The Art of Procrastination.

reply to post by GypsK


Nice point. It was the same with me and what I liked about procrastination was the adrenalin rush that it gave you which enables you to execute things in a span of a few hours, what a normal mortal would perhaps take days to accomplish.Meticulous preparations be damned.

Exams became more like a session of "mortal kombat" . For the answers I did not know, conjectures were made and these at times were better than the actual answers themselves. Procrastination eventually led to a process of self-discovery and self-improvement.






[edit on 26-7-2010 by Leonardo01]

reply to post by SolarE-Souljah


wonderful thread!

I have spoken open about this multiple times. It is an art.

Procrastination isn't per se a good thing, but...

I once had a speech due in 3 weeks and it came down to the last day within 6 hrs, and I came up with a mind blowing speech, because of something that I noticed in the spur of the moment researching.

Explanation: S&F!

The Source of Slack!...

Church of the Subgenius... where slackness starts! [subgenius.com]

The Science of Slack!...

In Praise of Slack: Time is of the Essence. (by M. B. [Buff] Lawson) (The Academy of Management Executive 2001 Vol 15 No.3 ) [jstor.org]

Organizational slack, in terms of time and human resources that are not constantly subject to measures of short-term efficiency, is important for organizations coping with the challenges of the 21st century. Those who must weigh the pressures for short-term efficiency against the demands for long-term effectiveness in confronting strategic resource-allocation and design decisions should consider the value of slack. Slack is important for organizational adaptation and innovation--two often-cited requirements for organizations of the future. Increasingly complex systems and technologies require more, not less, time for monitoring and processing information. Future demands for strategic flexibility and for integrating learning and knowledge throughout organizations highlight the need to reexamine the importance of time in organizational work--and to recognize that all organizational resources cannot be committed to immediate output efforts if we are to have time to pay attention, think, and benefit from the knowledge gained.

Silly Slyness behind the OP'ers Slackness!...

The Essence of Slack! [subgenius.com]

Subject: Re: The essence of slack?
From: [EDIT: Censored by OL...see below for details please OK!]

[Edited Censored by OL] writes:
> Is it a state of laziness, the absence of work or thought?
>
Hell, well I think slack means something different to everyone (I mean, you just make it up to fit in with your preconceptions, we can't have any of this set dogma nonsense), but I mean, to me, it's just doing as little as possible, yet mysteriously benefiting at the same time. My most recent example of this is in the finals of my degree, the first set of which I have just completed. I have done virtually no work in preparation, and just slacked off instead, yet somehow I have got a borderline A/B. Compare this with the guy in my flat who worked for 6 weeks solid, at least 12 hours a day, and has barely passed his exams! Slack works!! Praise 'Bob'!

[edited by OL to censor some private citizens real names and or email addresses OK!]

Personal Disclosure: Bob Dobb's Sweet Name or Burn Forever in Slacklessness trying not to!

You know what they say: "Why do today what you can put off for tomorrow?"

My whole life I have used the fear that comes from procrastinating *almost* too long to motivate me to achieve in super-rapid bursts of concentrated, sweaty, panic-saturated effort moments before whatever the deadline happens to be. I'm getting too old for this nonsense, though...

My motto has always been:

Do It and It Will Be Done!

Sadly, I've never been very good at taking my own advice.

I like this one better:

Don't THink About It. You'll Only Upset Yourself.

reply to post by ladyinwaiting


Those are both great...if you can pull them off.

Maybe I'll somehow try to convert the "thinking about it" part directly into the "doing," rather than trying to fight the first and do the second as a separate thing. Thanks for the idea

First I have to stop procATStonating, at least for the time being, I guess...but not going to happen right now

[edit on 7/26/10 by silent thunder]

I had a semester long assignment, a paper which would account for the majority of my grade. It was a sociological research paper. My classmates began in earnest at the begining of the semester. I of course waited...and waited... The night before the paper was due, I began. I submitted my paper the next day. I then ran into my professor in the cafeteria. She told me she was really impressed with my paper. Really I thought? You've got to be kidding me I thought! Well I got a 4.0 on the paper and in the class. I was amazed and perplexed. I attributed it to Divine interevention and was very thankful>

Awesome thread.. In fact, my psychology professor taught a lecture on this, it was very funny. At the end of the lecture he told us that for his students he gives them a report the first day of classes and tells them its due at the very end and he always gets emails asking for an extension. He does this for his own entertainment to see what kind of excuses he gets.

reply to post by SolarE-Souljah


I wish i was good at it. I have a very good friend who I went to school with who never done any studying and would write a essay the night before it was due, i think i am right in saying he aced every exam. Going through university he told me he didn’t need to really start studding until his 3rd year. That i sickening, if my procrastination was like that i would fail everything every time.

truly, there is an art to procrastination, because nobody i know of has it down to a science.

that being said: i procrastinate daily. on many levels.

i'm an artist. it kinda comes with the territory. i like to call it wrapping my head around an idea, which means putting it off until the last possible moment.

if not for deadlines i wouldn't get anything done.

i too work better under considerable stress.

pressure forges diamonds.



[edit on 26/7/2010 by gravykraken]

Originally posted by gravykraken
pressure forges diamonds.

Damn that's a good quote. I am really enjoying all the replies everyone! I have a bunch to do today, and guess what, I was supposed to start on those things 2 hours ago!!! gahhhh, I need to get off ATS and get some stuff accomplished!

-Sol

reply to post by SolarE-Souljah


I always play hooky at work since my time is coming to an end so there is no holding me back. Infact im suppose to be at work right now, but I guess I will show up late anyway.

Originally posted by SolarE-Souljah
I was wondering if anyone has ever partaken in the beautiful art of procrastination?

i might....but it will have to be tomorrow.



i am the queen of procrastination - one of my friends must be my consort in that realm.

he calls it "eternal optimism"



it's funny, though, i don't always procrastinate.
but i have begun to notice that when i do, if it is about something important, it is usually motivated by a vague inner notion that i need to wait, whatever it is.
so i wait and then suddenly, i realize it is the time or the day to take care of it.
and more often than not, something is revealed that shows me that my procrastination was better than immediate action - either something is avoided that was negative or else there is an opportunity or actuality of something positive but unexpected, unanticipated, and unknown (before it happened).

if that makes sense.
i do also procrastinate from a couple of other motivations, one is just that i get into whatever it is that i'm doing, if i am doing something, and i don't like to interrupt it. my life, both professional and private is about art and creativity, etc. so in a way, it is a natural tendency.
on the other hand, i live with my mom, who turned 85 today, and if she asks for something or needs me, i should do it immediately if it is an immediate requirement. so i try to make it so, but i'm not always as responsive as i know i should be.

another reason i might procrastinate is the usual and most common motivation - unpleasantness.
but i have found that the idea of something being unpleasant is centered around my thoughts regarding that thing rather than the thing itself. in other words, when i dread something, it becomes dreadful in my mind. and that makes me dread it more. then, when i can no longer avoid it, i realize (again and again! doh!) that it wasn't so bad, after all. often it isn't bad at all. it was all built up in my mind!

I have perfected it! I find that I work better under the pressure. I'm sure it's not healthy and I've found myself in many a pickle bcuz of it too.

I hate being a procrastinator in a way. I leave everything to the last minute and I can waist a day just thinking of ways not to do something that needs doing. I guess the question is why? Why do we procrastinate? For me it's almost a rebellious act? But then by procrastinating it ends up with me biting my nose off to spite my face.

I'm habitual, a real poster child and it has gotten worse with time. Actually concerned me a little until I understood the beauty of it. Now I can't wait to do more of it, weird huh?

Originally posted by queenannie38
\ i don't always procrastinate.
but i have begun to notice that when i do, if it is about something important, it is usually motivated by a vague inner notion that i need to wait, whatever it is.

This isn't always the case, because sometimes I'm just lazy.

But sometimes if I have an essay to write, inspiration for the essay usually comes out the last couple days before the assignment is due. Usually if I have to write an essay which requires me to share my thoughts and experiences, I like to take a stroll and see what I can gather from my surroundings to use for my essay. Sometimes an experience will occur on my walks which is what I will write about in my essay. Cool stuff.

-Sol

Originally posted by queenannie38
\ i don't always procrastinate.
but i have begun to notice that when i do, if it is about something important, it is usually motivated by a vague inner notion that i need to wait, whatever it is.

This isn't always the case, because sometimes I'm just lazy.

But sometimes if I have an essay to write, inspiration for the essay usually comes out the last couple days before the assignment is due. Usually if I have to write an essay which requires me to share my thoughts and experiences, I like to take a stroll and see what I can gather from my surroundings to use for my essay. Sometimes an experience will occur on my walks which is what I will write about in my essay. Cool stuff.

-Sol

This is one of my biggest downfalls. Im horrible at procrastination. I always put things off and they usually never ever get done. But alas I shall work on it. Glad you got it down to a science!

Though sometimes last minute work is a good thing.

A lot of people here say they are procrastinators - I am anything but! I cannot take putting things off to the last minute, hour, month or year, lol. Even if I am sick and it doesn't have to be done right away I will make myself get it done early. Being this way can also cause stress, but not the stress of not getting it done, its the stress of hurrying up - time goes by fast.

If should have replied to this post yesterday!