As school starts, I'm contemplating my course load with anticipation and some trepidation. Why? Because I think the world can be divided into two groups: those like me, and those like my wife. If you're like my wife, you're motivated, disciplined, organized and had half your essays already written by the start of August. If you're like me, you dread the inevitable confrontations with procrastination and juicy, delicious temptations - like Facebook arguments, having friends over for dinner or even curling up on the couch with a long, thick book. (N.B.: your mileage may vary on specific time-wasters.)
Now, my wife certainly struggles with similar problems - in her case, she's been distracted recently by her discovery of "Gilmore Girls." But the consequence of her procrastination is not a guilty request for an extension on homework, but a guilty rush to go from being two weeks ahead to three weeks ahead. Me? When I procrastinate - perhaps justifiably because of loads of homework, perhaps not - like I did my sophomore year when Humans vs. Zombies first came to campus, I have to shuffle up to my professor and meekly ask for an extension. Embarrassing as hell, that is.
Inability to manage time well is a major character flaw. How am I working to correct it? Part of it was marrying my wife - she keeps me on task - but, as anyone who's been in a relationship knows, to make it work, I have to be committed to changing my bad habits. And so a little bit of introspection has rewarded me with some easy steps. (Easy in principle, that is, not in practice.) Let me share them with you, so that perhaps you can learn from my mistakes.
The first is: Be aware. Cultivate a habit of keeping prioritized mental lists of things that need to be done (if you're proficient in the art of procrastination, you probably already do this in order to determine how long you can put them off). Then, any time you sit down to do something, take ten seconds to consider whether what you're about to do is a time-waster, and think about what you could be getting done in that time if you were to do something productive. Be aware of your trade-offs, so that when you waste time, it's a conscious decision, not an automatic action.
The second is: Intend to be productive. Now that you've laid the groundwork for rational decision-making, instead of habitual or instinctual decision-making, you can actually plan ahead to be productive with your time.
The third is: Just do it! This is the hardest part, for me at least: I can contemplate theoretical alternatives all day, but ultimately I just have to buckle down and do the work. Fortunately, if I'm aware that I'm about to waste time and I intend not to, I can simply ... not waste time, just like if I want to walk, I simply lift my leg. Easy as that, and yet so hard.
Progress doesn't come inexorably, of course. Some days are better than others: for example, yesterday evening I delayed going to sleep in order to pursue an argument online, whereas this morning in that ridiculous 45-minute wait at Parking Services to get a permit, I finished two-and-a-half chapters of reading for classes instead of staring at the floor or playing chess on my cell phone (yes, I'm a dork; so sue me). But change like this is not easy, and any time I screw up I can confidently look at my habits now and my habits in, say, my freshman year, feel reassured that I am improving, and resolve to do better next time.
So that's my little formula for beating procrastination. If you're like my wife, you don't need my help; the world is your oyster anyway, so go get the pearl. If you're like me, however, hopefully you can glean a little bit of insight from my little rambling that helps you out this school year. So welcome back to school, and now perhaps you won't dread those long-term papers and homework assignments so much.
Write to Neal at necoleman@bsu.edu
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