Attempting to manage time as a chronic procrastinator
The blog post you are currently reading has been a task sitting in the back of my mind for just under a week now. Despite the heads-up, it’s now 2 AM on a Sunday and I am scrambling to finish writing this on time.
I am not proud of it, but this is par for the course for me. You see, I am a chronic procrastinator and I have been my entire life. As a result, I have fallen asleep to the glow of the rising sun more times than I am willing to admit.
As crazy as it may seem, it is a part of my life that I have rarely questioned until recently. Just a couple of days ago, I had to audit how I spend my time for a class. In doing this activity, I was met with one glaring truth: I waste a lot of time.
To clarify, it’s not that I have all of this free time and just throw it away. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. As a full-time student, Creative Director at my school’s newspaper, a student employee on campus, a freelancer, and other roles in my personal life, it’s hard to find time in my schedule.
I believe this is where the route of my procrastination lies. In a sad attempt to find “me time,” I put things off as long as I can until the deadline is in a few hours. What do I do with the time I make by procrastinating? I stimulate my brain a prevent myself from having to think.
Procrastination is not just losing me a few hours of sleep each night. Rather, it decreases the quality of my work, introduces more stress and anxiety into my life, and strains my relationships with those who are most important to me.
I can just list a few “quick tips” on how to stop procrastination and be more productive that we have all heard hundreds of times and call it a day. However, I think we both know that would do no good. I have a planner, I have a color-coded schedule, and I have set time aside to just do work. None of it works.
“I would never wait two minutes in a store without looking at my phone or reading a book. The idea of not filling ever minute with stimulation panicked me...”
So, what can be done? In his book Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again, Johann Hari discusses the idea of “mind-wandering.” Described by ScienceDirect as, “images, thoughts, voices, and feelings that the brain spontaneously produces in the absence of external stimuli,” mind-wandering can allow us to think more deeply about the world and the work we do.
By taking time during the day to avoid stimulating our brains with unimportant nonsense, we can avoid getting overwhelmed by life’s stresses. In turn, we could use our time more efficiently and avoid the desire to waste time.
It may not be the quick fix that I need, but I am willing to try mind-wandering as a first step in my quest to conquer procrastination and better manage my time.
Hi! My name is Peyton McKenzie.
I am a professional graphic designer, photographer and content creator.
I encourage you to explore my portfolio to get a better idea of the work I create. If you are interested in working with me or have inquiries of any kind, don’t hesitate to reach out over email.
