Procrastination

Oops, I haven’t written anything for a long time. About 20 drafts are sitting and waiting for me to show up and release them from storage. It seems their time hasn’t come yet! However, I could push a blog to mention coming back to writing so that I get started.

What happened? Has my writing brain taken a rest? Have I become lazy? Lost interest in writing? None of these is true. One day, my daughter asked me a question: What is the most populous nation? Knowing it was a tricky question, I wondered what the answer could be. I discovered that I’m part of its population. The nation is none other than Procrasti-Nation!

I had loads of ideas to write about, but missed making notes. I was eager to share content online—ideas were buzzing in my head. But at the end of the day, there was no writing or posting.

When you don’t write for a long time, the resistance to starting grows. Work, chores, gardening, walking, reading—so many things to do. No time to write! Seriously, how is that possible? While pondering this, I came across an interview with Rory Vaden on procrastination, and it caught my attention. I found clues about my excuses and how I managed to avoid writing a single page!

Sophisticated ways to describe the dreaded word procrastination include creative avoidance, distraction, and priority dilution—apart from the classic version that lets us avoid tasks by taking a nap, watching TV, or going shopping.

Creative avoidance means subconsciously creating tasks so we feel productive. I agree with this 100%. I was busy doing everything except writing. I excused myself by saying reading was important. I didn’t laze around—I kept myself occupied with countless activities. I filled my days with trivial tasks that made time fly.

Distractions pull you in different directions. Your attention gets fragmented, leading to bits of work here and there. You stay busy but don’t complete anything. At the end of the day, you’ve worked hard but feel unsatisfied. It’s overwhelming to close the day with nothing to feel good about.

Priority dilution happens when we attend to urgent but less important tasks, postponing the truly important ones. We’re not lazy—our attention just shifts without proper prioritization.

I think most of us experience different types of procrastination in varying degrees. I doubt anyone is completely free from it. Some have more, others less. Maybe only robots can execute all programmed tasks without wasting energy on internal dialogues and resistance.

The “Just do it” strategy works well for creative avoidance and distraction. But if priorities are not clear, results may vary.

Being an ordinary mortal, I get carried away by these forms of procrastination. I’m trying to minimize them to improve productivity! But I’m not aiming for perfection or trying to match someone else. I’m doing my best to find my rhythm and embrace it.

So, let me publish this blog today without procrastinating further—and wait for ideas on steps to reduce it. Let me do it! We can discuss those steps in another blog.

Which type of procrastination is your forte? Is it the classic one or one of these fancier versions?

—Anitha KC

Images: Google images