Procrastinating Makes Sense! Sort Of.

Now that I have gained the attention of at least a dozen people who are currently trying to justify their procrastination, let me explain. The act of procrastination is an unavoidable human behavior that is exhibited frequently by the vast majority of people. Procrastination comes in many forms, as small as finding a reason to not take out the trash, to waiting to the absolute last minute to begin a term paper that is worth 20% of your final grade (which happens to be the current reason for me writing this post).

For most procrastinators, we know that we will eventually accomplish whatever task is in need of completing, but I have found that that logic alone doesn’t relax me enough to stop me from finding other tasks. The truth is, when I’m procrastinating, I’m getting more done than at any other time.

And it seems as if most college students are in some way the same way. At no other time is this more evident than during exam week at colleges across the country. Like clockwork, you can be sure you will find students cleaning their rooms, attending to the dreaded task of washing their clothes, and heading to the gym for the first time in weeks.

While true, my procrastination usually leads to other tasks such as catching up with my magazines and newspapers, searching the web for new blogs, writing new posts, and reading books that have been sitting on my coffee table for weeks, the idea is the same; personal advancement through strategic disengagement from the real task at hand.

Of course this isn’t true for everyone; it’s a direct facet of individual levels of motivation and desire to improve upon one’s self worth. Take for instance the nine to five cubicle employees right now, intent on searching the web and never getting back to the mundane tasks that await them, well, only after the daily dose of FreeCell has been exhausted. In that case, procrastination is procrastination for procrastinations sake, which comprises the “sort-of” in the title.

This begs the age-old question though, quality or quantity? For me, and yes it’s a cop out, it’s a very healthy mix. Could I spend more time on my paper to ensure I receive a grade closer to perfection? Sure, but where does that get me in the grand scheme of things? Choosing to procrastinate has allowed me to accomplish so much, that I can honestly be content not achieving absolute excellence on everything. Like everything however, this is an individual decision that you must make. What do you find works best for you?