Overcoming Procrastrination

What is procrastination? We all have this notion that it is something bad, something which we ought not do. It is supposed to be a bad habit we should strive to shrug off and run away from. But why?

According to the definition, Procrastination means postponing urgent tasks and doing pleasurable things instead. Example- Putting off an important assignment to be done just before the 'deadline' day instead of completing it at the earliest, and instead passing the time by sleeping, gaming, reading novels, watching movies, etc. Your project report or the presentation scheduled next week? Ah, that can wait. I can get up and finish it whenever I want, so why bother the hurry? That's what we tell ourselves. Deep down, we know that is is overwhelming us, controlling us, yet we say these words for some momentary solace and to become free of our guilty conscience.

Now to the point, the reason you're reading this. I'll call the so called non-urgent things which we use to occupy our time 'L' (for Leisure), and the urgent things which we keep on postponing till the last day "U". So what we do now is-do L today, instead of U, next day repeat the same, and in the last day hurriedly finish U. This obviously, as many people inarguably agree, is not good.

The way to overcome this is not so easy. You may become motivated one day and decide to gather yourself up and improve this habit, but the next day the same thing again happens, and you find yourself lying on your  couch, wasting yet another day.

So what's the solution? Evidently, I have thought of one, that being the reason I'm writing this. Instead of trying to shed our habit of Procrastinating- and we all know how tough and time taking removing a deep rooted habit (especially those which are bad for us) is- what if we decide that this habit is good for us? Instead of trying fruitlessly often, what if we decide not to remove it, but just to change our perception of it? We can all more or less control our thinking, what we "think" of things.

Let's procrastinate, fine. But change what we think is urgent. Ask yourself and you'll realize that if you think honestly enough- what you like, whether it be snoozing or eating or reading for leisure, what makes you happy, is actually more important in your life. So what is the good thing? What should wait so that you can savour it in the end? Your pending boring tedious work? Or things that make you happy? We all like to save our desserts for the end of the meal. This works in a similar fashion-

Where the problem lies is, that we tend to thing of things that give us enjoyment as 'bad' and things that are our due job as 'good'. This conflict between 'what we want to do' and 'what we should do', this ideal notion we have of ourselves, turns itself into the deadly habit of procrastination. Thus we take tension that we have to finish a particular work, and that would be the 'good' thing, so before that, let's give ourselves some joy but doing what we like. This is what we say to ourselves. To conform to what others want (and what your ideal view of yourself wants), we make the work our dessert. And postpone it. The excuse we give is, "I will do it, it needs to be done, it is THE good thing, so let's have some fun before I begin."!!

But when we let go of this thinking, and accept that what we do while procrastinating, those activities, they are our real desserts, they are the important urgent things that we should do (because we have a right to be happy), then we can reverse the scenario. The work pending becomes what is a chore and should be done, so that we can in the end do the 'good' thing, what we enjoy. If we can try to encompass this into our thinking, and modify it according to our needs, we can use procrastination to keep postponing the joyful things (which are actually not so urgent, but to you they are urgent hence should be done later, due to your habit of procrastinating) and do the 'urgent' work which we used to skip, immediately, so that we can finally enjoy ourselves to our desserts. We have to recognize what we truly want which makes us happy, and why we do those things now and keep the urgent things which are less appealing for later. Although this is opposite to our nature of keeping the desserts for last, we do this because of our conditioned thinking of what's good and what's bad. It's time to leave it, and embrace procrastination in a opposite and positive light, As something of a new and innate part of ourselves. Happy Procrastinating!!

Changing Your Thinking

I have been thinking for some days, that the society needs to change. I know that's not a new thing. Many people say that everyday all over the world. So I didn't say anything new or innovative. But the thing is, although so many people think this, there haven't been any change over the past years. Sure you will say, there have been lots. And many examples too can be provided by you. But in the end, you too will have to agree, our own perceptions and beliefs, are still the same as was with our forefathers, going from generation to generation, unscathed. These principles were taught to us by our parents and grandparents, since when we were children, and consequently we came to the belief that those were of our own, as we forgot that we were in verity told about them.

In today's world, most people who even try to venture out of the flow of the social orthodox thinking, are termed as mad, abnormal, or pretty much anything that is vilifying to them. The definition of this thing: madness, remains the same as was a hundred years ago. And I am not talking about mentally unbalanced conditions here,  that's not my specialty. I am talking about the instances when someone does something even an ordinary thing but in an out of the ordinary way, he is called mad. As simple as that. We don't even think. Just one thought occurs, it's not in accordance with the general social standard, right?? So, his screw is loose. He has mental problems. Going to save the world alone. And off we are, laughing. Little do we realize that from their perception, they are geniuses(may truly be) and we are mad.

There are many such views which need to be dealt with. But the poignant truth is, that no one advances to do so(not even me). And with this note, I accept this is abrupt, and still, I will have to take your leave.

Decide Now

Many times we want to do something and end up doing another. There's many reason that this happens. Sometimes it's peer pressure, parents, or sometimes it's pure hesitation, what will they think?? Is it right?? Who am I to do this?? And this type of low self esteemed thinking, according to me, is the best cause for the worst things happening to someone, either in the materialistic or in the spiritual world.

Making a decision is important, and it's equally important to stick to it. We most of the time take a decision, and bury it within our hearts. A very bad thing to do. When you decide on a thing, follow it, whatever others may think. You think, you do, what others say don't matter at all, so to hell with them. Got it??

Now, another thing is that we worry if we end up being in a worse position from where we started if we follow our heart. No need to worry about that. If that happens, it will be solely due to your decision, and you cannot blame anyone else. Instead, you will learn to improve next time and think something better or more suitable. So think about it today, and do it now, keeping no one in account but your heart and mind. Think about what others think, and you will be helping others to achieve their goal, not yourself. Do it, NOW....

For they say, a bad decision today, is better than a good decision tomorrow......

A Note About Life

In this world, most of us care too much about too many things, uselessly. We think about people for whom we don't matter, we think about what others think although they aren't thinking about us at all, and we are always worrying about what happened and what may happen, forgetting the present. Instead of being practical, we think that we are the center of the universe & that everyone is completely obsessed with what we do & say. This is obviously not true, but we fail to understand that, mostly, believing that our lives of the past or future is worth more than the present. I don't know whether it is. And I don't even care, because we must always live in the present.

Lamenting about the past cannot change it. Instead, it helps us if we learn from past mistakes and don't repeat them again. Similarly, speculating wildly & illogically about the future is also isn't worth it, because what happens is bound to happen. Everything which happens in the future is a result of everything happened in the past or the present. The first thing, the past we simply can't change, fullstop. No use thinking about it anymore.

But the present is all upto us. And in the present also, there isn't many things under our control. You can't control whether it's going to rain today, can you?? But definitely the rain will affect the traffic to your work or college or school tomorrow. You understand what I'm getting at?? So, in the present too, the only things we can control is ourselves, namely, our Actions, Words, and Thoughts. These three things are the only responses that we can give to any situation, and when the response is right, the result desired is automatically got. For example, if it rains today, although you can't stop it, you can ensure that you have an umbrella if you go out today, and you leave the house earlier tomorrow in case the rain has lashed some trees on the roads or dug up some holes blocking the way. Whatever happens to you, therefore, is & will be the result of your own actions and words, so never blame others for anything.

We must always live according to what we want, not according to what others want, but sadly, very few of us actually do so. And if we make blunders or fail, the blame is also only on us. Not on God, not on our friends, not on our parents, just us. It's your life. You were in control. You messed up. But it's surely not the end. You can try again. You can succeed. Learn from your mistakes, learn from others, do it your ways, and see which method works to get your desired result. It's all in the hands of what you think, what you say, what you do.

But we have grown up believing that the world thinks about us, so we do things keeping the world in mind, keeping everything in mind, except ourselves, our gain, our loss, our practical aspect of any action. We seldom think before speaking or doing anything, which results in wrong actions, hurting ourselves and others. If you take care of yourself, everyone will be taken care of accordingly. So, don't worry about what others think & want. Worry about what you think & want. Take care of what you do carefully, for as they say, you take care of the small things, and the big things come into place themselves...

I Am Not So Strange

I have never been interested in having too many friends, since my childhood. I had always been a bit if an introvert, a loner, a small little child sitting out there, watching intently even the minutest of details around the room. This attitude of mine was partially due to the fact that all my class mates were always an year or two older than me, due to the virtue of me getting a double promotion from 1st to 3rd standard. Many times in my childhood, I was mocked at because of my seemingly queer thoughts & behaviour. I still am, but eventually I have learned to be proud of myself.

My friends always treated me as a child, especially in my earlier days at school. I guess we all were young, of course, I was always the youngest in the class. I was always bullied by the meaner children & was gradually pushed into becoming all of a sudden, very detached from everyone around me. I was in Kolkata then, and couldn't ever mix freely with people. I was always terrified of being a fool. I was always saying something that nobody could understand. I found my only solace in reading books, which were quite a many in our house due to the courtesy of my mother. I liked reading, and my reading speed was also very good, so I had no problem finding a social life in the vivid & interesting characters in the stories.

I also had a strong aversion to school. It was something very boring to me, not for the teachers & subjects but for the students with whom I had to sit. I didn't have a single good friend, although I was acquainted with all. Then when I came to Delhi, I realized there's a another side of me, which had evolved due to my growth in both age & intellect. For the first time in my life, I saw people in school who became readily friends with me. I became a little bit more social & began roaming out a little bit. By the time I was in Xth standard, I was pretty well like a normal teenager; the age difference did not matter to anyone & no one bullied me. But I was still confined to a particular group of friends.

Then I gradually became how I am today. In XI, I got a crush on a girl, sensing the feeling for the first time in my life. I have had innumerable wild crushes since then, but that's another story. I became friends with many. Then I also joined tuitions, and that was where I got to know myself better, saw the humorous part of myself, and learned to focus my uniqueness in a better way. During those days, I did get a surge in my egotism with which I am still dealing with.

I don't know exactly how, but I am different today. I have lots of good friends, have many more in facebook & also roam around a lot. I do still read thick novels, but I enjoy sniffing the other essences of life as well. I can say today say that I am a simple boy- with my interest in studies, my crushes, my weird behaviour, and my too much philosophical thoughts. Today I can say proudly, & feel it too, that I am not so strange as I used to be. I am like all of you, just maybe in a subtle, different way...