Procrastination

I’ve been reading the book It’s About Time: The 6 Styles of Procrastination and How to Overcome Them by Dr. Linda Sapadin with Jack McQuire. Before I picked up the book I didn’t think I even had a procrastination problem. But I identify with at least four of these procrastination types much to my surprise. I’m going to outline them below and see if you can spot yourself in any of these descriptions. Then you can pick up the book at your local library and learn how to fix the problem.

1. Perfectionist Perfectionism

This is the one I scored the highest on (11 points). Beginning in fifth grade I drew a zero tolerance line in the sand for mistakes. I did and redid my homework. I always got it in on time but I worked on it to the last minute. God forbid it not be perfect. I remember one time I got a 79 on an assignment. It was a graph and I was not good at graphing. I remembered working so hard on it in my room with my little colored pencils and it completely sucked. The teacher held me back after class to point out my mistakes, all failures that torpedoed my self-esteem. Then she floored me by saying that in her class an average grade was 75 (a C). I never knew that before. I remember walking out of class stunned that even in my disgrace I had achieved higher than average. It actually was a comfort.

1. Dreamer Procrastinator

This is the guy who has big dreams but never gets around to doing anything about them because he’s waiting and well, dreaming. I scored a 1 on this. I’ve always been a go getter. I love setting goals and then breaking them down into itty bitty steps not waiting for fortune to just drop into my lap. The world doesn’t work like that. Of course it’s nice to have a dream. But you won’t achieve it through wishful thinking alone. Besides as far as I’m concerned achieving the dream (“getting from point A to point B”) is part of the fun. Then you can truly be proud of yourself.

3. Worrier Procrastinator

As someone with several anxiety disorders of course I’m going to score high on this (8 points). I am a victim to “what ifs” but I try not to let it derail the course of whatever direction I’m on. This was a big problem when I was a religion teacher. Every week I had to plan a lesson for my Wednesday class. I would do it Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. Not only that, I would actually hide my class materials under the bed during the week so I wouldn’t see them and be reminded. I was not cut out to be a religion teacher with no guidance. I put off that realization as long as possible.

4. Defier Procrastinator Quiz

I scored 2 because I am not a defiant person by nature. I don’t question authority whether that be the police or my boss. There was one question on this quiz that tripped me up. I do get sulky or annoyed when my mom asks me to do basic tasks while I’m in the middle of something like set the table. I am aware that this is a me problem and that they are personal reasonable requests but I kind of resist anyway. Maybe that’’s less “defier” and more ‘spoiled brat’. 

5. Crisis Maker Quiz

I was shocked by how many points I scored on this quiz (8). Me? Making crises? No way. Then I kind of thought about my penchant for drama and how I do like living on the edge. When I’m manic, I’m in another state of procrastination altogether. I stayed up all night then do homework in the back of class. I dangled on the precipice on a ledge created by procrastination itself. Mania= crises. 

6. The Overdoer Procrastinator

This is something I’ve suffered my whole life…biting off more than I can chew. In high school, I did soccer, theater, newspaper and debate club to name a few (not to mention two youth groups and a library group). College admissions just ate me up. Then in college I tried to sample every intramural sport, club and society that would take me. Because I put my schoolwork first, it wasn’t a problem until I tried to do stage crew for the school play. I was assigned to wardrobe- taking care of the costumes and assisting with quick changes. I was no good at either especially since I was in the back of the theater doing homework I had previously procrastinated and was too busy to do before. Eventually, the weight of all my work crushed me and well, we know what happened. I scored 9 points on this by the way.

I guess I was completely blind to how much of a procrastinator I was/is. Luckily it hasn’t really affected my current life because I set my own deadlines and I’m able to stick to them. It took alot of disasters to get to this point. I hope you have it easier.