PROCRASTINATION. We know we do it. We know how to stop it. And we will... TOMORROW.
<sidenote> I know that was a bad joke. Let it slide. Also, expect more of those on this blog <sidenote>
I definitely procrastinate. Homework assignments, studying for tests, doing chores, you get the idea. Just the idea of getting up from my luminous computer screen and actually DOING something kills me, let alone ACTUALLY doing the task. I think I know why, though.
I think it is because humans have evolved basically to survive, to reproduce, and to thrive in the world. And we've done that... just a LITTLE too well. We've gotten to the point where, for most of the first-world countries, at least, our human brain tells us, "Dude, you don't need to do this homework assignment. It's not ESSENTIAL to our survival after all," and I'm like, "BRAIN, you don't understand, I need to do this... oh look, an interesting YouTube video!" You see what I mean? Our brains constantly grab onto whatever catches our eye or looks interesting-- homework, unfortunately, is not one of these things. This is (my theory, so it probably isn't true... just guesswork) probably because our brain says, "YO, Pranav, you don't need to do homework, let's do something more fun!" and, once again, I'm like, "NOOOOOO.... actually, yes."
HOWEVER, on the flip side, I believe that people that don't have enough (or don't think they have enough) don't procrastinate, because there brain is like, "Hey, Guy-Who-Doesn't-Procrastinate, let's do something useful so you reach your goals!" and this is what separates the do-ers from the followers in this world. People who are always working harder to achieve more, and feel a NEED to achieve more do it, because, unlike some people (ahem, myself, ahem), their brain supports them in this endeavor to achieve more because they feel that it is a necessity.
<sidenote> Half-way through the last sentence of the paragraph above, a bug flew into my ear, so I gave myself that as an excuse to run around my room like a mad-man trying to shoo the bug away for almost 15 minutes... As I said, I procrastinate, giving myself excuses that don't even make sense <sidenote>
AND I know (kind of) how to fix procrastination. You just don't let yourself do it. Your brain only gets distracted by things if it has things to get distracted by... if that makes sense. So, just don't allow yourself to get distracted. For instance, whenever I get onto the computer, for example, for research, I ALWAYS keep a tab open in the top left corner that say "DON'T PROCRASTINATE" or something along those lines, so whenever I click back to another tab, my eyes, glance over that tab, and that guilty sensation that one gets when procrastinating becomes doubly horrible, sometimes to the point where I HAVE to do the assignment or whatever I need to do before I can continue wasting more time. But that's just my two cents.
TL;DR I procrastinate a lot, like lots of other people. I think this is because we have achieved our evolutionary goal in life (to survive), so our brain doesn't want to do anything else boring. Therefore, it distracts us with anything that seems interesting. A way to combat this is to 1) remove all distractions from your workplace and 2) keep reminding yourself of a deadline or project that is due.
--PRANAV
<sidenote> I know that was a bad joke. Let it slide. Also, expect more of those on this blog <sidenote>
I definitely procrastinate. Homework assignments, studying for tests, doing chores, you get the idea. Just the idea of getting up from my luminous computer screen and actually DOING something kills me, let alone ACTUALLY doing the task. I think I know why, though.
I think it is because humans have evolved basically to survive, to reproduce, and to thrive in the world. And we've done that... just a LITTLE too well. We've gotten to the point where, for most of the first-world countries, at least, our human brain tells us, "Dude, you don't need to do this homework assignment. It's not ESSENTIAL to our survival after all," and I'm like, "BRAIN, you don't understand, I need to do this... oh look, an interesting YouTube video!" You see what I mean? Our brains constantly grab onto whatever catches our eye or looks interesting-- homework, unfortunately, is not one of these things. This is (my theory, so it probably isn't true... just guesswork) probably because our brain says, "YO, Pranav, you don't need to do homework, let's do something more fun!" and, once again, I'm like, "NOOOOOO.... actually, yes."
HOWEVER, on the flip side, I believe that people that don't have enough (or don't think they have enough) don't procrastinate, because there brain is like, "Hey, Guy-Who-Doesn't-Procrastinate, let's do something useful so you reach your goals!" and this is what separates the do-ers from the followers in this world. People who are always working harder to achieve more, and feel a NEED to achieve more do it, because, unlike some people (ahem, myself, ahem), their brain supports them in this endeavor to achieve more because they feel that it is a necessity.
<sidenote> Half-way through the last sentence of the paragraph above, a bug flew into my ear, so I gave myself that as an excuse to run around my room like a mad-man trying to shoo the bug away for almost 15 minutes... As I said, I procrastinate, giving myself excuses that don't even make sense <sidenote>
AND I know (kind of) how to fix procrastination. You just don't let yourself do it. Your brain only gets distracted by things if it has things to get distracted by... if that makes sense. So, just don't allow yourself to get distracted. For instance, whenever I get onto the computer, for example, for research, I ALWAYS keep a tab open in the top left corner that say "DON'T PROCRASTINATE" or something along those lines, so whenever I click back to another tab, my eyes, glance over that tab, and that guilty sensation that one gets when procrastinating becomes doubly horrible, sometimes to the point where I HAVE to do the assignment or whatever I need to do before I can continue wasting more time. But that's just my two cents.
TL;DR I procrastinate a lot, like lots of other people. I think this is because we have achieved our evolutionary goal in life (to survive), so our brain doesn't want to do anything else boring. Therefore, it distracts us with anything that seems interesting. A way to combat this is to 1) remove all distractions from your workplace and 2) keep reminding yourself of a deadline or project that is due.
--PRANAV
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