrastinate. They effectively tackle every task that comes at them on the spot and never develop a backlog of any kind, and they are perfectly on top of their lives, at all time.

I hear there are also Unicorns, in them thar woods...

Seriously, though, I haven't met very many people who don't have a fairly lengthy list of "things I need to get done."

But maybe that's not exactly procrastination;" more like simply having too much activity and events in your world. Which an awful lot of us do.

In some ways, I have to confess that I am — by nature — a somewhat sloth-like creature. Some people really like being busy and engaged in "doing things" every waking moment of their lives... I just don't happen to be one of those.

If we have such as thing as a "natural state," mine would be as a body not in motion.

But let's get back to actual procrastination, here.

As in, putting stuff off because the thought of dealing with them fills you with a sort of dread and loathing that keeps you immobilized in your seat.

I sometimes contemplate the distinct possibility if so many things in life weren't so darn unpleasant, I might not procrastinate as much! That's just a theory, though.

I procrastinate bookkeeping, doing taxes, paying bills, making dentist's appointments and all that good stuff. The "common threads" — to the extent that there are some — tend to be that I procrastinate things that either involve some form of "voluntary physical suffering" or "spending money I don't have on things I actually don't care much about, but which are deemed societally necessary."

This particular aspect of my character was always a source of frustration and embarrassment for my mother, who was a busy-bee, Energizer bunny and social butterfly of the highest order.

It's certainly possible that some of my procrastinative energies are related to her frequent prodding and poking... causing me to dig in my heels and refuse to act.

Then again, most likely not!

I believe most humans — if not all humans — are driven by a sort of "effort vs. reward" equation constantly and fluidly running inside their heads: "Will the reward/good feeling resulting from this action be greater than/at least equal to the effort/expense of doing it?"

Could simply be that my "measuring scale" is out of balance because it seems so rarely do I look at situations and see likely positive balance resulting from my stepping up and saying "yes!"

Maybe it sounds a bit mercenary to view life and all its possibilities through such a lens of perception. Then again, maybe my therapist from a distant past made a good point when she suggested that I "Didn't seem very predisposed to collecting life experiences."

Certainly, there is an element of truth there. Being able to say (or think) "I've done that" was never a "currency" that held much value in my personal universe. And for many people, it represents the pinnacle of their reason for even being alive.

Maybe it all boils down to something quite simple: I am — at my core — very much a Human BEING, but not much of a Human DOING.

Perhaps that sounds somewhat glib and flip and all that, but it sits well, and goes a ways towards my tendency to procrastinate, given that we live in a world that seems predominantly oriented towards constantly being on the go and doing things during every waking moment.

Of course, sitting and reading a book all day is also a form of "doing," but it has a different energetic feel to it, at least from my vantage point.

Of course, this entire post represents a form of "mental gymnastics," as much as anything! And — ultimately — a form of procrastination, keeping me from doing something else I "should" be doing.

Which brings me around to how I have managed to create "productive procrastination" over the past three decades of my life... for example, I spend the time actually writing a blog post, rather than just playing Solitaire or solving word puzzles on my phone.

Blogging is at least marginally productive, and it might even earn a few cents... but more than that, it allows me to "process" and likely "talk myself" through the psychological hurdles that are keeping me from actually focusing on my real work. It's a way for me to find a measure of balance in that internal "cost-benefit analysis" I mentioned previously.

Experience tells me that people procrastinate for different reasons, ranging from traumatic avoidance to depression and various others. Ultimately, though — if we dig deep enough — we end up back at the perceived positive of the outcome failing to match the perceived negative of the "cost" of taking the action.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great remainder of your week!

Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!

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Created at 2023-10-30 23:12 PDT
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