Procrastination is one of those natural tendencies that prompt people to delay rinsing the dishes until the egg hardens or putting off shoveling the snow until it has turned to ice or ignore the gas tank until it's empty. The results of procrastination are usually not good. The do it now habit wins out almost every time. But that doesn't prevent people from procrastinating. Since time immemorial people have been taking the path of least resistance. Call it lack of initiative, inertia or just plain laziness; it amounts to the same thing - the failure to act when they should. It's not so much that they resist change or prefer the status quo. They simply lack the energy. Their energy is consumed by coping with all the demands on their time.
I have never heard of a study comparing the degree of procrastination exhibited by individuals twenty years ago versus today, but I would hazard a guess that it has increased. Choices have multiplied and decisions are more difficult. The pace of life has accelerated, stress weighs heavier, and multitasking has become the norm. Balancing work and personal life is more complicated than ever and technology challenges us with constant change,
Is it any wonder that we procrastinate? Who has the energy to initiate action?
Procrastination is more a coping mechanism than a bad habit. It's not desirable, but it is excusable. Spending even more time and energy feeling guilty could be better spent simplifying our lives, relieving stress and reducing the demands on our time.
As we become better time managers our need to procrastinate will be reduced. But let's not condemn one another for procrastinating. It's not sloth. It's simply one of several coping mechanisms in a frenetic society that reveres speed no matter what the direction.
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