Procrastination

          I have recently watched a video about procrastination. A simple explanation of what happens inside the mind of a specific set of people. It has been told, at the end of the video - without further explaining of the process - that there are two types of procrastination: the goal set one and the daily routine one. This is how I like to call them. The first one it's quite easy and simple to check and, as the video puts it, quite good explained. On the other hand, the second type of procrastination it's not explained, nor given a solution to it. There is some sort of a "what you have to do" or "you should think of this" at the end of the video, but let's be honest, if you really are a procrastinator, the "monkey" would make you forget about those boxes with ease.
          So what about the boxes? What are their purpose in the procrastinator's life?
          The trick here, as I see it, it's to fill them. Easy said, hard to do. One first idea is to set small goals that fit your day to day activities and try to fulfill them by the end of the week. These small things will give you a nice end of the week satisfaction that you actually did something useful and after the turmoil of planing it in the first week you'll probably find out that you enjoy this kind of lifestyle. First pick things that interest you, that you always wanted to do but for whatever reason you decided that there is no time for them. Here is the tricky part: we will always think that there is no time for certain activities. That is because we can't see the wasted time ahead. However, if we try to actually do that thing, we'll see that not only we had time for it, but it didn't occupy our free time.
          Let's say this thing does not work. We are so advanced in our procrastination schedule that we are simply unable to fulfill anything we have planed. Firstly the plans should be written, post-its like, so we can see them daily and - this sounds harsh - so they remind us every moment we see them that we are wasting our time. Another way is to invest in things we want to do. Let's say you always wanted to paint, but never actually tried. Buy all things necessary and place them on your desk. You'll, if nothing else, at least feel obligated to try because you spent some money on them. This might sound dangerous. What if I just buy stuff I never use? Well you should calculate the amount of money you can dispose of for this kind of activities so it doesn't become a burden.
         If this "do it yourself" approach does not work, talk to a friend to set you these goals and to help or persuade you into doing stuff. At first can be a little hard, but after a while it will become a part of yourself that you'll actually love. This is the first step.
        A different approach on the daily procrastination. I see it as an "I don't have time" one. It's not about distractions this one. It's not about that video on YouTube that you need to see it right now and about that cat that runs in circles for a half an hour and it's hilarious. It's about the concept that we don't have time, that we think that we, as a simple person, can't do something. This type of procrastination is in relationship with our view on life and on the limited amount of time we have on this planet. I see it as not a problem with the monkey, but a problem with the "logic decision maker" (LDM) in correlation with the "monkey" (M). So LDM tells us that we should do some things for our future and the M tells us that we should live our present. There is a third party: I'll call it "I could've done that" (CDT). This party takes everything that we always wanted to do but, for some reasons, we didn't. This party is always late. It goes like this: you have an idea; the LDM comes and tells you that is not time for that and you should work; you oblige and when you have time, the M comes and wants to play, but the idea is long gone and you forget about it; then the CDT reminds you of it, but you wasted a lot of time so the LDM comes again and the rotation continues. Sometimes the circle is broken, but most of the times it's not. The solution here is to make a switch: put the M instead of CDT and you can have fun and progress at the same time.
          Leave a message for further questions. Have a nice day!