Procrastination, Instant Gratification & Escapism

 

Have you ever had a task to perform, but all you felt like doing was brushing it aside?

 If you are like most of us, then you must have engaged in the most commonly termed association of procrastination or simply put ‘escapism’. Escapism is a tendency to seek any form of distraction from certain realities. 

 

Delaying or putting something off is just what procrastination is all about. Suppose I have some spare time and I have to go to the gym today but I choose to put the gym off till tomorrow, it’s a simple yet excellent example of what we mean by procrastination. Procrastination is by no means helping us in any way so why do we constantly find ourselves in the loophole of engaging in procrastination for various events?

 

 Most often procrastination is confronting uncomfortable feelings associated with a task and that is one of the main reasons why we engage in the same. Going back to the example, suppose going to the gym makes me confront feelings such as anxiety, fear, depression, etc. I will try to escape from confronting such emotions and simply ‘procrastinate’!

 

This is because we like ‘instant gratification’ and want to avoid difficult things!

Procrastination is all poor emotional management, rather than even thinking of time management! Of course, we have the time but do we want to engage in the particular task that we are putting off?

 

One would associate a feeling such as laziness with procrastination but that’s not the case. Procrastination is a very active and conscious choice that we all make in our lives. By no means is procrastination a passive process! So, it is only natural to associate feelings such as guilt, shame, self-criticism, helplessness or any other negative emotion with this process. 

 

Procrastination has a lot of physiological effects on the body as well. Suppose you have a deadline to submit a manuscript at your office but you cannot get yourself to tackle the mind at task. You begin to feel anxious and guilty and as the deadline to submit your work looms closer you begin to get in a frenzy and frantic mode. Sound familiar? Your body’s heart rate will increase, and you will begin sweating and feeling nervous due to many other physiological changes happening to the body.

 

So, the next time you think about procrastination it is important to start identifying the emotions and reasons why you are feeling like avoiding a task. It is so important to ground yourself and process your emotions as to why you are trying to avoid a task; so that you can perhaps find an easier way to confront the task or situation and deal with it. 

 

Procrastination is a habit and we have to make conscious choices and decisions to break free from this cycle that’s constantly going on, limiting us from performing actions.  

 

So, are you going to seek a safe haven of escapism or take a pro-active step forward?