Procrastination

So, I am quite excited today because tomorrow I am going away for the weekend to Valencia with a couple of friends. We are leaving early in the morning, but I haven't even started thinking about what I am going to take with me; clothes, snaks for the journey, or anything else. And I have certainly not started packing anything.

Well, I guess I am lying a little, because what I know I am going to take with me is my crochet; I have started a new project -a net (red) bag- just so I have some entertainment in the car on the way there and on the way back. Maybe I will even crochet a little at the apartment we have rented, after dinner -I particularly like crocheting at night.

But back to packing my bags... I am a born (nato) procrastinator. Do you know what procrastination is? Basically it is to put off (posponer) what you have to do until the last minute. You have a list of things to do, and although you are very aware (consciente) of them, you avoid (evitar) doing them. Sometimes you even do other things just to give yourself an excuse not to do those things on the list that you really don't feel like (apetecer) doing. That is me.

 

In a way, being a procrastinator can be a little of a curse (maldición); you always see deadlines (fecha límite) getting closer and closer (más y más cerca), and you just can't start doing whatever it is that you have to do... BUT, like everything in life, it also has some positive aspects. In fact, there are two.

I saw a conference about this first advantage; in this conference the conclution of an experiment was that, in creative tasks (tarea), procrastination often gives you the chance to consider divergent, non-linear ideas; to "think outside the box". When the person finally started doing the task, the result was better than if they had started earlier, because while they were putting off their task, their mind was in fact working on the best way to do it.

The other positive aspect is one that I have been able to observe in my many years of experience as a procrastinator: when I put off something until the last minute, I obviously have less time to do that thing... which means that I end up doing things a lot faster and therefore wasting (malgastando) less time. In the case of packing my bags for my trip to Valencia, I will probably do it tomorrow morning, so, instead of taking me a few hours, I will just do it in one, maximum.

And what if I forget to take something? Well, I am just going to Valencia for three days, not on a trip around the world.