Procrastination As a Frenemy — When To Call It Quits And When To Grind
We often view procrastination as a mortal sin all the time, but is it really?
I remember when first starting in the field of business I was absolutely convinced that grinding all the time is the key to a successful career that, eventually, will boost my life overall entirely.
I feared procrastination much like the sailors fear the Kraken when in open water — I was trying to avoid it at all costs with the risk of seriously burning out and making my brain glitch.
Back then little did I know about how useful procrastination might be on certain occasions. What if it comes in handy in telling you it’s time for you to take a healthy break? What if it’s a vital sign you are headed in the wrong professional and career direction?
Let me explain.
What is procrastination and what does it tell us when occurred?
Procrastination is the action of unnecessarily and voluntarily delaying or postponing something despite knowing that there will be negative consequences for doing so.
Good ol’ Wikipedia
Okay, let’s disassemble this definition by its key elements.
First, we have “delaying or postponing”. Leaving today’s work for tomorrow is a good old strategy when it comes to dealing with something we don’t want to deal it. There is something elusive in the illusionary belief that the task may somehow secretly disappear in the nighttime and, voila, we won’t have to take any action in its direction in the morning. Surely, this attitude is a great example of tasks and duties piling around you to the point when your day-to-day begins to look so miserable and depressing that you begin to wonder what’s so bad about the lack of professional development and living with your folks till your late 40s.
And then we have the “negative consequences” part. There’s no wonder why so many people absolutely dread procrastination, myself included. There’s this thing called nerve linking and nerve pathways in the brain — in a nutshell, if you continuously keep on thinking about a thing one-sided, in time it will be harder and harder for you to see it from a different perspective. Linking procrastination with negative consequences surely unmistakably means putting procrastination entirely on the negative specter of things — undoubtedly and all the time.
But, see, things aren’t always black or white only
My years in Journalism in college managed to teach me critical thinking. I had to learn to always look at things from at least two points of view, in the best case scenario-from all the possible angles.
In most cases, things are definitely not entirely black or white — there are so many nuances to beliefs, attitudes, approaches, business understanding, entrepreneurial execution steps, etc.
The same goes for procrastination as well.
While it’s most definitely rarely a good idea to leave things entirely up to procrastination, I believe we can look at it from a slightly different perspective. What if it’s here to tell us something entirely beyond the task in question itself?
The two crucially important lessons of procrastination — when to call it quits and when to grind (while, of course, balancing in between)
- procrastination is a way for your brain to tell you you need to relax for a bit and then continue grinding
- procrastination is a way for your brain to tell you you are entirely on the wrong professional path and that you need to change your route
Procrastination is a way for your brain to tell you you need to relax for a bit and then continue grinding
My experience in the field of business and entrepreneurship has shown me numerous times that sometimes procrastination is the first sign of burnout approaching.
If you really love what you do for a living and especially if you are an aspiring entrepreneur, then most likely you’d focus all your vital energy on executing more and more tasks daily. During the first stages of business development, you may probably feel unstoppable with a little time in need of proper nurture, a good night’s sleep, and a walk in the park with friends. Essentially, in the beginning, you possibly won’t feel the need to take a step back several hours a day and just let things be while you’re having that much-wanted cup of mocha.
But, as tasks, duties, and responsibilities begin to build up, there’s a possibility for your brain to begin procrastinating here and there only out of the need for a break.
How to spot this actual reason behind procrastination and what to do about it:
- check with yourself on whether or not you enjoy what you do and how your professional business path turns out
- if the answer is yes, then ask yourself what have you done for yourself lately outside of work — maybe it’s time for a day off, a weekend away, or a fancy dinner at the local pub with friends? Sure, business and entrepreneurship are great, but there are so much more things in life that you need daily to feel content and fulfilled.
- if the answer is no, then it’s time to view procrastination from a slightly different perspective
Procrastination is a way for your brain to tell you you are entirely on the wrong professional path and that you need to change your route
See, if the thing you do for a living makes you feel depressed, miserable, undervalued, and discontent, then procrastination does not simply mean you are this irresponsible lazy individual who doesn’t deserve the success they achieved.
Read that again.
The social stigma around procrastination has led us all to believe that it only goes along with people’s worst interpersonal characteristics.
But sometimes procrastination could just be a way for your subconscious to sneak in and ask you what the hell are you doing with your life. I mean, if I secretly hate what I do and I feel trapped daily at my job, then the most natural subconscious approach is to delay and postpone my tasks.
Perhaps that’s why I’ve always believed in the saying that one must love what one does in life. Because otherwise, you may end up believing you are not worthy of success and achievements — your mind will continuously try to escape from the tedious and unbearable tasks while you view yourself as untrustworthy and lazy. But what if you’ve just messed up with your career choice? There’s a high chance you’ll begin dazzling and nailing it once you discover your true calling!
How to spot this actual reason behind procrastination and what to do about it:
- take matters from the subconscious to the conscious state of mind — be honest about whether or not you love your job and do not fear the possible truthful answer;
- if you realize that you procrastinate often as a response to continuous discontent, make the necessary changes — search for what would actually make you happy. It sounds like a cliche but it’s so important for your mental health in the long run;
- don’t be too hard on yourself — we’ve all made wrong decisions that ended up being the best teachers in life;
To wrap things up
Let’s begin looking at procrastination as more of a frenemy — while it makes us feel bad about ourselves, on certain occasions, it actually brings to the surface some important aspects of personal development, growth, career, business, and entrepreneurship.
Before starting to beat yourself up because of procrastination and purposefully avoiding or delaying tasks, ask yourself why you do it in the first place. I believe you’ll open a door to important self-searching and self-care.
Hi, guys, I’m Ivan and I’m here to share with all of you my passion for words, great content, entrepreneurship, personal development, management, hobbies, and everything in between.
I serve as the CEO of my WordPress Development Agency @ Vipe Studio where I have the pleasure to lead a diverse, wonderful and energetic team of experts. Feel free to contact me anytime — I would love to exchange new ideas and inspire each other!
