Most people, when presented with a task or objective, build a plan for how to tackle said task. Me? I wait until 30 minutes before it needs to be done and attack it while I'm mostly focused on something at the same time.
Procrastination is one of my best and worst qualities. Yes, it teaches you to become super-efficient in highly limited amounts of time; however, it also teaches you to wait till the last minute, every time. The irony involved is I am writing this article 30 minutes before its deadline while also working on recording some music.
Quite honestly, I enjoy procrastinating. There is this great rush of adrenaline you get when crunch-time kicks in. This rush is what allows me to become highly efficient in my work while still maintaining quality.
I recently proved this with doing sound for a theater competition. My entire sound design was done the morning before the show. For an entire day of school I locked myself in the theatre with my laptop and headphones and went to town. I proceeded to win an Outstanding Achievement Award for that sound design. If it weren't for the fact that the quality of my work sustains (if not improves) when I wait until the last minute, I wouldn't procrastinate as much, but why does this work?
The issue with procrastination is that for most people, stopping cold turkey is not an option. You can't just immediately stop procrastinating. It is a trained habit that has to be replaced by a better habit over time. When you do procrastinate you generally replace whatever you should be doing with an action that provides immediate satisfaction. That is why procrastinating feels good; instead of working, you just deal with pleasure.
I am a hard victim of procrastination. Every book report and project I've ever done for school have been completed either a day before or even during that class at some points. As I said before, it can be one of my best and worst qualities at the same time.
Procrastination is not uncommon among writers as deadlines can help with forcing creative ideas through. Douglas Adams, author of "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe," once said "I love deadlines ... I like the whooshing sound they make when they go by." President Bill Clinton is also known as being a procrastinator by many of his close advisors. His wife Hillary Clinton said it is "maddening to try and keep him on any kind of schedule."
If weren't for the fact that I continue to succeed when I procrastinate, and many highly successful people do it as well, I would stop. Until then, I will continue to write my articles right up against my deadline ... which is right now. Woosh.
