About Time (part 3)

I am working on an essay titled “Oops I Didn't do it, Again - (The Arguement in Favor of Procrastination).” In the essay I take hard issue with our overplanned and goal oriented society. The essay examines the deleterious effects of the crazy-busy lives of people – especially those who are working at a career and raising families –who never have time to “Stop and smell the roses”.


When finished the essay examines the positive side of procrastination, which is seen ( mainly by some anal retentive souls) as a chronic illness that some people may inherit. For example, successful procrastinators may put things off until the last minute but they tend to work exceedingly well under the pressure of an imminent deadline. (This is why I can start working on my tax returns on April 14 and finish under the deadline.

I have no scientific evidence that procrastination is inherited, but I believe it to be so after years of observing my siblings and myself. We are inveterate and practiced procrastinators. Yet, somehow, stuff gets done. Dinners get cooked, trips get planned, appointments are kept, lunches are scheduled, deadlines are met - most of the time.

Procrastination may be a personal attribute that drives other people crazy. But you organized people need to recognize that overplanning/overscheduling drives procrastinators crazy too. I think one of the traits that procrastinators have in common is the ability to discern real deadlines (eg April 15th last date for filing last years Income tax return)from fictitious deadlines (The boss wants your status report no later than noon on Friday - as if nothing was going to get done on Friday after lunch....)

One thing about procrastinators is that they seem to enjoy spur of the moment experiences, welcome surprise and are calm in the face of impending crises that send lesser souls into a state of virtual diarrhea.

I have a few paragraphs of the essay completed, but I doubt that I’ll get to finishing it in the foreseeable future. Lots of other stuff to do that seems more interesting right now.