Procrastination. 15 letters. One word that can make some people cringe and snooze their alarms and promise themselves that they will "do it tomorrow." Trust me, I am one of those people. I never give myself enough time for anything and in a week where I only have a couple things to do, you better believe I'll be doing them the night before they're due, or even the day they're due.
So do not be discouraged. You definitely are not the only one who can spend hours on YouTube where you go from watching one video of a "Harry Potter" cast interview to a Hillary Duff music video from 2004 to (5 hours later) watching videos from loopy people after they got their wisdom teeth out. And then it's 3 a.m. and you have a paper due and three quizzes the next day.
Anyways, I got the inspiration to write this article from this Ted Talk. Here, Tim Urban talks about his experience with procrastination and why he thinks that procrastinators are they way that they are. He said that he believes that the brains of procrastinators are different than those of normal humans.
He goes on to explain this by using a 'rational decision maker,' 'instant gratification monkey,' and my personal favorite, the 'panic monster,' which all live in our brains. Now, I won't give away everything from this talk, so go ahead and watch it for yourself.
But this video showed me that:
1. I am a procrastinator.
2. I am not the only procrastinator in the world.
3. I can change, but I don't have to.
Now the system that Urban describes in the video is not the best or most well thought-out way to get things done, but for people whose instant gratification monkey rules their lives, it works. And at least for me, it's what's going to have to work for the rest of my life. And that's OK because it's who I am. I've lived with myself for the past 18 years like this, and I know I end up getting things done.
Do I wish I was different? Sure, sometimes I do wish that I didn't wait until the very last minute to start my homework or pack for vacation or even write this article. But in the end, I know I can and will get it done, and I know my limits. I am proud to be a procrastinator, and even though it drives me crazy sometimes and I get angry with myself, I know that I can get through it. I know that despite my (sometimes) atrocious time management skills, I can still produce things I am proud of.
So, let's stop being procrastinators today! Oh, who am I kidding...maybe tomorrow...or maybe never...hmmm...
