What?!?
A difficult task awaits you. Perhaps it's one that you dread. How often do you leap right in and do it immediately? Not often, I'd guess. And how do you spend the time that is not spent doing it? Playing solitaire? Scrolling through the information on your smartphone? Tidying up your desk? Repeatedly snacking? Or doing other tasks that need to get done?
When does Procrastination become a Habit?
When you first encountered a situation for which procrastination seemed the best response, that is, the response that would most diminish the mental disturbance caused by that situation, your mind chose procrastination as the best solution under the circumstances.
For instance, if your mother told you to clean your room and you didn't want to because it was an unwelcome chore, perhaps you played a game instead. You were procrastinating. This was a partial solution because it decreased the distress caused by the unwanted task, but it didn't fully solve the problem because the room still needed to be cleaned. When your mother returned, angry that you hadn't yet cleaned your room, the mental disturbance caused by her anger was greater than that caused by the prospect of doing this unwanted chore, and you then complied with her demand. But having initially procrastinated, this partial solution became locked in. Your mind would then automatically choose it on subsequent occasions when it was a possibility. Even if a different, or even better, solution presented itself, you would still procrastinate because it had been locked in as a response.
Why, then, aren't We all Procrastinators?
It seems that procrastination would be a universal response to unwanted tasks because we have all encountered them as we grew and developed. All of us have had procrastination become locked in as a response at some point, so why aren't we all procrastinators? What has happened to end procrastination as a habit?
A Complex Stimulus
Whenever we are confronted with a complex stimulus, that is, a stimulus with two contradictory meanings, it creates a pause during which our mind can choose a new, better response. If, as an adult, we need to clean a room but don't relish that task, our minds might choose procrastination. But what if, in looking at our room, we chance to glance out the window. A window is a complex stimulus because, being transparent, it suggests that we are outdoors while simultaneously indicating that we are, in fact, indoors. This creates a pause (of just nanoseconds), during which our minds can choose a different solution: perhaps to clean the room right away. So, as adults we don't all end up as habitual procrastinators. Whether or not we do depends on many factors in our individual environments.
Can Procrastination be Voluntary? Can it be Done Wisely?
For those of us who are not chronic procrastinators, there are nevertheless times when we will procrastinate. Why? There are times when our work requires more knowledge than is instantly available to us; it takes time for the information we need to surface and come into awareness. We call this a latency period. What should we do during this time? It is here that we can "procrastinate" wisely or unwisely. Yes, we could play solitaire or scrutinize our smartphones, but it would be wiser to do other tasks that need to get done. My Inner Guide helps me choose what to do when I need to "procrastinate."
