Recently I had the pleasure to have a conversation with Gaetano Caruana about collaborations. From that discussion a series was born. I invited Gaetano to write a series on procrastination. For the next few Thursdays you’ll find it here on Successful Blog. Today it begins with the Introduction.
Procrastination Mini-Series – Introduction
by Gaetano Caruana
A lot of people confuse laziness with procrastination. They are not the same. A procrastinator is not necessarily a lazy person. Procrastination is a personal behaviour that makes a person defer doing things for several reasons which will be discussed later in this series.
Procrastination varies in intensity from one procrastinator to another. Depending on the intensity, procrastination can pose a challenge to the life of the procrastinator since it can be a complete killer of his/her personal productivity, making the procrastinator feel useless.
Unfortunately procrastination is taken lightly especially in the U.S. One of five people consider themselves as chronic procrastinators — meaning that they get fined for not filing tax returns, handing assignments late and missing out on opportunities or discounts. Is that enough to prove how lightly some people view this problem?
Contrary to what people think, procrastinators are made and not born. A person chooses to be a procrastinator. Because procrastination is a choice, a procrastinator can also choose to start making good use of time. In this series I will be describing the main causes of procrastination, the effects of procrastination, and how to punch procrastination in the face by applying procrastination killers.
Is procrastination stealing your time?
Gaetano Caruana writes for the FruitfulTime Blog, where you’ll find the free ebook Stop Procrastination Now.
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Thanks, Gaetano! See you next week!
–ME “Liz” Strauss
IT IS stealing my time. I’ll confess to being a learned procrastinator stemming from observing my parents.
PRO: I work well under deadline pressure.
CON: I have deadline pressure.
I look forward to this series! I was tempted to start out with “I’m saving this article for later, I’m going to read it at a later date” which could or could not have been funny… 🙂
What a fascinating topic! Can’t wait to read more – maybe you can help me understand why I procrastinate. Sometimes I can get mountains of work done lickety split. But sometimes, the simplest task seems to big to tackle. Have no idea why my attitude changes.
Hi Lani!
The sad part is that when we finally do what we’ve been putting off, it can be enlightening. Our sense of relief shows how much energy the procrastinating was stealing.
Now I divest of what I can . . . do things right away and be done with them. 🙂
Hi Brad!
I know that sometimes I just need to refuel before I tackle a new task. I just don’t have “it” in me to take on a new thing. That’s the reason I procrastinate most often. After a walk or a nap, I can tackle almost anything again. 🙂
I’m a rather selective procrastinator. For example, I am currently procrastinating something awful over writing up a thesis chapter. It’s a chapter that I don’t have a good handle on yet, and I’m not enjoying the writing of it much. Compared with the rest of my life and my writing, this behaviour is pretty out of the ordinary for me. I’ll be reading the rest of this series with great interest! Hopefully it’ll help me over this hump.
Hi Amy!
I don’t think of putting off that chapter as procrastinating . . . once upon a time I did, but not anymore. Now I know that I have to think about things like that and then let them sit before I try to do them. I figure that “sitting” time in my schedule. It gives my unconscious a chance to work on the ideas. I revisit them every now and then — like a sauce that’s simmering — to see when they’re ready to work on. 🙂
Hi, Liz! 🙂 I look forward to this series; I know I’ll pick up some helpful tips. I have certain areas where I could apply a few procrastination killers. LOL
Thanks for having Gaetano as a guest (and thanks to Gaetano as well).
Dar,
Your light makes me shine every time you come by here. 🙂