Procrastination is about priorities—the ones we think we ought to have and the ones we really have.
The ones we really have are about feeling good now. The ones we think we should have are about laying the groundwork for long term benefit.
This is called delayed gratification. They say if you can delay gratification, you are better off, resource-wise, in the long run. So if you can make yourself study now, and get a good degree, then you’ll get a higher paying job, and you’ll have more resources to live on and to buy yourself what you want in the long run.
So you have fun now, versus the possibility of greater fun in the future. If you can keep from biting the cookie now so you can have ten cookies tomorrow, you’ll be better off.
Procrastination is about having the cookie now. People procrastinate in many ways—fluthering, playing computer card games, going to a casino, seeing a movie, getting high, going out to a bar, having sex, and on and on.
These things all give us pleasure, and it is hard for people to say no to pleasure. We live for pleasure. We also live for security, but that isn’t as much fun. It’s only needed if we don’t have it. If we have it, it doesn’t really make us feel good. So it can make us feel bad, but it can’t make us feel good.
Thus, people without security are much more well-equipped to delay gratification. But if we feel secure enough, we aren’t so motivated to delay gratification. Therefore, the reason why you procrastinate is that you have it good enough. You feel safe enough. The pressure to increase your safety is not there.
People in the middle and upper middle class have been brought up to delay gratification even if they are fairly well off. They are raised to understand the dangers of being down on your luck. These days it is easy to see what happens when the economy goes bad.
If you want to stop procrastinating, then think about what it would be like to have no job for years. Think about what it would be like to have a good job for years, and how much wealth you could acquire and how that would make you safe for a long time.
So, is the pleasure of fooling around now worth the precarious situation you may be in in the future? It’s your choice. At all times it is your choice. You can meet deadlines at the last minute. That’s fine. Or you work harder and not just meet deadlines, but exceed them.
This is why many immigrants are driven and put in ten times as much study time as native-born citizens. They know what it is like to be without and they know that by delaying gratification, they can totally change their lives.
Now you know. It’ sup to you. Psychologically speaking, you are the only one making the choice. If you can’t delay gratification on your own, you could hire someone to hold your hand to the fire or something like that. If you don’t make yourself do it, you aren’t serious about it. If you want to beat yourself up about it, fine. But why beat yourself up if you never stop procrastinating? Just recognize that instant gratification is more important to you than delayed gratification. Go with it. Trust that the world will eventually give you a reason to delay gratification again.
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