Procrastination – The Key to a Stress Filled Life

I’ve been meaning to blog about this for quite some time now, but you can guess by the title as to why it’s taken me so long. Several months ago I was in the library thinking about all the things I had to do. I was putting off doing some unpleasant task because I really didn’t feel like doing it. Rather than just doing the task, I began thinking about why certain things never seem to get done and wondering why tomorrow always seems to be the busiest day of the week for me. Tomorrow is always busy because all the things that I don’t get done today, I plan on doing tomorrow. Inevitably tomorrow comes and I end up deciding again to do that unpleasant task ‘tomorrow’ and before you know it I have a list of things that don’t ever seem to get done and tomorrow gets busier and busier.

While I was in the library contemplating tomorrow’s busy schedule, I decided to see if I could find a book on the why people procrastinate. I found a book titled “Living Without Procrastination: How to Stop Postponing Your Life” and decided to check it out. Eager to learn about the subject, I went home and immediately started reading. I took the quiz listed in the beginning of the book to determine whether or not I had a problem with procrastination. Apparently, according to the results of my quiz, I have a huge problem with procrastination. Honestly, I was surprised by the results because I never considered myself as lazy or as someone who frequently waits until the last minute to do something. But, I was curious about why there are certain things that just don’t ever seem to get done in a timely manner.

Like so many other things, my excitement and curiosity wore off and I ended up putting the book aside for another 3 weeks and ended finishing it the night before it was due back to the library. Then I started wondering whether or not anyone ever finished this book. After all, if you’re a procrastinator, wouldn’t this be the perfect book for you not to finish or even start for that matter? Wouldn’t a procrastinator procrastinate in using the techniques discussed in this book and never get around to postponing their life?

Personally, I found book interesting, but I never got around to implementing any of the suggested techniques. I know, that’s a surprise, isn’t it?! But the book did confirm that a big source of anxiety is due to procrastination. Whoever came up with the Nike slogan “Just Do It” was obviously not a procrastinator. I’ll bet that person doesn’t struggle with anxiety nearly as much as the average person.