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Thoughts on Procrastination | Tuesday, December 07, 2004

The Situation...
I just finished 2 weeks of intensive studies after about 10 weeks of complete slacking off. This quarter I took 2 online courses, and 1 course with a huge paper, assigned at the beginning of the quarter, but not due until the end. I told myself that I would not slack off, started doing some early research and got through the first couple of chapters in one of my two online courses before it started...
Work got busy, life got busy, and I kept telling myself that I had all quarter to get it done...well, two weeks ago, I realized that all quarter was right around the corner! I blazed through it all, finishing the project 2 minutes before deadline, and finishing my last online quiz about 1 hour from midnight, when it was all due.

The Conundrum...
Now, the funny thing is that I got all 'A's. In fact, historically I have found that projects that I have waited until the last possible minute to begin, or that I have finished as quickly as possible for other reasons have always gotten me the best grades.
Now, it seems to me that a point driven in by government-based, institutionalized, public education is that procrastination is bad. In fact, I have been ridiculed for my apparent lack of drive, lack of desire, and self-motivation that is apparently causing this terrible trait. But what of my grades? With my driveless, desireless, unmotivated approach to school that I supposedly have developed in recent years, why is it that I have a 4.0 in my current degree and am consistently considered one of the top students in my courses, being chosen to head up group projects, and more challenging assignment?

Illumination, justification, and rationalization...
Then it hits me! It's not that Procrastination is a bad thing. It is my drive, my motivation, and it feeds my desire. I am not doing things the wrong way, but a different way, and am shunned for being different. I have found that being pushed to my limits, having added stress, and just all around being forced to focus causes me to think and work in a way that enhances the product I produce. My writing is better, I am more focused on mathematical applications, I follow instructions exactly, and my work is efficient and to the point.
I find procrastination to be up there with Christopher Columbus. He's not the fun-loving guy who risked it all on an adventure to find America, but a money grubbing, back-stabbing bastard who raped, murdered, and stole all for the purpose of putting money in his own pockets. Procrastination is not the root of all evil in today's education system, it is just that the person doing it is not always keeping the system, and its rules/regulations/standards constantly on his/her mind.

Conclusion...
I shall continue to procrastinate. I shall procrastinate because I am good at it. I shall procrastinate because it actually benefits me in my education. Most of all, I shall procrastinate as a way to stick it to the system; a system designed to keep us in check, conform us to the "norm," and standardize us as automatons designed to be mindless fools conforming to the will of the few...but that's a topic for another discussion...

posted by ~mike @ 10:01 PM   2 comments

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2 Comments:

At 1:16 PM, Blogger Matt wrote...

A beautiful line of reasoning! i too am a procrastinator. i have something to add to your disscussion about procrastination... I am now a senior in college, and find that i am actually able to put off work longer and longer even though the work is getting tougher and more abundent. Where, in years past i would put a major project off untill the week before it was due, I find myself now doing projects mere hours before the deadline. The amazing thing is, like you, my grades are good. My conclusion is this: Procastination creates stress, which creates a chemical slurry in the brain. Procrastinators are like dare deveils. Why drive 55 miles an hour down the high way of life, when you can stack a tower of flaming buses in your path to jump over. We are addicted to chemicals.

 
At 8:57 PM, Blogger ~mike wrote...

Yes, Matt, I do admit that there is a certain thrill to it all. The feeling of the rush, and the positive slide at the end of assignment is almost like the perfect drug. Feels great while you're on it, and there's no withdrawl. Instead, there's just a relaxing feeling as the stress releases, calming and soothing.

Now, if only there were a way to market it...

 

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