Being a graduate student, I have had my share of procrastination. The most common form of my procrastination is “I will run that particular experiment tomorrow. It is too late for today.” , or “I have to have that research report ready by that day, let me just chill out for today”, or “I am doing this thing today, I do not have time for the other priorities today”. I have been reading “The Now Habit” by Neil Fiore (ISBN: 0-87477-504-3) lately. I find the book interesting because it does not adopt the conventional Freudian thinking that man is a pleasure seeker and has to be motivated to achieve anything. I intend to post some of my learnings from the book in this blog.
Fiore says that procrastination is not a problem in itself, but is an indication of larger issues. He defines procrastination as a “mechanism for coping with anxiety resulting from starting or completing any task or decision”. Fiore says that we procrastinate because firstly, we are afraid to come out of our “comfort zone”,or have unrealistically high standards of perfection which lead to a fear of failure. He talks about this “cycle of procrastination” where procrastination leads to anxiety and stress which acts as a negative feedback resulting in greater procrastination. Secondly, procrastination can also be rewarding, as difficult decisions might resolve themselves if we wait long enough. Thirdly, it can also be a means to express resentment; we tend to postpone doing things when we feel ourselves victimized and targeted. A working environment which is not the most conducive also results in procrastination. I think that the the highly unrealistic demands for perfection can couple with the resentment to result in greater procrastination.
Disclaimer: This is not an advertisement for Fiore’s book. All mentions of his name arise since these are his ideas as I understand them, not my own.
