I’m sitting at my keyboard for one of two very good reasons: inspiration or deadlines. It would be wonderful to tell you all how inspiration sets my heart on fire and lights the keys with the resulting creativity. Inspiration is definitely a wonderful thing. There’s a big pile of pieces – all in the “just beginning” stages – because of inspiration. But it is deadlines that have the most power. I let other things take over my time. I make excuses such as “the time is not right”, “later will be better”, or “I’ll just be interrupted”.
I procrastinate.
I’ve talked before about self-help books. They all offer help with procrastination. Putting off things for tomorrow is such an obvious topic. It is strange that so little seems known about it – unless we are just avoiding understanding it. This is where the inspiration steps in because I have just read about how one man fought through the haze of avoidance to publish some wonderful research. It only took him ten years to get it done.
Dr. Piers Steel of the University of Calgary came to some surprising results about the habit of procrastination. He noted that people who avoid tasks lack confidence and believe they have little chance of success. He found that most New Year’s Resolutions fail because of impulsiveness and low motivation to succeed.
Science geeks like myself cannot avoid trying to apply new research to our lives. (You won’t believe how tricky this is when the news is about gravity waves from 13 billion years ago.) Where does the muse called inspiration fail to the devil of impulsiveness and his buddy low confidence? There are no immediate gains if I get my writing projects done. In fact, not doing them can give me greater happiness – time with the kids, TV time, or more sleep. Not procrastinating is painful. And the reward is nebulous. Some of the things could sell, go to print, make Oprah’s book club. But, the rejection letters on my bulletin board point to a different direction.
I suppose the trick to procrastination for me, and all of you who suffer from it, is to find that bigger carrot and stick for our projects, jobs and dreams. Unfortunately, Dr. Steel’s research only uncovered the causes of procrastination. We may never see him get around to finding the solution. It’s kind of like the cure I found for Alzheimer’s. I just don’t remember where I put it.
