Procrastination

By Marvin Druger  |  mdruger@syr.edu

 

According to Webster’s dictionary, procrastination means that we put something off until later. Humans commonly procrastinate — “I’ll do it tomorrow.” Oftentimes, tomorrow never comes and we end up not doing the task at all. I have had many episodes with procrastination.

I was on my way to my computer room to work on writing this article. On the way, I passed my favorite reclining chair in the living room and the TV set. I had good intentions to get to the computer, but the chair and TV set were too appealing. “I’ll work on the article later” and I settled into the soft chair and watched the football game. This delay went on for some time, until I dozed off thinking, “I can write the article tomorrow.” Eventually, I did get to the computer feeling guilty and unproductive.

Certain episodes stand out in my mind that have helped me procrastinate less or at least recognize when I am procrastinating.

I was fortunate enough to meet Story Musgrave, the astronaut who did a spacewalk to fix the Hubble telescope. He has many accomplishments, including six space missions, bachelor’s or master’s degrees in business administration, chemistry, literature, physiology and biophysics, a medical degree from Columbia University and an undergraduate degree in mathematics and statistics from Syracuse University. I asked him how he could accomplish so much. He said, “I decide on the task and I DO IT!”

Will power is obviously an important factor in avoiding procrastination.

I learned the same lesson from an educational administrator. His advice was, “Never let a piece of paper cross your desk twice.”

This advice made me change my approach to handling requests for student recommendations. A student would knock on my office door, “Are you busy? I need a letter of recommendation.” I would bristle at this intrusion on my work. Of course, I was busy, in fact frantic about some article that was due or something else. I would say, “I’m busy. Please come back some other time.”

One day, I paused in my busy day to reflect on the advice from my education administrator friend and started thinking about my interactions with students. One thought that came to mind was that students were my business.

Basically, students paid my salary and deserved my prime attention.

I held weekly office hours on Wednesday mornings for students to drop in to see me about any concerns. Nobody ever showed up. I even offered vodka and orange juice if a student appeared during office hours. Then, I suddenly realized that students have classes on Wednesday mornings. No wonder they didn’t show up. I started a new policy of open office hours. I gave out my contact information and encouraged students to contact me at any time, day or night.

Whenever a student knocked at my door, I would welcome them and say, “Yes. I’ll write a letter of recommendation for you. Do you have a few minutes?” I would then interview the student, write the letter in the presence of the student, put it into an envelope and drop it in the mail bin. “Never let a paper pass your desk twice” became a regular routine.

How do we overcome procrastination?

It becomes a matter of priority, focus and will. We need to prioritize our actions. What’s more important to do now? The laundry or paying that bill that’s due tomorrow? Or finishing this article? Or watching the football game on TV?

It doesn’t take long to prioritize activities. We can readily decide what’s most important to do. The difficult part is actually DOING the task. As we grow older, motivation and energy wane and procrastination becomes more frequent. I can decide what’s most important to do, but it is more of a struggle to actually DO the task.

The good advice from Story Musgrave and my education administrator friend was helpful. Their theme was “DO IT NOW!” and live by this internal command.

If we do not follow this advice, tasks start accumulating and eventually become overwhelming. My house is cluttered with books, papers, clothing, etc. It all seems hopeless to take care of, so I just let it all go.

Money helps overcome procrastination. Rather than mow my lawn or plow snow from my driveway, I pay someone to do it.

Not too long ago, I was obliged to move out of my office at Syracuse University. The space was needed by some higher priority. I was given a deadline to go through all the stuff in my office. This stuff had accumulated over many years. I kept procrastinating about the move. The office was filled with banker boxes that were all fully loaded, plus four full file cabinets, an accumulation of my many years at SU. I went there one day to start the move. I was paralyzed. There was no way the job could be done by the deadline and I kept procrastinating about the move.

Finally, I was saved by the staff of the special collections unit in Bird Library. They offered to take all the boxes and they would sort the contents. An amazing staff member and her associate met me at the office. They loaded the boxes on a cart and the boxes were taken to the archives at Bird Library in two days.

This episode taught me another lesson about procrastination. Get someone else involved. If someone else is involved in doing the task, you are more likely to do it from a sense of friendship and obligation.

The bottom line is still, “DO IT NOW.” I have this thought in mind right now as I walk past my comfortable living room chair and the TV.

Mmmmmm.

Maybe I’ll stop here just for a few minutes. I can finish this article later.