Hi -

I fit the description of a procrastinator perfectly. Holy crap, look what I'm doing now: writing on a message board when I should be working. But I don't consider myself diseased or disabled or hampered in any way. I live my life the way I choose to, and if some uptight mechanoid researcher thinks there's something wrong with that, he or she can bite it.

In fact I find myself extremely angry at the thought of a scientist devoting 20 years of his or her life examining what he or she perceives to be an illogical character "flaw," then calling me illogical. What's the root of this 20-year obsession? Why fixate on this instead of something worthwhile?

Well guess what, scientist! You just wasted 1/4 of your life being an asshole! How's that for an illogical character flaw?

Maybe I honestly don't mind sleeping in a messy room! Maybe I don't care if the grass grows six inches long! Even *gasp* 7! If there's something I don't want to do - why do it if I don't have to? Why pay a bill before the last minute? What is gained?

It's impressive that Yoffe's daughter (or any 12-year-old) has a philosophy regarding when to eat a pretzel, but let's be honest: nothing is gained by "saving the best for last." You don't get more pretzels that way, and you also won't get any more enjoyment out of the pretzel. Looking at the big picture, what's the point?

5 paragraphs? You are quite the procrastinator!

5 paragraphs does not make me a procrastinator. It makes me verbose.

You seem to have some anger issues.

If you procrastinate and are happy with your life, then the research is really of no consequence for you. For some people (including me), procrastination is a major source of unpleasantness in life. Understanding this is a good thing.

Either you're deceiving yourself by convincing yourself it's just a lifestyle choice, or you aren't really procrastinating (at least not the way this article means it). Procrastination generally means you know you should be doing something (and want to get it done), but you keep putting it off for any number of reasons. This is a problem (it certainly is for me) and that makes it worthwhile to look into ways to fix it.

I don't have anger issues. I can't prove that to you but my friends would tell you I'm generally a pretty calm person. Although I do vent more on the internet than elsewhere, so I probably give that impression...

But really, reading about that scientific study totally pissed me off. You'll notice I actually used the words "extremely angry" in my OP. It was just so condescending - "I don't like mowing the grass, but I still do it..." Well hey, I like mowing the grass, and I still don't do it.

Being a procrastinator is not a bad thing. That's all I'm really trying to say. It's not an impediment or disease. It only affects when you do things, not how well you do them. For example, my grandfather was a procrastinator and also a world-class swimming coach.

You do have to learn how to manage it a bit (for example, as I write this I'm waiting to hear back from IT about how I can block Slate from my work computer ... pure coincidence), but I think all character types have to manage something. If you can't find a way to be a procrastinator and be happy, then you'd probably be unhappy anyway.

No, Jonesy. I'm not deceiving myself. I understand the definition of procrastination. I'm saying that I procrastinate and have no problem with it. You and "Torment" seem like you'd rather be diagnosed with some disease so you could find a cure. Well there isn't one. You just gotta learn to be who you are and deal with it.

That seems kinda defeatist. I get along fine with my procrastination, I'm living with it, but at the same time I feel like I could do a lot better if I found a way to stop doing it. I guess it depends on what you're procrastinating. If you're in school, it doesn't really matter if you procrastinate an assignment. Heck, I thought it had a lot of benefits.... more free time to do fun things. But at work it's a different story. There are plenty of tasks that I think would be good to take on, but my procrastination doesn't leave time for 'optional' tasks. So I don't ever go above and beyond. I just get done what I have to (just barely) and that's it.

I have to say that my view is not defeatist on its own terms - because in my view, procrastinations is not a bad thing. It doesn't defeat. It just is.

Procrastination only keeps you from doing the things that you don't want to do. Which means you're more likely than others to be doing whatever you want to be doing or enjoying your life moment by moment. If you structure your life so that the things you want to do are also the things you have to do, you'll be productive and happy.

It also helps me if I exercise, eat right and get enough sleep every day. You would think that I would put those things off, but I don't. Since they contribute to my overall happiness, it's easy to motivate myself to do them. In a roundabout way my tendency to procrastinate is leading me inexorably along a path of continual self-improvement. I'm not sure yet but I also think coffee might make things worse... we'll see.

My biggest challenge at work is avoiding various websites including this one in particular. I get sucked into message boards easily, as you can see here. But It's the presence of so many distractions that cause the problem for me. If I'm here at my desk, and I have nothing else to do, I'll get my work done faster. Then I can go home earlier and write more songs or do more Jun Fan. That's why I'm asking my IT department how I can block slate, huffingtonpost, rawstory, drudgereport, and digg.

So this may well be one of my last posts on the Fray during working hours... We'll see if this scheme helps my productivity...

Procrastination only keeps you from doing the things that you don't want to do. Which means you're more likely than others to be doing whatever you want to be doing or enjoying your life moment by moment.

That depends on how you define "want." I want the results, but I don't want to perform the actions to get there. I posted something similar on a different thread, but there's also a difference in where you're procrastinating. If I'm at home and procrastinating a project, there's lots of good stuff I can do with that time, like exercising, practicing the guitar, cleaning... any number of other things. When I'm procrastinating at work... I surf the web. That's about it. It's not like I procrastinate a project I don't like for one I do... I just don't do any work. Surfing the internet is fun, but it's only very occasionally productive.

If you structure your life so that the things you want to do are also the things you have to do, you'll be productive and happy.

Well, there's the difficulty. And it's not only difficult to find a job you love, but I think a lot of procrastinators have a problem whenever a want turns into a should. I surf the net a lot every day, but if it became my job to surf the net I'm pretty sure my attitude toward it would change completely. It's not rational, but the moment I should do something instead of just want to do it... it becomes much less appealing. I know it's all in my head, but it's not easy to change the way you see things when they become ingrained.

I understand both points that are being made here, because I truly love being laid back and relaxed and taking life easy. To quote the movie Garden State, "I like being unimpressive, I sleep better." But on the other hand, my procrastination hinders me from doing the things I want/enjoy doing. Like gardening, yoga, cooking. There is something within myself I need to fix, because I'm telling myself I'm not worth doing those things I enjoy. Instead I do things I also enjoy doing, but they get me absolutely no where, like playing video games and watching television. My solution to this was to get rid of those things. I still have video games, which I'm getting rid of in a few weeks, but I canceled my cable and internet. Since, I have been compelled to to the things I enjoy doing that actually require me to move off my couch. That's my suggestion if you are looking to fix your procrastination. Rid your life of the things that are, in your opinion, hindering you. And don't look back.

"Rid your life of the things that are hindering you"

Brilliantly put. I totally agree. In talking with Jonesy, I did realize something - that we're talking about two different types of procrastination. I'm talking about the normal, general kind - the sort of "stop and smell the roses and don't push yourself too hard" kind of thing, and Jonesy's referring to the kind that actually hinders people.

So I looked it up (instead of working LOL) and it turns out that procrastination of this kind can be a symptom of deeper-seated psychological problems. So if your procrastination is really getting in the way - it's a symptom, not the disease. I don't think Yoffe's column (or any column in this series) has addressed this distinction. There's the kind of procrastination we joke about, and then there's the kind of procrastination that makes life miserable. I will now assume that the latter kind is what the scientist who pissed me off is studying.

So take that, Slate editor. Also: I've so far been unable to block your damn addictive website from my work computer! Blast! The IT department is entirely befuddled as to why I can't block websites. And I went into the hosts file and everything! Even when a guy tries to go cold turkey...

I'm glad you realized that you were talking about two different types of procrastination, because I was about to go ballistic on you. I don't WANT to spend my whole day reading websites and watching YouTube videos while barely working up the motivation to take a shower. I don't WANT to have to make up work or get incompletes in classes because I didn't write a paper on time. I don't WANT my entire life to go by without having done anything. I DO want to get my Masters, I DO want to be able to work in the field that I've chosen and which greatly interests me, and I DO want to be able to get my work done so I can go out and have fun instead of blowing everyone off so I can spend the whole night sitting in front of my computer and not doing work anyway.

I'm not really sure about the symptom/disease distinction. My procrastination IS the problem, and it's the source of all my other problems (anxiety, avoidance, etc.) Besides, most psychological disorders are just their symptoms - they're just given a name.

Well, about the symptom / disease thing, here's what wikipedia says: <link>

"While it is normal for people to procrastinate to some degree, it becomes a problem when it impedes normal functioning. Chronic procrastination may be a sign of an underlying psychological or physiological disorder."

And they also say that even normal procrastination can "result in stress, a sense of guilt, the loss of personal productivity, the creation of crisis and the disapproval of others for not fulfilling one's responsibilities or commitments. These combined feelings can promote further procrastination." They also have a section on "Student Procrastination" you might be interested in.

But again, we may still be talking about two different kinds of procrastination. I do think worrying about it makes it worse - but it's pointless to tell someone not to worry about something... it's like saying "don't think of a cat."

meow

If I were you, I'd look for some ways to relieve stress. I get the sense that you're putting a lot of pressure on yourself, as though grad school and "a-life-worth-living" and everything else were at stake with every paper and every assignment. And since that's way too much pressure for mere mortals to face, you put off facing it by putzing around the computer instead of doing the work. Maybe procrastination is just one of many mechanisms through which your "avoidance" of this pressure is expressed?

I would suggest looking at things one assignment and one shower at a time. I'd also suggest taking a calming solitary walk before starting on a project, and then taking your homework to a very secluded, distraction-free (read: internet-free / computer-free if possible) environment. When I was in school I'd banish myself into a desolate corner of the library and I found I could really focus on things so long as there was nothing else to do.

Blech, not that you asked or anything. But I felt compelled to put that all out there. Probably you should talk to a guidance counselor at your school instead of listening to me. I am not a therapist, and I still haven't gotten Slate blocked yet.

This is an interesting subject Slate has decided to cover. I can still recall how good I was at completing tasks ahead of schedule when I was young. I felt better doing things early and having plenty of stress-free time to enjoy. Then for one particular project, I put it off. Not because it was hard or boring, I just...didnt feel like doing it early. I finished it late at night the day before it was due and I remember thinking "wow, I've never done this before...what's wrong with me?" and ever since then I have been a procrastinator. I enjoy putting things off way too much.

For example, I can work early and hard on a paper and get an A, like when I was younger, or I can work quickly at the last minute and still get an A paper. Now, if one takes considerably less effort and time, why bother doing it early? Why bother pouring so much work and time into something to "make it better" when I get the same result?

My personal belief is that I feel my projects are a projection of my self-worth, so with so much riding on it, I put it off out of fear and worry that it wont be up to the standards I've set for myself. It doesn't matter if the topic is boring or something I would absolutely love to do--I'll still put it off.

I do regret not doing more activities in my life that I enjoy, but I still hope one day I'll be better about it and actually do it. Typical words of a tragic procrastinator, eh?