Creative Procrastination

Creative procrastination

Creative people procrastinate with stylish aplomb. They omit to do the needful yet receive a pat on the back from on lookers who marvel at the diversionary activities opted for. Only their hearts hold the secrets of what they really should be doing. They go out bungee jumping instead of staying in to work on the CV. They research business models for fifteen years, bag MBAs and PhDs when all they really needed to do was open a chain of fish and chips stores. The list goes on. Creative people shackled by fear of the unknown can coast through life winning awards and gaining admiration without even scratching the surface of their life’s true work. The world of on lookers is formidable for their cheers travel to distant ears and their applause cannot be ignored. There is however a different kind of audience, one consisting of one person; namely you. You might fool the world into thinking you are doing your best but when the lights are out and you lay on your bed at night, only you knows if you are doing the needful as defined by you.

So what is procrastination anyway? It is the postponement of an action that needs to be taken in the present knowing fully well that doing it later will incur some form of discomfort or loss. This is not laziness, general apathy or being prudent. The lazy man has no ambition and has no actions lined up which means he has nothing to postpone while the guy who has given up on life and marinates in apathy does not procrastinate on life for life procrastinates on him. As for the prudent, they know the actions to be taken and intentionally re schedule some actions as they are fully aware that a ‘wait and see approach’ is the diligent course of action in some situations.   

True procrastination is self -diagnosed for only the individual can decide if an action needs to be done and that he is refusing to do it. Here the latin phrase nemo iudex in sua causa (no-one should be a judge in his own cause) does not ring true for in this case the individual is the accused judge and jury of his case.

There are a few reasons why actions are postponed-

Fear- Boy sees girl, boy likes girl, but then gets scared she may reject his advances so he refuses to walk up to her and say, ‘show me particulars baby ko pull over’

Distraction- There are tax returns to do but the world cup is on.

Hard work- Running is good but it is too hard

Self-consciousness- ‘I am too fat to run on the streets. Everyone will look at me’

Lack of courage- ‘What if my new business fails? I better research the sector for 15 more years’

Adrenaline junkie – These are people who need an adrenaline rush before they complete any tasks. The do all their best work just before dead line. They work under pressure. You see them in the world cup football matches playing the games of their lives in the last five minutes. In colleges they read the most the night before the examination.

Absolute hatred for the activity- These include doing Tax returns, Ironing, Reading books without pictures, going for medical examinations, going on courses, learning to speak in public, reading personal development books, completing assignments at work, and weight training.

Activities/Actions

The good Lord knows humans will procrastinate so He made all activities essential for life automatic- breathing, heart beats, functioning of internal organs, intense thirst and drinking, sleeping and waking up, and the desire to reproduce.

Easy activities

Some activities are easily attainable such as reading a book. Everybody needs to be reading something but most people don’t. Books might get bought but never opened. Distractions like Facebook and music videos eat into the time that should be allocated for reading. Watching films that go on forever or soaps is another distraction. Obesity is linked to Television viewing for no one watching TV without eating and drinking while fewer will exercise while watching their favourite soap. The mobile phone is another big distraction. These toys offer immediate gratification so the harder tasks like reading which develops the mind are relegated to the bottom of the immediate to do list.

Hard activities

Some dreams in life sound impossible both to the dreamer and his family and friends. Everybody has one or two of such dreams. Starting on the impossible can be daunting as there is usually no encouragement to do so from external quarters. An unemployed individual starting on the long road to achieving his dream of becoming a Billionaire business man will probably have no rich business men to mentor him. If he decides to watch all the world cup games with his fellow unemployed friends none of them will accuse him of failing to start preparing himself to open his business. By watching every single game of the tournament, he has something to tell people about how he spent his time. He might get creative, go on the Fifa website and learn a lot of football trivia which might impress a few people but deep down he knows he should have gone out to register his company and get some momentum started.

The opposite

Some times to understand an activity that is delayed one could study the activities that are done at the drop of a hat.

Why are the things that you don’t need a second invitation to indulge in? How did you get to that point where you act at the ‘drop of a hat’?

Can your ‘drop of a hat’ rapid response in those areas be transferred to areas where you procrastinate? 

Dr Wilson Orhiunu

Babawilly

6-7-2014