For me, there are two fundamental characteristics of procrastination.
1. You know you’re procrastinating, yet you don’t stop doing it. You might feel slightly helpless, you might feel totally helpless. But you do anything other than your work. In fact, I’m procrastinating by typing this post. I should be writing up a paper. Yet I continue.
2. Things that should take a few hours will probably take up a whole day, and you KNOW this. For example, the paper I’m typing up is only 1000 words, and I don’t need to use any scholarly references. How hard could it be? All I need is to concentrate hard. But no, I’m on the internet and I’m blogging, typing short novels, checking what new action figures there are to collect, ANYTHING but finish a crummy 1000 word paper. Not only that but I intend to go work out at 11:30 so I have even more problems.
The interesting thing is that I’m procrastinating because I’m in a bloody good mood. For the whole semester I don’t think there was a single day that was really ‘bad’. I don’t want to sound like a dickwipe but it’s true. I really think my spiritual study and practice is coming into fruition; ever since last November, I have seen everything through the lens of Buddha’s teachings, rather than through the lens of the Three Poisons. To compound my good mood, the prospect of going back to Hong Kong, traveling to Egypt, and doing some volunteer work for the Centre of Buddhist Studies at home is so inviting that sometimes that I think, ‘who gives a shit, it’s the last week of classes, and on the 10th of June I finish all assessment, nine days after that I fly home. Turn into a vegetable, Ray. You’re no longer needed.’
I’m in a good mood. I need to stop this insanity.
I think I’m going crazy.
And then there are those of us who are procrastinating by checking in on about 1000000000000000000 blogs before doing what we’re actually supposed to be doing. :-)
Malcolm