THE FACT THAT I PROCRASTINATE AND STILL GET THE JOB DONE IS THE REASON I STILL PROCRASTINATE

PROCRASTINATION

The fact that I procrastinate and still get the job done is the reason I still procrastinate. Yesterday, this blog was supposed to be online, but it wasn’t, not because the words weren’t ready and not because life happened, but because procrastination looked me in the face and said, “you have tried, let’s continue tomorrow” and like the unserious adult that I am, I agreed.

That’s how procrastination behaves, it doesn’t shout or fight you. It speaks gently, like someone who wants the best for you. It tells you you’re not avoiding the task and that you’re just being sensible, strategic and responsible, meanwhile, nothing is getting done.

Procrastination is not laziness because lazy people are at peace, while procrastinators are stressed while doing nothing. You know the task is waiting for you, you know you should be doing it, yet somehow, you’re on Twitter, opening WhatsApp every 30 seconds, or suddenly interested in cleaning a space that has survived your neglect for months.

You tell yourself lies that sound very intelligent and you say you just need to be in the right mood. You say you’ll do it when you have more time, you say you need to rest small first but what you don’t know is that small rest can stretch into hours and sometimes even days.

One big problem is that we think productivity requires perfect conditions, silence, energy, the right vibe, so when the conditions aren’t ideal, we postpone. It does not care about your vibes, because there will always be noise, stress, and distractions.

Another issue is how big we make things in our heads, “Write the blog”, sounds like suffering, “Open the document and type one sentence”, sounds manageable. Guess which one procrastination allows?

We also like to say we work best under pressure but what we actually mean is that panic finally overpowers avoidance, deadlines corner us, the work gets done but at what cost? Stress, rushed output and the same cycle next time.

Procrastination is emotional, it’s not about time; it’s about fear. Fear of starting badly, fear of not being good enough, fear of finishing and having to face feedback, judgement or the next task, so we delay. We prepare too much, we think about it for too long and the task grows teeth.

What could have taken 30 minutes now feels like a mountain because guilt has joined the chat, momentum is gone and now everything feels heavier. The funny thing is, the solution is annoyingly simple, not easy but simple. Start small, embarrassingly small, open the file, write one line, spend ten minutes because action doesn’t need confidence; confidence usually shows up after action.

So yes, this post came today instead of yesterday, life goes on, but it’s a reminder of how easily procrastination steals time without making noise. If you’re reading this while avoiding something you said you’d do, this is not a motivational speech, it’s just a gentle tap on the shoulder. Do something small, right now, tomorrow is always available but the momentum is not.