being frank

I once wrote that procrastination is a tool in the hands of an artist. Unfortunately, procrastination gets a bad rap these days. There are numerous descriptors attached to it, and the majority are not brimming with positivity. That’s because we have been conditioned to accept that time is precious, which it is. But that’s precious, as in how it relates to money. After all, life is finite and wasted time can seem almost criminal. And if there are two things none of us want to waste, it’s our money and our lives.

But like most things in life, there exists a balance regarding procrastination. It is a simple behavioral thing that afflicts the vast majority of humanity. But I won’t go into the merits or disadvantages of being a practitioner of this ubiquitous avoidance system. What I would like to write about is how it changes throughout the course of our lives. See, procrastination in its simplest state is a form of savings. You procrastinate to avoid an unpleasant or tedious task in order to savor your given state of blissful comfort or delusion, or to possibly avoid a negative scenario. This saves both time and energy, not to mention your state of mind. See? Savings. But like everything else in life, you eventually have to pay the piper, or whomever or whatever you avoided before. And although you can (well, almost) always count on a certain amount of energy or psychological gumption to pull you through most given scenarios, the one thing that will decrease surreptitiously is time.

Surreptitiously? How’s that? Aren’t most of us at least mildly aware of the passing of time? Well, yes and no. Thanks to today’s prevailing technologies, time can be measured down to a yoctosecond (that’s a septillionth of a second for you hopelessly inquisitive folks out there), yet many will waste vast swaths of time without giving it a thought. This is the enigma of procrastination. How much time have you allowed to pass unnoticed? How much of that did you consider wasted or put to good use? And who would be the best person to judge that choice – you?

Enter the world of apathy; that general lack of interest, enthusiasm or concern (so sayeth the dictionary.) In a sense, apathy is a professional practitioner of procrastination (apologies for that unintended alliteration.) We create tactics for delaying or stalling the obvious (or necessary) by feigning indifference, a lack of concern, or perhaps an inventive excuse related to the untimely demise of something that was needed to get a task done.

When I was in the military, a sergeant in my unit had a very unique paperweight on his desk. It was a round brass plaque that was about five inches in diameter. The surface was smooth and polished to a dull shine. On the surface was engraved the following block letters: TUIT. Curiosity got the best of me one day, and I asked him about the plaque. It’s a paperweight; not a plaque. OK; duly noted. But what does it mean? This is what he told me: Everybody is always giving me excuses about not being able to get things done around here. The biggest argument? “I promise to get around to it soon.” So now, when they come in here griping about some excuse and they drop that, “…and I promise to get around to it…” line, I grab the order, lift up the paperweight, place the papers underneath it and tell them, “congrats, you just got a ’round tuit’ – get it done by today.” Problem solved. Granted, that was a wonderful fix that should have earned him a field commission to at least a butter bar (ask a Vet.) But his creative solution was nothing more than a way for procrastination to fight that general sense of malaise, boredom or apathy.

Each time we use when as an adverb of sorts, we are setting the stage for a condition that will lock us into a set of requirements in order to achieve a certain action or promise: When I get done with my studies, I’ll take out the trash. When I get the raise I deserve, I’ll work harder. When I get rich, I’m going to get back at those who wronged me. In each instance, we are creating scenarios where we appear to be ready to take action, but we stack the odds against it by creating conditions that will make it less likely to occur. That’s procrastination, and it’s frankly no way to live.

We procrastinate because we fear; because there are things in life we don’t want to do, face or accept. Some of these undesirable scenarios are unavoidable or unexpected. They catch us with our emotional guard down, and so we procrastinate to withdraw and buy some time to face the matter at hand. That is normal; that is often wise. But when others put us in a position to constantly bring up our guard, that’s when procrastination becomes toxic and works against us. It does so by robbing us of our time, energy and even our life.

We all need to be mindful of how we interact with one another. Avoidance is like liquor; only good in very small amounts. And if we push people too far, they either become trapped by their emotions or sink into a sense of apathy that provides a temporary relief from the guilt but with an almost lasting loss of mental peace and spiritual calm. And this act of pushing isn’t necessarily relegated to a one-on-one scenario. People in leadership can create a breeding ground for procrastination with just one memo. Parents or teachers can force the children in their care to attempt expectations that are beyond their means at the time, leading to choices or judgements that can easily turn toxic or damaging in the long term. If this all seems a bit too drastic or over the top, remember the old adage: A voyage of a thousand leagues starts with but a single footstep. It’s the direction in which the voyage begins that makes all the difference in the world.

But when you get around to it, I’m sure you’ll do just fine.