Procrastination is My Best Friend

….What is procrastination?

straight from my brain, i would define it as being, delaying your work to a later date, eventhough you can do it now.

from the great but usually unreliable for official assignment = wikipedia, “Psychology researchers also have three criteria they use to categorize procrastination. For a behavior to be classified as procrastination, it must be counterproductive, needless, and delaying.”

They emphasize, it is usually associated with coping up to anxiety that comes with the pressure of time-limit of work/assignment.

….So why it is My Best Friend?

Since long that i can remember, i have been going on few phases of procrastination, severe bouts of it at times. Since May this year, yeah, i really came back and befriended me once again, and this time it became my best friend.

For me, usually for every assignment or work, i already written down deadline, anywhere, whether on a piece of paper that i put on the table, or in the computer with reminder, or maybe in mobile phone. Now, eventhough i still continue the same habit, which is quite good at least for me, i am once again, started to procrastinate with full force. No holding back!

So, why we are procrastinating?

Every day i started a day by planning what is ahead of me for today, i do it on a daily basis. When it comes to do work, especially in my room, i would say, “main komputer dulu lah, click click on mafia wars first, look facebook, open yahoo messenger, check email, read blogs….”, Oh it is really okay if this is just what i do.

But you know, when you’re on the internet line, time drags on, it will become faster, and the longer i’m on, the longer i’m gonna continue to stick in front of the screen. Even if i don’t have any idea of what to do on the net, i will automatically find something to do.

When you google anything about procrastination, people will say Internet is the thing to blame, believe me i don’t think so. I think we should distinguished and specifically specify what on the internet that makes us to procrastinate. I will list down what makes me procrastinate.

To treat a problem, you must treat the cause.

1. Yahoo Messenger

I will do, routinely, open my yahoo messenger, and most of the time click on anyone that online that of interest to me at that time, to convey my message, the best part of it is, i can’t understand why i couldn’t procrastinate on this one. it just have to be done right away.

2. The Email

Okay, this one is a two-face. it is good when you just open the specific email that is of importance, but when you try to read everything. that’s it, your procrastination friend is just beside you smiling.

3. Facebook

This new phenomenon of facebook really really, i mean it really engulf most of the time of my day, on any given day. I can’t deny it is such a good networking site, a least to me. The measurement of any good site is the site that took most of your internet time. It is not just the messaging and social networking stuff that took all the time, but when you add on the games inside it, which is fantastic by the way, it is your truly bestest procrastination friend.

4. Facebook: Mafia Wars, Premier Football, Farmville, Mousehunt, Typing Maniacs, and the latest one MythMongers! (History repeat itself)

Oh, it sounds so familiar! yeah, same with me too here. I’m spending time that i shouldn’t have to by playing games on the facebook. So it really true of what people say, History will repeat itself, i have fallen from grace during my time in KDU College, where i have flunk so badly, i was the last in the class even more worse than the one in foundation for engineering course.

I didn’t go to Australia, where my scholarship says i will go, and i was rejected by many medical college, even this one that i’m in now (i appealed, and got it).

Why, oh why? during my time in KDU college, I played computer games for most of the time of the day, most days of the week, most weeks of the year. Got it? I played MMORPG Ragnarok (it’s a paying game, topup using Ringgit monthly), and Warcraft 3 to the max! The consequence = The Dark Period in my life.

In KDU it was much worse, i didnt even procrastinate! I did not do anything! Haha, that is one level above procrastination alright!

5. Arsenal & Football News

I know this, most football fan will have this problem of having to keep up to the latest news of football, especially, yes! especially during this time of the year, where all the hotest news hit the major online newspaper, and major blogsite. It is the transfer period of the football season, actually the off-season time. The transfer period, which is Summer in Europe, especially this year is one of the hottest we will ever see.

With Christiano Ronaldo going off to Real Madrid for 80 Million pound, Kaka also to Real Madrid, with Benzema also. And Zlatan to Barca, Eto’o to Inter, and…..Huntelaar to Arsenal? Naaah, it will be too good to be true.

Now, girls, this is just a glimpse of what we do reading on the news craving for more news on our supported team. We also keep track of who is injured, rumours, gossip and players statement on the press and more and more.

Arsenal: Rosicky is back after 18 months, Eduardo is really not injured!, Nasri broken his fibula (some say 6 weeks, some say 3 months), Fabregas affirm his Arsenal position, and the latest one, Our ex-player Adebayor plays miserably for Man.City last night.

This is just an example of how football affect lives, not only watching on TV! It is off-field stuff which is usually can pull our precious time!

If i want to watch on TV live football, i would already makeshift my schedule of the week for the weekend to be free so that i can watch peacefully, but the football news? i can’t really predict when or how long i will spend time on it.

6. On the phone with GF

I don’t need to elaborate on this, am I?

7. Blog Reading

Blog has been one of the greatest development on the internet. It is the one thing that most people will do on the net nowadays. There is so many blogs, and if you are reading my blog, i hope you do not procrastinate any work that you have okay! If so, it’s okay, let’s continue reading.

Everyday, i open the browser, and i will look for update on blogs that i followed, it took time to load and etc, until my friend introduce me to Google Reader, specially designed for people like us who read many blogs and want to keep up to date on every blog.

Yes, it is indeed have save my time a lot, but i didnt foresee what’s next. By saving a lot of time, im following more blog than before, im adding many blogs on my reading list on the Google Reader, moreover, new blogs im following have huge and long post, almost like this one im writing, or longer.

So you see, there’s no way of going about it for me. I just have to limit my reading. That’s all.

8. Stock Market & Technical Analysis of Stock

I have a lot of interest on this one. I spend time on it, making analysis on stocks from what i have learned from the net, seminars, books, and my friend. You know, the one thing that took a lot of time on this one is actually when i chat with my friend about stocks and economy, you may think it is high-level stuff, but most of it we are making jokes and repeating many things, but it is fun!

For you out there, who have other job or work, but interested in Stock Market Technical Analysis, i know, this one is a troublesome for you also! Mainly because, interest is deep, but the effort to learn it, is quite tough, that is if you want to learn it for free, or if you want to save time & can spend money, spend some rm4k to rm 7k on a pack-crash-course 3 days by Chartnexus.

Sorry, i just don’t have that much money, im still a student! but i ain’t got much of free time either. Sigh… what to do….

9. Photography

Photography community is growing in Malaysia. SLR Camera is like a fever, spreading more wilder tha H1N1, and killing people’s money and time more than H1N1 would do without we realizing it. Why i say that, many people hook on photography SLR camera mostly due to sheer interest but not thinking of making it a business/”periuk nasi”.

Maybe i bluntly make generalization, but that is just the way i see it. For me, it took a lot of my time, because i tend to survey prices on the internet on at least 4 super-active big malaysia photpgraphy forum community, looking pictures of good and not-so-good one on that damn good flickr, and lastly editing my own photographs.

….How to tackle and push away this best-friend of mine?

I can go on and list more, but i already make my point there, those 9 is the most important that i know of, at least for me.

Of all 9 i listed above, except to a certain extent, of the Email, all of it is not to say not important, but it is not crucial for everyday life, but that also depending on what you do! if you are the on who makes money from facebook, go ahead, facebook is not a procrastination for you!

The solution that i came out with is 3, no.1 & no.3 is hard to do but if you do, it is the best thing you can do:

1. DISCIPLINE!

first, when you got a work with deadline, or assignment perhaps, make it a point to do and finish it asap, at least 4-5 days before the deadline. you can have the excess time to check back your work/assignment.

second, when you all those stuff that makes procrastination your best friend, be discipline to limit each of it. DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO, EVERYTHING perhaps, BUT LIMIT the time for each one! Discipline.

2. REWARD

I know it’s not easy to be discipline, but take it little by little, and remember always to reward yourself everytime you win, everytime that you able to stab your procrastination. But do not ever reward winning against procrastination with procrastination of other job = it is enemy in your blanket. “Oh, i did good this time, next one, start work a little bit late lah!”, that’s when your procrastination has already won!

Reward yourself with eating good food outside, buy yourself something, maybe even treat your friend to a nice dinner! what ever you feels like, but never reward with another procrastination.

3. Save the best for the later

I always thought that those 9 thing is best thing/fun thing to do. From my experience, “the best thing felt much better when it is enjoyed at the last, when you are free of anything that can interfere with the best thing”.

If you have work on the deadline, or assignment pending, whenever you do anything, you will be always reminded of it, even when you are doing something you are enjoying, doesn’t that bothers you?

So, Save the best for the later.

….It is an on-going Battle.

Don’t procrastinate your solat. Allah don’t like anyone who postpone/procrastinate your solat. Solat is the utmost important for a Muslim life. So in the Quran, it is stated that it is bad to procrastinate solat.

It gives an Inference that, the most important thing cannot be procrastinated. If you have an important work, or assignment, make it a point to do it asap.

The best example happened to me recently, I have 2 case write-up, i need to write at least 16 pages of paper, complete 15 small assignments, and complete a approx. 50 page of a small book for the duration of 5 week.

I did only approx 40% of everything, and leaving everything for the last 12 hours. At 9pm time, i started to do the remaining 60% until i finish 9am the next morning, Non-stop. I sent it at 12.15pm. Then i slept the whole of remaining day, and need to rest the next day (which is yesterday). Only today i have full energy and recovered from the 12 hours marathon.

I have 5 weeks which is long, too long for such an assignment. but, when procrastination is your best friend, face the consequences!!!

….To Readers:

I hope you readers can put on this post comments, 5 things that took most of your time on a given day, excluding the thing that is crucial to you, such as your job. Any et cetera activity that took most of your time