Procrastination. Or as I like to call it, the wonderful world of delayed gratification. Here deadlines are merely suggestions, and productivity is but a distant dream.
To some of you procrastination might just be a hobby. To others, it’s a lifestyle choice. Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow, or the day after that, or maybe even next week? It’s all about the thrill of impending doom. Kind of like a rollercoaster for the soul, except instead of screaming in terror, you’re quietly biting your nails and crying into your coffee at 3 AM.
I know that most people think procrastination is simple laziness. That couldn't be farther from the truth in my opinion. I prefer to think of it as an efficiency tool. Why waste precious energy on a task when you can conserve it for the inevitable panic sprint to the finish line? It’s all about priorities.
Take, for example, my approach to household chores. I’ll wash the laundry but then instead of folding it and putting it all away, I create a complex system of “clean” and “dirty” piles. When the dirty heap of clothes is bigger than the clean one. Time to do the wash again, plus I eliminated the task of folding altogether just by ignoring it. I have a similar method for the kitchen, It’s called “What’s That Smell?” It happens every time someone opens the fridge. Why waste precious moments on such trivial pursuits when there are far more pressing matters, like binge-watching obscure documentaries or perfecting my recipe for microwave popcorn?
Of course, the key to successful procrastination is mastering the art of excuse-making. Need to finish that report? Just blame it on the sudden onset of existential dread or a surprise visit from a dear, but distant family member.
But perhaps the most underrated aspect of procrastination is its ability to foster creativity. After all, some of history’s greatest inventions were probably conceived during a last-minute panic session. Can’t you just picture Edison sitting there in the dark with his deadline looming when in a procrastination-induced delirium he invented the light bulb? Or me for instance, writing this blog post with just minutes to go before I’m supposed to hit publish. Stumbling around and lost in a labyrinth of abandoned ideas and half-formed sentences, each one more tantalizing than the last. But every time I tried to capture the essence of my story on paper, it slipped through my fingers like sand. I was left with only one alternative. Embrace the chaos, revel in the madness, and do at the last minute what I had an entire week to work on.
Now I just want to make it clear, I didn’t intend to leave this until the last minute. You see my third cousin twice removed on my Mom’s side was in town and well…
I hope you all have a great week. I need to get started on the next post. Or maybe I’ll do it tomorrow, Whatever. That’s a decision for later.
