The Art of Procrastination and The Solution to Change The Bad Habit

Procrastination is an art, and one that is easy to practice and perfect. The skill of being an expert procrastinator simply takes time. There is no motivation required, and certainly no talent required. Talent and skill are accrued as one proceeds; and can experience setbacks if one attempts at any time to introduce deadlines or goals of any kind. This is not a mix and match life skills category—instead, it is a either/or choice. The choice to be regimented, deadline-oriented, or goal motivated, or the goal to adopt a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, devil-may-care, or otherwise generally lazy and unmotivated attitude toward life. No expert procrastinator worth the reputation would be caught with a schedule, a daily planner or accepting an assignment with a specific deadline. One simply cannot reconcile procrastination with projects or duties: the two are in direct conflict with each other. Projects and duties require dedication to a task with the end result of completion to a specified time frame. Procrastination has no place in an assignment of any sort but the loosest of terms. If the one in charge of setting the task has allowed plenty of time in which to obtain the results, it may be possible to put an expert procrastinator in charge of the required undertaking, but only with the agreement that it may or may not be completed within a certain unspecified time period, at a date to be announced at some future point. The goal itself is not in question; only the time frame.

Understandably, then, procrastinators are not suited for every job. Military careers are out, as is firefighting or even slinging hamburgers. But it is conceivable that a procrastinator could make an excellent physician, psychiatrist, judge, or politician. In fact, history has proven that some of the most effective procrastinators are the least productive members of society. Not necessarily the poorest, simply the ones with the least to show for the amount of time spent working/procrastinating. Some of the most interesting people you know may have dabbled in procrastination, or made great strides at becoming proficient in the art. They tend to be likable and extremely easy to get along with. They are generally in a jolly sort of mood, and experience less stress than others.

Can procrastinators change? The answer would be a very cautious ‘yes’. Anything is possible given the right sort of circumstances and motivation. People are complex creatures, and capable of being reasoned with, of maturing, of learning from past experiences. Any one of these situations could create a desire to change. But it could take years of practice in avoiding procrastination; after all, one didn’t just fall into procrastinating overnight. Is it likely that an expert procrastinator will change? Probably not. And the longer one works at perfecting the skills necessary to be really good at it, the more concrete those skills become, and even less likely that the procrastinator will perceive any potential benefits of leaving those skills behind. As with any sort of skill, the drive to be the best will always be strong, if not timely.