#stop procratinating

[i-love-marvel3000]

I need to revamp my account and get back into tumblr

[smauglet]

I found this miniature bison skull I started making a month ago before I realised I didn’t want to make the horns :< It’s not sanded or cleaned or anything yet, but I thought if I posted it I’d be more likely to finish it (my hand is just for measurement)

[danotsoepiclifeofsuzums-blo-blog]

A War for the Century to be Fought Tomorrow

One thing that always seems like the logical thing to do when going into war with someone is to get to know them and how they work. Blindly going into a battle without knowing what you're facing once you get there could always prove disastrous.

And... Unfortunately, that's what I seem to do with procrastination every time I stand up to it. I'm pretty sure it's counterproductive to try to fight procrastination with even more procrastination. "I'm going to actually do something productive instead of procrastinating about it.... Probably tomorrow, I'm not feeling like it today." -_- Which, I will tell you, is my actual thought process, I've come to realize.

So, the more logical way to go about this is to perhaps figure out how procrastination works, and in what ways it manifests itself through me. At least, it's better than piling on a never ending wellspring of tomorrows, laters and eventuallys like that is actually going to get something done.

Now then, figuring out how this expansive, powerful beast works, the way I usually figure things (which are pretty simple thought processes) is that procrastination usually is all for short term benefits and not the long term ones you get by doing your actual work. Procrastination never attacks something that I consider be easily enjoyable and usually less stressful. Which is a big duh, most of you guys probably are thinking.

However, how does it really work, what makes it tick? Procrastination is a universal thing found throughout culture. What part of us is actually making procrastination such an abdominal opponent like the yetis in Magicka that OHKO you the moment they grab hold of you? (Fuckers. -_- )

After five minutes of googling stuff, (you can do it too :D I'd suggest doing it as well since I’m putting this all in my words) it seems like there are always two parts of your brain that seem to be duking it out whenever you're in the process of fighting procrastination.

The first part, the prefrontal cortex is basically the part of your brain that is against procrastination for the most part, thinking of all the long term benefits of not procrastinating and the negative effects of procrastinating in the first place. It's located right behind the part of your skull that is also called your forehead.

The second part is the limbic system, which is buried deep within your brain and is a more primitive and older part that's been around before the other parts of the human brain supposedly started developing. This part of the brain is connected directly to your pleasure sensors, and as you could guess, this is the part of your brain that enjoys the short term benefits of procrastination. Instant-gratification is much more satisfying to this guy than the gratification you’d receive down the line from your actual work. (If any )

So, the problem is, when these guys battle it out, the prefrontal cortex, being a much younger, newly developed part of the human brain, is battling against a more dominate, older part of your brain. It wears easier and in the end, it's kind of at the mercy of your self control and the limbic system.

One thing that is noted is that the limbic system gets stronger whenever whatever you do to procrastinate becomes more tangible. I'll use the whole “playing games to escape from the tasks that you have set out for you” example. Let’s say you should be working on a major paper for a class, and on the other side of your room, your game console is sitting there, on, your new favorite game in the disk slot, with the music of the pause screen playing… I’m sure the likelihood of you working on that paper for more than an hour is pretty shitty.

So, a good part of trying to inhibit the limbic system from getting its way with you is to remove the temptation as much as humanely possible, which would be like, turning the game off, and going into another room to work, if possible. If worse comes to worse, I'd probably just give it to someone to hold onto and tell them not to give it back to me until I'm finished. Though, that is just me.

Now, this is all and well, and a good idea, but “what are the methods I'd use for procrastination?” is the next thought I'd have on my mind.

I'll just name off five methods I use to procrastinate, off the top of my head. So, keep in mind, not in any kind of order, but whatever comes to mind first.

Number 1: Eating -- The first thing I do before I try to attempt any kind of task I need to complete, or at least work on for a while, is think of if I'm hungry or not. Most of the time, I wake up and try to get straight to work. However, I usually end up just going off and eating for a couple of hours. (I'm surprised I'm not fat. >> )

Number 2: Checking for Updates on the Net -- Facebook, Youtube, DeviantArt, my friend's blog, new chapters of stories I follow, comic updates, and all that fun stuff. All of them can easily take a couple of hours out of my time if they have any kind of update that piques my interest.

Number 3: Speaking with my Friends -- The moment I log onto Yahoo or talk to someone on Facebook, I know that I've sealed my fate and the idea of working on something productive is a fairy tale.

Number 4: Gaming -- Ah, gaming, probably one of the best kinds of procrastination I can do. Especially, if I have a new game in hand, then it’s nearly impossible to work. However I can spend hours mindlessly crying out "Medic!" "Need a dispenser here!" and "Over here sawbones!" as well. :D

Number 5: Household Chores -- Now, perhaps I'm a little crazy on this one, but I can easily use this as a method of procrastination. I guess, in a way, it’s simple, mindless work that is easier to finish and feel gratified with than perhaps typing of an essay on the Theory of Quantum Physics. It's a lesser evil in procrastination in some ways, because I'm still being productive, but it's still procrastination all the same.

Anyways, for some of these methods I have, I do have a solution. One being I simply don't get online for my friends when I'm supposed to be working, and with gaming, I pace my work to I'd work this long to play for this long.... Then end up playing for hours into the night. (Helpful. :D )

Still, all I'm saying is, I know that sometimes the short term benefits of procrastination seem like the best sometimes and it's really hard to battle them, and it's still hard to battle it even if you know what's going on anyways since this is totally psychological. But just knowing the ways you procrastinate can help you figure out how to lessen the temptations to procrastinate once you keep yourself out of the tangible reaches of them.

I've come into this summer basically riding on the wings of procrastination, and I want to stop. I want to have some kind of productivity to be tagged to this summer that I didn't have last summer or the summer after that. I need goals (which I've procrastinated on trying to think up) and to start the goal that I already want to accomplish for this summer, which is to start exercising.

Now, actually trying to figure out how to start up these goals and stick to them is probably best saved for another blog potential blog post. Since, this is already long enough as it is. >> (And getting longer)

Just get off your butt and stop saying maybe later, or after this or eventually. Get productive, there's only a limited amount of days in the summer and procrastinating your way to the end isn't going to make yourself feel better once you realized what you did. And -insert other inspiring words-

However, hope you guys are enjoying your summer. :D Mine didn't start off well, but it may be picking up. Also, if you have any suggestions of where I can move my blog to make it more serious than what Tumblr is, but without having to put a lot of work into HTML editing and stuff to spruce it up, please feel free to comment on that if you read until the end. Or if you think I left something vital out, or even if you have a comment about this all, feel free to comment, though I know the system has a very strict restriction on how long a comment can be.

Until the next time,

~Suz