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Week 11 [14-20.01.19] Inside the mind of a master procrastinator

This is the topic that most of us are familiar with. Procrastination is a habit of waiting until the last minute to complete the task. This post might be a good example. In the video below Tim Urban shows us, in funny and insightful way, what happens in the mind of a procrastinator and also how to deal with it.

These are my question for you:
  1. What are your thoughts on procrastination?
  2. Do you consider yourself a procrastinator?
  3. Do you agree with Tim that everyone is a procrastinator to some degree?





Comments

Unknown said…
I think that not all people belong to procrastinators, because I often met active and successful people. Their rest is very active and energizes further things. Looking at them, I realized that it is important to correctly alternate active work and rest. Therefore, I believe that there are people who do not need to postpone the difficult work in order to update the instagram. I consider myself a procrastinator, I can afford to leave the case and not think about it until it is necessary to solve it very quickly and at the last moment. But everything in the head, every adult person can control first the train of thought and then plan their actions.
Foodocado said…
I used to be a procrastinator. I used to do things on the last moment. Since I've started working and attending PJATK classes on daily basis, I had to change my bad habits. I am trying to manage my time the best I can. It's not easy and not once I back home exhausted. On the other side, I am happy.

I think the best way to deal with procrastination is to be busy all the time. The self-motivation is also important.

I agree with him that everyone is a procrastinator to some degree. However, some people are ambitious enough to overcome it.
Unknown said…
Being busy all the time would definitely solve that problem. But I can't imagine how stressful it would be to have the Panic Monster in charge all the time. It would probably drive me crazy.
Unknown said…
I agree that one way to solve the problem of procrastination is to draw a solid line between work and rest. I believe that in most cases the source of procrastination lies in inability to differentiate one and the other and with a visible border in sight we could easily overcome this problem.
Unknown said…

What are your thoughts on procrastination?
It is perfect! So much fun! Great for 90% of the days! And then you have this 10% days that you need to do all the work that is due tomorrow. Oh my god, that reminds me about that task...
Do you consider yourself a procrastinator?
Yes. 100% yes. I hate myself because of that.
Do you agree with Tim that everyone is a procrastinator to some degree?
I don't know. But probably everyone has a piece of this "monkey" in him.
Piotr Ciesla said…
I wish I could say I’m not procrastinator but I have to say yes.
I think that everybody deals with procrastination everyday. Doing project to school or waiting to do groceries. Sometimes its just inevitable to put something aside and do something easy and fun. But as he is saying it might be dangerous for dreams. If you put aside them for too long you never going to make them come true.
Iman Masjedi said…
I can not call myself a procrastinator because I always have a regular and accurate program in my life.
From personal experience I have for example, prepared for a meeting or conducted research at the last moment, but I know I could have done a better, more thorough job had I not procrastinated and started earlier. I believe the effort put into any task is always evident.
In my opinion,being procrastinator is not bad,sometimes we need to be procrastinator.
A person can leave things to the last minute and still responsibly accomplish them, but the reduced time or effort put into it will inevitably show. So whether it's last minute studying, buying a gift for someone, or getting a work task done, the less time you give yourself to complete the task, by default you have put in less effort than you could have.
Marcin Mróz said…
Procrastination is bad, especially when you are working on a school project for example and work of others depends on yours. Just because you are not doing your part of the job, everyone else is blocked. If you work individually, I don't care when you complete your task, but if you work in group just do everything on time, because it's irritating.
I don't consider myself a procrastionator, I always like to do every task earlier, so that I have some error margin, if something go wrong. Also I don't like to do everything just before the deadline, because it's stressing.
I guess that this is true, to some degree is not even that bad, but some people have serious problem with procrastinating. ;)
Unknown said…
I do indeed think that procrastination is something that affects everyone or almost everyone - however, the extent to which it affects someone varies from person to person. Some people might procrastinate a bit, but still start working fast enough that they will be able to finish their work without too much stress, whereas others might end up starting at the last possible moment every single time. I also think that procrastination, while hardly a good thing, is not neccesarily a bad thing as long as it's done in moderation and happens rarely enough that the extra stress is not too overbearing.

I do consider myself a procrastinator - though I like to think that I'm slowly becoming better at doing things on time without too much stress. I'm not sure if that's actually the case though - such things are hardly easy to measure.
Actually forcing one to complete given task in an exausted state is counter-productive. The goal is to master the ways of restoring one s energy and not waste it.
I must admit that I'm for sure a procrastinator. It is most noticeable when I have to study for an exam which includes topics that are not one of my favorite. Such postponement of matters which are important for life is definitely harmful to us especially when we are dragging away those cases mentioned in the video (without deadline). I'm not sure if we should call someone procrastinator when he is a really busy person who is not deferring matters for later.
Unknown said…
Nowadays many people are procrastinators and I don’t know exactly what is the reason of it.
Yes, I’m procrastinator, unfortunately. But now I’m trying to change it. The simplest solution that I found for me it’s convince myself, that action that I should do is very important for me and I should make it now, without any delay. Also good practice is creating a schedule with all actions that I should make today/this week/this month.
No, I don’t agree with Tim. I meet many persons that lived scheduled and if they should make some action they make it immediately, without postponing.
1. My thoughts about procrastination? Well I hate it. I was struggling with it for so long and I still have to learn a lot about avoiding it. I'm doing quite good right know but sometimes I'm still procrastinating.
2. I do consider myself a procrastinator but on a rehab. I'm doing fine but there is a monkey of procrastination still in my mind. I bought nice cage for it but the monkey doesn't like it and from time to time in a magical way escape from the cage. And most of the time I'm doomed in that situation (RIP time).
3. It's hard to say, but probably yes. I can't be the only one who's not perfect :D
Procrastination is a very real problem, in fact I’ve been procrastinating on writing this comment since Thursday. I’ve seen Tim’s blog post the first time it made the rounds in the Internet, but I faintly remember that trying to apply his proposed solutions did not work for me as well as I hoped it would. I wouldn’t say that everyone is a procrastinator, but rather that everyone has a capability to become one. I think that there can be various origins of the “monkey” – it can be a result of mental issues, but it may well be something acquired via lax work ethic. The one constant is that the “panic monster” makes us achieve impossible things, wearing our psyche down in the process.
s18716 said…
What are your thoughts on procrastination?
To a greater or lesser extent, each of us is a procrastinator. This may be a small task from everyday life, but it may be a big job for work or school. It depends on how self-critical a person is and whether he can recognize it.

Do you consider yourself a procrastinator?
Of course. Unfortunately, this makes us more like people.

Do you agree with Tim that everyone is a procrastinator to some degree?
Absolutely agree.
What are your thoughts on procrastination?
- I think it wastes potential for a lot of people. Of course they can do whatever they want with their time but procrastination is not valuable spent time.

Do you consider yourself a procrastinator?
- Yes. I hate it. Also XKCD have some good thoughts about it
https://xkcd.com/1411/

Do you agree with Tim that everyone is a procrastinator to some degree?
I wouldn't to say so. There may be people who are 100% focused on their goals
Bartosz Barnat said…
I already saw this video like a year ago an I really liked it. It is really showing what procrastination is and why we are putting something for another hour,day,week or just do something else just not to do the one thing that we should be doing.

I think that procrastination is the biggest problem novadays just because we have so many things that can distract us. I think that everyone is a procrastination in some sort and there is only few people who really can overcome the barriers and make themselves do what they should. To be honest right now I should be writing a documentation for my project but I saw that there is a new Punisher season so I just lost 3 hours on watching. I think that people are just afraid of a failure or the time that they have to put into making something work and because of that we start to procrastinate.
Anna Moskalenko said…
Procrastination is a normal thing now, I think. With current level of technology life’s becoming easier, and people are becoming lazier.
I am a procrastinator. But I’m not a lazy person. I can work a lot and not getting tired. And I don’t think that my problem is bad self-motivation or bad organization of work or whatever. We procrastinate with things that we don’t want to do. And if you don’t want to do you work you should just change your work to one that you’ll love.
Same with housework. I hate washing dishes, but I’m totally ok with loading and unloading the dishwasher.
Everyone is a procrastinator. But some people just do what they love to do.
Mykhailo Reznyk said…
That is my biggest problem in life. Procrastination is a way I do almost everything. It started in school, with me leaving my homework on the last day. It kept evolving and now even with my work I like to chill 90% of a time and in a last minute, in one fell swoop finish what should have been done during a week. Miraculously, I am more efficient when I use this approach. I guess it is all due to the panic mode, which was described in a video above, that makes you without a sleep and any feel of tiredness finish stuff, which you couldn’t even start doing just a few days ago. It gives you this special type of thrill and rush, that you can’t get rid of until you done with your work. It’s like with people who enjoy extreme sport. They constantly put their life in danger, so they can get this dose of adrenalin, which they like so much. It is almost like a drug for some of them. So in some way procrastination is kind of extreme sport. And of course, we all do it time to time. But doing it all the time may be risky, because one day you can fail, and you will have to face consequences of your procrastination.
I believe, procrastination is not just laziness. A lazy person does not want to do anything and has no concern about this. Procrastinator would be happy to do something, but he is unable to start. I know it from my own experience.
Also, procrastination should not be confused with rest. During the rest we are filled with new energy. With procrastination, on the contrary, we lose it. The less energy we have, the greater the chances of postponing the task for an indefinite period and again doing nothing. Sadly, it's a vicious circle.
Procrastination is quite big problem for me. Statements like “I'm not in that mood today. It would be better if you postpone this business for tomorrow ”or “ I work better under pressure ” are actually banal excuses that I tell myself and others to explain the reasons for my laziness, inaction or unwillingness to make important decisions.
I am constantly in active search for distractions. And who seeks will always find. Even in the most unthinkable situations. To sum up, I believe that procrastinators can change their behavior. However, this is a time consuming and energy intensive process and I think, hopefully, I'm moving in the right direction.
Yes, I most definitely agree that everyone is a procrastinator to some degree even great scientists or artists.
Filip Sawicki said…
To me procrastination is kind of an optimization problem. Humans just like any physical system tend to converge into the least energy requiring position, so called “comfort zone”. To get out of this we have to add more energy and this is anything but easy thing to do. Strong work ethics, tough mind and involvement are cures that we are seeking. I consider myself a minor procrastinator, it’s not like I’ll ever get rid of this “procrastination monkey”.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
I've already seen this video before. I think that was on previous English classes. It is smart and funny. I like it.

Talking about procrastination I have many thoughts. Even now when I need to finish my engineer thesis I think about procrastination, humanity, about story of my live, about my decisions, my family, all my girlfriends, about loosing or finding friends... I do a lot of researches deeply in my mind. I try find answers there. It's really important for me now because I need to finish my work and the deadline is not tomorrow. I have couple of days. So I one-hundred percent sure that I'm not a procrastinator. I definitely agree with Tim that everyone is a procrastinator. Except me of course.
I've been concerned about procrastination since I realized what it is exactly. I saw this Ted presentation about 2 years ago, than it dawned on me that I'm a total procrastinator. For me it is one of the biggest troubles in my life and the source of 98% of my problems.
Some times, when I get motivated, I can be very productive for a week or two, but that when the task is done and next one is not that interesting here it goes again. I thing it can be cured. And the medicine for this is discipline. Which is also not that easy to train.

At some point I agree that everyone has it. But the level is variable. I have a friend who probably totally has no sign of procrastination. He is extremely productive. Once I said to him that I'm jealous of not having this level of productivity. He replied that the reason of his high performance bipolar disorder.

Marcin Górski said…
Hmm, I have watched your video about one year ago on my English lesson. It is very good movie. Procrastination is a big problem for younger people because they always saying "Okay, can I do it later? I don't have time for it... I want to watch movie now". To be honest procrastination is problem for myself too. It depends on day and situation because sometimes I like to do something later even If I should do it in the same time. I don't like it but I'm trying to be better everyday so I hope that I will change it in the future.
Yes, I agree with Tim that everyone is a procrastinator to some degree because everybody has situation e.g. when they want to rest and do something later. I understand them.
Patryk Górski said…
What are your thoughts on procrastination?

I hate it. It's the thing that made a lot of problems in my life

Do you consider yourself a procrastinator?

Yes. Sometimes I waste a lot of time because of it. Right now I'm trying to fight with it as much as I can, but sometimes I'm losing this battle

Do you agree with Tim that everyone is a procrastinator to some degree?

I think yes, all of us have that little procrastinating thing inside.
Marcin Zając said…

1. What are your thoughts on procrastination?
Putting things away continuously causes that everything what we have to do we do at the very last-minute. Every task done under time pressure is a source of stress. If this tasks are done earlier, they can be done much more effectively and unhurried.

2. Do you consider yourself a procrastinator?
Ofcourse, you can chek when I posted most comments on this blog (at the end of Sunday), but I work on changing it. The exception are things connected with my passion, which I can do despite I'm after 8 hours in work and hours at school.

3. Do you agree with Tim that everyone is a procrastinator to some degree?
Yes, I agree with Tim and I think that everyone is a procrastinator to some degree.
Ahmed Elsawi said…
- Actually, The procrastination part of life and it's also a double-edged sword to success by wide area to thinking or waste time.

- Actually, sometimes, But I’m trying to change it.

- I believe procrastination part of life, keep it easy, and rush before the deadline.
Unknown said…
I am a chronic procrastinator. It definitely brings some risk in your success rate of passing the project or meeting the deadline. On the other hand, having to crunch a night before to complete a task brings a lot of enjoyment. It might be not the most effective but works for me.

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