I happen to be an expert in the art of procrastination.
It's really quite impressive if I do say so myself.
So, I can't cure your procrastination, but I can tell you how to use it to your advantage. Hopefully it works for you like it works for me:
Step 1: Make a to-do list including even mundane things that will take no time at all to complete
Step 2: Add something really important to said to-do list that doesn't need to be done right away, but is super important.
Step 3: Suddenly, all of the other small things on your list get done because at least those are smaller and easier to tackle than that one big impending thing you must work on sometime in the vaguely distant future!
Why does this work? John Perry, author of The Art of Procrastination: A Guide to Effective Dawdling, Lollygagging and Postponing explains that "when people procrastinate, it's not that they aren't doing anything; they simply aren't doing something that's more important." This totally makes sense in my life and explains why when I have a big paper due suddenly it's the perfect time to clean my whole apartment or when I need papers graded it feels like the perfect time to head to the gym, the papers or whatever I am supposed to be doing can wait. So, the way to get me or anyone else who is a chronic procrastinator to do something important is to make sure that there is something else MORE important that needs doing!
This also explains why I am blogging instead of sending off my fieldwork letter :P
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