Will you read this article right now, or will you bookmark it and come back to read it sometime later today?…. Or maybe next week?
“Why should I do right now what I can do later – or NEVER” is a sentiment that most procrastinators can identify with. So what if it actually takes only 15 minutes to do the task you have been putting off and stressing over for 15 days?
If you are a proud procrastinator, a closet delay-er or a friend of a procrastinator-in-denial, here are some excuses that just might sound familiar.
1. “But it’s not the start of the week…”
…and as any sensible horoscope forecast will tell you, Monday is the only auspicious day of the week to begin a project. And everyone knows that Fridays and weekends are the absolute worst because it’s the end of the week.
2. “I have a slight headache.”
That’s not just the universal mock code for “I don’t want to have sex right now.” For most procrastinators, it’s a psychosomatic feeling they get around 30 minutes before they are scheduled to begin a task. And you do not need an MBBS degree to know it’s not ideal to strain your brain and worsen a possible, potential, probably non-existent headache.
3. “Anyway, I work best under pressure.”
This lot will deny to their last breath that they have a tendency to procrastinate. Instead, they will say they like the adrenalin rush of a fast-approaching deadline. The last-minute stress gets their cranial juices flowing and that’s when they do their best work.
4. “I will do it after watching one more episode.”
Because before you start focusing for the next few hours on an assignment, your body and soul needs some relaxation – and the next thing you know, you have bingewatched an entire TV show you don’t even particularly like.
5. “I will wake up early tomorrow and do it.”
It’s the early birds who get the worms. And the crack of dawn when no one else is around as a distraction is the only time you can finally work in peace… This is what procrastinators think and not necessarily do.
6. “It’s okay even if I don’t do it.”
You think it’s not like the world will end or you will be kicked out of class if you miss one measly assignment. You might miss out on marks, but isn’t sleep and your health more important in the long run?
7. “I will take a short nap first.”
There’s something about having an examination or a pending errand that’s more powerful than the most potent sleeping pill. And it’s a rare individual who can make it out of bed after just a short nap and not say “Just five minutes more please.”
8. “I have writer’s block.”
Now just isn’t the good time, realistically speaking, because your brain is not under your control and it just plain refuses to function like you want it to. It’s like a zombie has entered your body and you are currently under its spell.
9. “I want it to be perfect.”
A perfectionist procrastinator is someone who swears she would rather do nothing than do something that is not quite up to her own exacting standards. And she waits around for inspiration that will transform her essay on subterranean topography into a potential screenplay for a future Oscar-winning movie.
If you are a procrastinator and made it to the end of this article, there’s hope. We shall beat this illness… Tomorrow… Or no, on Monday!
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