?! ~ PROCRASTINATION ~ !?

As I have mentioned before, there are many things that are preventives to living victoriously.  Procrastination and a very BIG ONE.  Why?  Because, all of us procrastinate at one time or another.  However, for some of us, it has become a plague in our lives and has prevented us from accomplishing goals that we desire.  For some of us, it is a state of mind.

The modern word "PROCRASTINATION" comes from pro- (forward) and crastinus (of tomorrow). In other words, “Why do today what you can put-off til tomorrow.”

Procrastination refers to the counterproductivity of putting tasks off to a later time. The behavior is often used for coping with anxiety associated with starting or completing any project or decision. There are 3 criteria for a behavior to be considered as procrastination: it must be 1-counterproductive, 2-needless, and 3-delaying.

Procrastination may result in stress, a sense of guilt and crisis, severe loss of personal productivity, as well as social and work issues for not meeting deadlines or accomplishing responsibilities or commitments. These feelings combined may promote further procrastination. While it is usually considered normal for people to procrastinate to some degree, it becomes a problem when it prevents normal functioning. Chronic procrastination may be a sign of an underlying psychological disorder.

I’d like to share a spongebob story with you: It is a little bit silly and extreme, BUT, it is relevant and makes my point.

Spongebob square pants Episode 37a: Procrastination, on November 30, 2001 by Walt Dohrn, Paul Tibbitt, and Mr. Lawrence.

SpongeBob is sitting in Mrs. Puff’s class, and he is excited to hear that they are getting an essay assignment as homework. The assignment is an 800-word essay on what not to do at a stoplight. SpongeBob rushes home to immediately start writing his essay, even though it is a beautiful day outside. He pulls up a chair at his desk and prepares to write what he says will be the greatest essay ever written. All he writes is his name and title, but three hours pass and SpongeBob is still staring at the piece of paper — encountering a major case of writer’s block.

He then looks out the window and sees everybody is having fun, and Patrick encourages him to come outside and enjoy the day. Unfortunately, he must stay inside and write his essay. He says he has plenty of time since it’s only 6:00, but he has no idea what to write. In order to boost his energy, he starts exercising but soon gets easily distracted, even by the rhythmic squeaking of his chair. Gary then comes in the room, and SpongeBob is very persistent in feeding Gary to take up time, even though he says he’s not hungry. After Gary eats, SpongeBob says that he can’t write his essay with a dirty kitchen, and he proceeds to clean the entire kitchen — even his dirty garbage can. (Pause:  Procrastination!  Does this sound like you?) After that’s done, he is shocked to see that it is now 10:00, and his essay hasn't even been started. He then writes on his essay, but in actuality, all he writes is the word “the” and then says it’s time for a break with only 799 words to go on his essay. He takes a break to call Patrick who is sleeping, but Patrick says that he knows that he was just called as a distraction so SpongeBob wouldn’t have to write his essay. Every little thing distracts SpongeBob from writing his essay, including the eraser shavings on his paper and his sudden hunger. Although it’s late at night, a package is delivered, and SpongeBob proceeds to talk to the mailman, who then asks if SpongeBob should be writing his paper. SpongeBob walks back to his house and watches TV, and sees that the story of his procrastination has even made it into the news. Confused and shocked, SpongeBob destroys his TV. (Pause: Can everyone say “STRESS”!)

SpongeBob then starts hallucinating as midnight approaches. He imagines his couch talking to him, and that his pants have run away. Trying to catch his pants, he leaves his house and gets locked out of it. Then, his house suddenly starts burning down in flames. His house then starts yelling at SpongeBob for wasting time and not writing his paper. (Pause: Can everyone say “GUILT”!) SpongeBob then sees an anthropomorphic flame in his house burn his essay into ashes as a means of torturing SpongeBob. It says with a grim smile "Only 799 words to go!!", and then it cackles as the house is burned down.

SpongeBob suddenly wakes up from these hallucinations. But he sees that it’s 8:55 in the morning, and class starts in five minutes. (Pause: Can everyone say “CRISIS”!) He then gets a surge of ideas for his essay on what not to do at a stoplight, such as feeding your snail, making a sandwich, and all the other things he dreamt of that night instead of writing his essay. He rushes to class to excitingly give his essay to Mrs. Puff, but the classroom is empty. Mrs. Puff arrives to say that class was canceled for the day and so was the assignment — stating that they were just going to take a field trip to a stoplight instead. SpongeBob rips his paper in half, as well as ripping himself in half. (Can everyone say “PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDER”!).

Join me this week as we delve into the many causes and cures for procrastination and how it truly is a state of mind.