Reviewing for an exam at Burger King (I was in elementary school then)
The last time I posted here on Steemit was 13 days ago - that's how long I've been on a hiatus again. Like some of my fellow steemians who had been inactive for quite a while too, I felt a little discouraged. It's normal though, to feel a sense of disappointment after failing to reach the goal you've set for yourself.
I remember telling myself before to publish one blog post every day to make it a habit. Aside from building my discipline, daily blog-writing helps to practice my writing skills, which inevitably gets a bit 'rusty' upon disuse. Also, we can all agree that Steemit is a great platform for serving and interacting with people, sharing ideas, learning new things, and raising funds for various activities and projects that are of utmost importance.
I have all of these in my mind, so it really feels disheartening how I seemingly neglected to blog for almost two weeks now.
Procrastination: Productivity's worst enemy
Procrastination is undeniably the culprit for this. There are many reasons why people procrastinate: perfectionism, fear of failure, lack of focus, low energy, and disinterest. All of these cause me to put off things which I know I need to do, except for disinterest when it comes to blogging because it has been my hobby since I was young.
Perfectionism: Wanting to do things that meet your standards
There are people who set very high standards for their work (I'm one of those people). While this is linked to excellence, there are actually downsides to this. When we set our standards unrealistically high, we tend to put off doing things because we simply don't know how to start. Our expected outcome is too intimidating!
Fear of failure: Thinking that it's better not to do something than to exert an effort in doing it and failing to accomplish it
This is related to perfectionism. Some people, like me, sometimes have this fear of doing something because they're too afraid of giving their best and then realizing that it's not enough to achieve a particular goal. In other words, it's the fear of experiencing failure and/or rejection. They would then opt not to do it altogether than to be disappointed with themselves.
This is actually illogical because not doing it and doing it but failing are the same thing, but the latter is better because you tried it at the very least and learned from your mistakes.
Lack of focus: Getting distracted all the time
Have you ever experienced searching for something related to your work or study and then coming across something that looks interested (or even remembering an idea you put off), only to end up doing something that's completely unrelated to your task?
I've been there a lot of times. And it's really annoying. Often, I would search for an article that I want to write about, and then see other suggested articles that interest me. Half an hour later, I find myself watching a video of a cat cuddling with his owner.
And then I end up like this:
Lack of energy: Not feeling like doing anything productive
People nowadays seem to be glued to their beds. For instance, my roommates lie down on their beds with their laptops on their stomachs. We have desks, but they just find it more comfortable that way.
I sometimes do it too (lol), but I try to limit it because it's obviously unhealthy. Your neck can get strained and the heat from the laptop can further drain your energy. How can you manage to do anything productive if you're too relaxed?
Disinterest: The difficulty of doing something you don't like
For others, disinterest is the reason for procrastination. We all have a lot of things we don't like doing - it can be writing that paper for an English course, solving complex math problems, encoding numerical information, or having to read a long book to write a book review.
Basically, when we're forced to do something we'd rather not do in the first place, we tend to put it off as if we're trying to recharge ourselves. It's as if we'll gather the necessary motivation and willpower to do it if we wait for a while.
The truth is...
This will never work. I've done this many, many times. Ask any college student and they will give you the same answer. I haven't met anyone who hasn't yet procrastinated their entire life.
Things only get done once you start working on it, and not by wishful thinking that maybe someday you'll be able to finally be in that perfect state to do that task you've been putting off!
I once watched a documentary ("Breeding Brainiacs Tiger Mums in New Zealand") about Asian students, particularly Chinese, who are exceptional in academics and music. One of the students, Aimee Xiao, said this:
There's going to be a lot of things in the world that you don't like doing, but you still have to do it, so you have to learn how to force yourself to do it.
When asked by the interviewer if she can do it, she answered that she thinks so.
What she said basically summarizes what I just wrote.
The Irony: I myself say that procrastination gets me nowhere, but I still do procrastinate
I wrote a blog post before entitled, Why we shouldn't procrastinate and be stressed in college. Still, procrastination is something I'm still doing. And it's the worst thing because you're aware that you're wasting precious time doing things that won't be useful later on, but you still choose to do it.
Anyway, looking at the bright side of things, I'm still glad that I decided to do the things I'm supposed to do, and not let myself be distracted and discouraged.
I remember telling myself this:
Choose to do things that make you uncomfortable now but will be beneficial in the future.
No matter how I end up procrastinating, I'll choose to get myself to work and be productive! That's the only way to get out of this procrastination loop. Also, once you get something done, your motivation shoots up because it's satisfying to achieve something when there are a lot of distractions and obstacles in the way.
Proverbs 24:16
For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.
Proverbs 18:9
One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.
Of course, as a Christian, prayer is vital so that God's guidance will be with me as I begin doing my tasks.
Proverbs 16:9
The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
Thanks for reading! I hope you got some encouragement with this blog post. See you in my next blog post!
(This is Chi from Chi's Sweet Home)
[DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the anime gifs I used above. All rights go to their respective owners.]