Everyone tends to put off doing things that are unpleasant. Some of these things seem inherently unpleasant, such as paying bills, writing up a resume, cleaning the attic, and so on. People procrastinate at other things also, which may not seem to everyone to be unpleasant, such as calling up someone for a date, or speaking to a friend. Usually, on closer examination, these activities which seem ordinary to most people, are threatening in some way to the person who is putting them off. Sometimes, the reason is not apparent even to the individual himself. Sometimes the reason turns out to be fear of confrontation, or rejection. Someone inclined to these feelings may procrastinate in a number of different situations. He may seem to others to be habitually inclined to putting things off. Often, such a habit goes back years to childhood. The causes are obscure and, in my experience, defy understanding.
There are some people, however, who seem to be defined by their inclination to procrastinate. Carried to an extreme, putting off things can endanger someone’s professional and, even, physical health. Some examples:
A lawyer who had been in practice successfully for years never got around to fulfilling some routine requirements to pass the bar. He lied about it . When he was found out, he was dismissed. A number of patients whom I have seen get within a credit or two of graduating college, yet never finish. One patient who lied about this to a new employer was fired a few months after starting the job.
A number of people (I have seen 7 or 8) put off filing their income taxes, sometimes for years. Eventually, they are caught, fined, and penalized. In one extraordinary case, both husband and wife put off filing their taxes. When they were caught, they wrote out a check for this new, greater amount and put it in an addressed envelope. The envelope sat on their kitchen table for two weeks before they got around to mailing it.
A patient came to me at the insistence of his wife for precisely the reason that he hadn’t paid his income taxes for years. I took a history, as I always do, and he told me in passing that he had a lump in his mouth.
Me: What does the doctor say about it?
Him: I haven’t gone to the doctor.
Me: Why not?
Him: I’m afraid of what the doctor might tell me.
Me: How long have you had this lump?”
Him: Ten years.
Me: WHAT!
(Silence.)
Me: You know, it’s probably benign, otherwise it would have killed you by now–but these things can become malignant at any time.
He went to the doctor the following week and discovered that the tumor was, by then, malignant, and had spread to his jaw and neck. He died a few months later. This tragedy could have been avoided probably any time in the previous 8 or 9 years.
This chronic tendency to procrastinate seems to me to be related to being chronically late. I will have more to say about this additional problem in another blog; but I don’t understand that problem either.
A strategy:
If you know you should do something but find yourself putting it off; do something now. If you think you should be exercising for an hour a day, or a half-hour, or at least ten minutes, do a few minutes now. There is no point in berating yourself, and still less in being berated by other people. If the task is too difficult, for whatever reason, do a little. But do it now. Very often, once you start doing something–let’s say, writing a resume– you can legitimately content yourself with taking out a typewriter and a piece of paper and leaving the rest to do later. Very often, you will find yourself doing a little more just because it occurs to you at that time. I have a friend who wrote his whole resume after making up his mind just to start. Starting seems to be the hardest part of doing things for procrastinators. So; try to get in the habit of starting things. Only a few minutes are required.