5 Thoughts on Procrastination

Hey friends,

A special (and very short) issue this week.

Here are five procrastination-related quotes + definitions I’ve come across while writing my book. I hope they send you down some useful rabbit holes. 🐇

1 – Procrastination as Resistance

Procrastination is the soul rebelling against entrapment.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Bed of Procrustes​

2 – Procrastination as Revenge

[Revenge Bedtime Procrastination is…] a psychological phenomenon, where people stay up later than they desire in an attempt to have control over the night, because they perceive themselves (perhaps subconsciously) to lack influence over events during the day.

Daphne K. Lee, How “Revenge Bedtime Procrastination” Explains Modern Life [originally from a now-deleted tweet]

3 – Procrastination as Naivety

It’s not that procrastinators don’t like the concept of doing. They look at the bricks on their calendar and they think, “Great, this will be fun.” And that’s because when they picture the moment in the future when they sit down and knock out a work session, they picture things without the presence of the Instant Gratification Monkey.
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Procrastinators’ visions of future scenarios never seem to include the monkey. But when the actual moment arrives to begin that scheduled brick-laying, the procrastinator does what the procrastinator does best—he lets the monkey take over and ruin everything.

Tim Urban, Why Procrastinators Procrastinate​

4 – Procrastination as Coping Strategy

Avoidance Coping; any strategy for managing a stressful situation in which a person does not address the problem directly but instead disengages from the situation and averts attention from it. In other words, the individual turns away from the processing of threatening information.

American Psychological Association, APA Dictionary of Psychology​

5 – Procrastination as Imbalance

You say, I must have rest. Assuredly; but nature appoints a measure for rest, just as for eating and drinking. In rest you go beyond these limits, and beyond what is enough; but in action you do not fill the measure, and remain well within your powers.

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations​

Have a great week!

Ali xx

✍️ Quote of the Week

We are scared of idleness because stopping would mean having to really consider what we want out of life and what we currently have. Sometimes, the gap feels so wide, we’d rather stay on the hamster wheel.

From Are We Too Busy to Enjoy Life? by Anne-Laure Le Cunff. Resurfaced using Readwise.