In his TED talk Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator Tim Urban explains that every human being, to one degree or another, is subconsciously a procrastinator. Be it a project they are working on, purchasing those new tablecloths we told ourselves we will buy or answering those gosh long emails, we subconsciously tell ourselves, We'll take care of it tomorrow or sometime in the near distant future.
It’s not that we are incapable of doing the above tasks; it’s that we are simply nonchalant about completing them.
To hammer his point home, Tim provides the following example: A college student has a term paper due at the end of his semester but he doesn’t do anything about it until the very last day. He pushes it off the entire semester, and right before the paper is due he buys a 6-pack of Red Bull, runs to the library, and makes the slow-motion movie-style dive to submit the paper 11 seconds before it's due.
Where did this student with no energy to write his paper the entire semester suddenly find the bullish stamina to work for 17 hours straight?
He really did have the strength the entire semester to write his paper. What’s different during those final 17 hours is his realization of an impending deadline that pushes him over the edge to spend an all-nighter. His laziness is knocked over by the anxieties of his upcoming deadline.
When there are no hard deadlines it's very easy to put things on the back burner. Mr. Urban concludes that to overcome our “subconscious procrastination bias” we must self-impose deadlines in order to accomplish our goals.
Throughout of life, doses of inspiration for positive spiritual change hit us. We are inspired about a new class opening up in our neighborhood, excited about a new charity project, motivated to learn a bit more Torah every day or stirred to help our friends in need.
Yet it’s at the exact time that this inspiration comes that our “subconscious procrastination machine” goes into high gear and convinces us that there is always next time or next year to work on these projects. After all, we are so young and have so much more time left. We kick the can down the road and continue along blissfully with our lives.
But that thinking is flawed.
Although we may look, act, and believe that we are in the best of health (and we should, please God, continue to be so), we obviously won’t live forever. Imagine a “life calendar” with 120 boxes, with each box corresponding to a single year of our life. If we were to cross off the 20, 30 or 40 years that are already gone, we would quickly realize that there aren’t so many boxes left. And as we roll around to Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) we once again check off another box in our life calendar.
And the High Holy Day season, when who is sealed in the Book of Life and who in the Book of Death is being decided, delivers a powerful wake up call. We realize that our time on earth is not infinite and that there is no guarantee to many boxes on our calendar.
We don’t know when our “deadline” is but we know we are moving closer to it. Let's not be like the student in the story who waited until the last second to spring into action. The time for change is now.
Let's commit TODAY to enact some sort of positive spiritual change, or better yet, don’t even procrastinate that long and commit RIGHT NOW.
To quote Dr. Robert Kelso from the hit TV sitcom Scrubs: “Nothing in life that’s worth having comes easy, so get off your keister and do the work”.
Shana tova. May the upcoming year be one full of health, wealth and all the possible blessings,
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(5) Nancy, November 4, 2019 1:05 AM
Sometimes we let perfect become the enemy of the good
If I clean my house from top to bottom and there is one speck of dust left, it is not a crime. Yet there are those who would say I wasn’t perfect, so why bother. It’s okay to make a mistake or two. We need to give ourselves credit for taking action.
(4) kristy kova, October 9, 2019 1:30 PM
Procrastination
I fully agree with StevenZI. While studying at university I had the same problem, having read this article http://scalar.usc.edu/works/tutions-and-coachings/best-ways-to-handle-procrastination-in-college my life has changed
(3) Raymond, October 5, 2019 12:31 PM
The Irony of It
For too many years now, I have wanted to overcome my tendency to procrastinate, but just never got around to doing so. I want to overcome my shyness by buying Philip Zimbardo's Shyness, but feel too shy to buy it. When I bought Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People, the cashier remarked that by getting that book, I had influenced him by winning his friendship. And the one thing cluttering up my apartment, is the book I have on how to declutter my apartment.
(2) Donna, October 4, 2019 1:00 AM
I can so Relate!
It has been Eons since I was in college. I still have a long list of things I want to finish. Thank you for your reminder! You hit a home run with the term paper...my roommate always did her's the first week of classes and I was the procrastinator!
(1) Anonymous, October 2, 2019 9:48 PM
Problem Overcoming Bias...
I relate quite well to this article , but still get stuck. Some deadlines, like the term paper due, getting ready for Shabbat, making the rent, etc. are imposed from outside...Yes, it's scary to know my days are limited, and it's uncertain whether my goals will be achieved. But without a specific day, accountability to a specific person, or a commitment with specific consequences, my self-imposed deadlines can lack credibility. Moreover, there are usually enough urgent tasks with real "deliverables" which can take over on any given day, and put any particular non-mandatory goal in the background. Any ideas on how to deal with this obstacle to overcoming procrastination bias?
StevenZvi, October 3, 2019 4:35 PM
Creating discipline for self-imposed deadlines
That’s a fantastic point you make. Self-imposed deadlines lack credibility if not disciplined properly because like you truthfully stated that if there’s no accountability, tasks will be put aside for seemingly more urgent tasks. Which is why self-imposed deadlines should ideally include some method of accountability. For example, I have to go to the gym today even though I’m not in the mood. I will create accountability by getting a gym buddy or trainer who will insist that I show up. Alternatively, I have a goal of losing 20 pounds by years end. I’ll tell all my friends about my future weight loss plans, thereby creating this social pressure to keep me accountable. Personal experience has demonstrated that self-imposed social pressure has a mysterious way of creating accountability. Hope this helps. Remember that life’s a marathon not a sprint so let’s breathe and take it one day at a time.
Best of luck !