Procrastination is poor impulse control
Wednesday, August 8, 2012 at 9:20AM in Inspiration Some insight into procrastination from You Are Not So Smart by David McRaney:
Procrastination is an impulse; it's buying candy at the checkout. [...] You must be adept at thinking about thinking to defeat yourself at procrastination. You must realize that there is the you who sits there now reading this, and there is the you some time in the future who will be influenced by a different set of ideas and desires[...].
The now-you may see the costs and rewards at stake when it comes time to choose studying for the test instead of going to the club, eating the salad instead of the cupcake, writing the article instead of playing the video game. The trick is to accept that the now-you will not be the person facing these choices, it will be the future-you—a person who can't be trusted. Future-you will give in, and then you'll go back to being now-you and feel weak and ashamed. Now-you must trick future-you into doing what is right for both parties.
I found this to be mind-altering. I've been a long-time sufferer of procrastination and never once thought of it as an impulse control problem, but it absolutely is.
It's a very interesting book so far—I highly recommend it if you're the sort of person who loves to derail group conversation with musings on why people tend to do this or that.
Reader Comments (3)
Did future-you get a copy of this book early? It doesn't come out until November.
Ah, I believe you're looking at the paperback version, intrepid sir! The hardcover edition is here for both now-you and future-you to enjoy.
Indeed it is! Apparently, I Am Not So Smart.