Procrastination is a well disguised choice

I used to think procrastination was an affliction. Why am I not doing this? It's important, why am I putting it off? Yes, I know it's something I dread, or don't enjoy, or I really want to do more fun stuff. Those are easy explanations.

Another way to look at it: procrastination is your mind refusing to accept some truths that you may find uncomfortable: you have already made a choice. By not doing something, you've actually chosen (consciously, unconsciously or subconsciously) to not do it. When you view it as a choice and not a failing, things get much easier.

You're not cleaning your desktop because you don't want to, it's not fun, it's somewhat futile (it will just get messy again later), other things are (or seem) more pressing, etc, etc etc - those are all great, informed explanations. Those are also ignoring a fact: you've chosen not to clean your desktop.

Your mindset of what you "should" do and what you "will" do are battling it out, right in front of you. Well, not in front, but inside your head. You're in the audience for this battle. Only one decision will emerge from this cage fight. If I were a betting man, I would put my money on the "later" fighter. That contestant wins mightily through distraction, gratification and other clever tricks. They point out shiny objects, they find YouTube videos, they turn on notifications for all your favorite apps. They remind you that you're hungry for some sugar or salt or fat. They actually make you concede the decision fight through inaction. Your inaction makes you lose the battle. The fight is not very engaging, so you don't even pay attention to it and you're the only spectator.

When you think of procrastination as having made a choice, it's easier to manage.

If you're not doing something, you're not a loser. You've made a choice. "Not doing it" prevailed. For a stronger sense of resolution, you might just decide "I'm not going to do it later or any time." - that's a strong choice, too. You might decide "I just don't care about this to do it with the frequency that others (or I) expect. It's going to be like this most of the time." That's a strong choice. "I'll do it later" is also a perfectly fine choice, unless it impacts your self-esteem, your personal relationships, your job, your health or any other areas of your life where there is stress created (or amplified) by inaction.

Busy executives often make these procrastination decisions more mathematically. Is there a late fee from not returning that book to the library? Ok, if the max late fee is the cost of the book, then I'll return the book whenever I want rather than worry about delaying my trip to the library. The price of not worrying about procrastinating is the cost of the book. By considering that money effectively "paid" there's no more stress that gets associated with the book return.

Other decisions are not as easy. Late fees don't work on heart disease. Procrastinating on a leak in the roof could mean a small bucket in the kitchen, or it could mean dry rot and a very expensive gamble. Procrastinating on producing your slides could mean an incomplete presentation, business failure, maybe job termination. If you dwell in the worst-case scenario, however, you can procrastinate with much more ease.

The stress you have on procrastination is actually the uncertainty of not doing something multiplied with the downsides of the activity itself. It's not FUN to write that college essay and it's more fun to watch a Twitch stream. The downside is that your hastily written essay (done after weeks of procrastination) may cost you the admission to the school. Your brain knows this, but deep down it may be saying "do I even WANT to go to this school?" - it may also be conflicted and worried that you so, so desperately want to go to this school but the school may actually say NO. The dread is so painful that you avoid getting rejected by delaying the application process altogether. Related logic suggests you can't catch Covid-19 if you never get tested.

We all experience procrastination. Some of us feel shame or self-loathing from it. When you view your procrastination as a choice that your subconscious has already made for you, things get a bit lighter, a bit easier. "I'm not doing this for a reason." It's not clear, it's not obvious, but if you get in touch with the reason(s), you may find those choices that your mind already made (without discussing with you first) are actually not so bad, and your conscious brain may want to accept the choices and move on.

Are you going to forward this to someone that might benefit from it, or are you going to procrastinate?