You Are Procrastinating…Or Are You?

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

So, you have to start the thing that is due last week.

Why not do it?

It’s too scary to start? It’s too hard to start? It’s too lame to work on? You have got better things to do?

Always, there are excuses.

Giving your time to everything, not just to the work that you have to finish.

But, this might be good. Right?

You get more time to think about it and plan it better. You feel you work better when there’s limited time.

Or do you get more time to worry about it? No, that’s not good.

How do you differentiate between these two?

Are you planning it out and thinking of better ways of doing it?

Or are you just worrying about it instead of doing it?

Here’s how you figure it out.

Have you started working on it? Now, I don’t mean doing a large part of it. But have you at least taken the first step?

Gave your story a first line? Gave your project a title? Wrote some boilerplate code (yes, even the auto-generated code counts!)?

Have you?

Yes? Good. Congratulations, you are not procrastinating! Your mind is already on to the task and now that it’s in back of your mind, you will get to it…eventually.

But don’t get too lost.

A little distraction is good for you; once you have start working on something you were trying to avoid.

So, let yourself get distracted.

Browse your mail or Medium or Whatsapp or Facebook — no, hopefully not that.

Just keep a track of time. Get back to your work after sometime and if your mind feels like it’s about to get distracted. Let it be!

And if you still haven’t started on the thing you should be working on…well, yes, you are procrastinating!

Go! Take the first step.

Come back later!