Procrastination

An excuse? A condition? A habit? or just a circumstance?

Different people procrastinate in different ways. Different people define and overcome procrastination in different ways. But I think that everyone procrastinates up to a point. You may disagree with me, but by the end of this blog, you probably won't.

I procrastinate a lot, whether it is school assignments, project work, or even this blog (which by the way I did procrastinate on). Many times I procrastinate because something doesn't interest me, or because there is something more interesting to do. So you might say that one procrastinate on something that they aren't passionate about, or aren't interested in.

However, I disagree. I think that procrastination is a way for our minds to take a break. Usually, when one is procrastinating one does things that don't require too much thinking or effort. For example, watching TV, just simply lazing around, or even sleeping. I believe this happens because our minds just want to take a break from reality.

I'm saying this because I've seen it happen. There are times when I don't procrastinate at all and finish tasks one after the other. On the other hand, there are times when I just can't get myself to do anything but sit on my chair and scroll through my YouTube recommendations for something interesting.

Interestingly, I think this has a relation to our peace of mind and how positive we are. When one is positive, they have a lot of energy (because of that positivity) that can be used. This energy then looks around for something to do, picks up the interesting thing, and does it. On the other hand, when one isn't positive when one is thinking about the past, or about future desires that they don't believe they can have, one tends to procrastinate more.

Thus, I think that we have procrastinated more in the Pandemic. The great procrastination trend began With the term "physical distancing" being renamed "social distancing". With the pandemic we saw a severe drop in external entertainment, large social gatherings being disallowed, and the whole world stuck in the 4 walls of their homes. Many surveys show that mental health was drastically impacted because of the pandemic. As per a study that my friends and I conducted (of 100 people) 38.1% of the people felt that their mental health had worsened in the pandemic.

Like I mentioned before, I think that there is a significant relationship between the state of one's mind and how much one procrastinates. This is because, to be able to do work one needs focus, and if one isn't positive in their head they will not be able to focus. Throughout the pandemic, I have seen that not only do I procrastinate more, but my friends and family also procrastinate more as well. This is because of the same reason that being isolated we have gotten restless. With the number of distractions that are there around us at home, it is extremely easy to get swept away even with the slight loss in focus.

Now, why did I say that everyone procrastinates? I said this because everyone feels low and sad at some point in their life. Everyone feels dejected which causes them to beat around the bush, waddle in their grief, and in general not do anything productive. It is at this time that one begins to procrastinate.

If everyone procrastinates, is it not bad to procrastinate? No, it is not good to procrastinate because they say "We live only once". Procrastination begins just with work assignments and projects but later grows into a habit that can end up spoiling your life. The thing with procrastination is, that it is caused by sadness, but it also causes sadness. So, once one starts to procrastinate they enter this vicious repeated cycle of postponing everything in their life. This extends beyond work, to doing something for one's enjoyment or fitness. Fixing or building complicated relationships and more. So, no it is not ok to procrastinate.

Everybody procrastinates at some point, but procrastination isn't good, so what should one do? I'm going, to be honest, haven't been able to beat my habit of procrastination.

However, I have been able to avoid procrastination at times. This usually depends on 2 factors. One is how passionate am I about the action that I'm going to do. This is something I strongly believe in. One shouldn't do things just for the spite of them, one should do things if they are passionate about it. So, the first solution is, do things that you are interested in/ are passionate about/ are instrumental to complete something you are passionate about.

The other thing that can be done is taking regular breaks, doing things just for fun, and relaxing your mind. Overworking your mind with the whole bunch of work that you have isn't going to help. So sometimes just taking a break, watching a serial, talking to your friends, reading a book, or any other activity that calms you down as a person could help (music helps). This is because it will help you regain your focus. Sometimes, even just closing your eyes and remembering some positive and fun memories will help you rejuvinate.

So, don't always work, but work when required. Take time for yourself, and don't think about work at that time. But when you decide that you are going to work, work with focus and don't procrastinate.

It's hard (I haven't been able to do it completely) but you and I, both will get there :DD.

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