Planned Procrastination

This might be a tale of me and the mountain heap of dishes in my kitchenette or a tale of exhaustion on my never-ending agenda list. Either way, I will try not to use the buzzword "delve" so you know it is not an AI in the picture. Thankfully, AIs do not have dishes of their own yet, so I am in the clear.

The very word procrastination screams of no planning involved! Yet, from my three years of experience as a graduate student, I am more open to the many types of procrastination. I may be a guilty academic who tries to theorize every little bit of life; maybe my doctorate is beginning to trickle down my spine finally.

However, you have also experienced many missed chores, to-do's, resolutions, and date nights being boldly written and rewritten in your calendar.

However, you have also experienced many missed chores, to-do's, resolutions, and date nights being boldly written and rewritten in your calendar. You just struck out on time, energy, mental space, and desire to see them through. It is as though our written or unwritten agenda is a list of intentions we hope to get to, but we never do. This interplay of intentions versus reality brings to mind Michelle and Pamela's book, "Good intentions are not good enough."

The Myth of a Perfect Time

Back to my dishes; I am a responsible citizen, or so I like to think. However, my dishes often go from a single plate with a bread knife in the sink to twenty plates that have independently invited sticky pots to the party of plates. I simply said to myself: “I will get to cleaning up immediately after I finish this calculus assignment.”

I will get to cleaning up immediately after I finish this calculus assignment

Yet before I finish the annoyingly lengthy assignment, I would need to take some water; you cannot blame a thirsty man, or can you? The cup of water joins the bread-buttered plate, and the rest, they say, is history. As the dishes pile up, what is not immediately apparent to me is that the time and energy to get it all cleaned up compiles as well. Now, my kitchen is in a mess, all thanks to the myth of a perfect time that never shows up.

The Myth Of Dot Time

I am also a great planner who has inadvertently included procrastination as a secret sauce to my agendas. It starts with minimal adjustments to my timing, like wanting to start my chores, be it studying, going to the gym, or getting a newsletter or email on the dot time or at exactly 7:30 am instead of 7:26 am. At this point, this should get familiar, or I might be the only one who has experienced this concept of planned procrastination.? I once met a fellow during the final days of December 2019 who was awaiting the start of January 2020 for the planned execution of their resolutions. What is more interesting is that every resource needed to start in December was available but needed to be shifted and planned for the dot of time.

What is more interesting is that every resource needed to start in December was available but needed to be shifted and planned for the dot of time

The Myth of a Perfect Mind Frame

The folks in the creative space are all too familiar with this term of a perfect mind frame. We fantasize and romanticize a mind condition where our thoughts are so gathered that execution is near inescapable. However, do we ever get to this utopia? Our minds are constantly in an endless loop like the strings of a vibrating pendulum.

Our minds are constantly in an endless loop like the strings of a vibrating pendulum

We sometimes wait for the serenity in the early hours of the day or sometimes the hallowed hours of the night. We get to jeopardize our rest periods in pursuit of absolute serenity, yet even these hours are often interrupted by unpredictable matters.?

Progress Over Perfection

Perfect timing, perfect execution, and all the perfections are not in the human realm. The earlier we are aware that perfection is a myth, the more willing we are to embrace imperfect progress. It was on my friend’s Ruth Olujobi Podcast Blooming Daily sticker that I first saw the phrase: “Progress over Perfection.” When we commit to consistent imperfections, we learn and become closer to perfection. We are unlikely to experience a perfect time even if such a time existed; we would most likely come short of this ideal timing just because we are humans.