Thoughts on Procrastination

Procrastination is often said to be the silent killer of creativity and productivity, both for the individual and for society as a whole. We have all heard the saying, ‘Do not put off until tomorrow what you can do today’, so why is it so easy to fall into the seductive trap of procrastination?

Looking back into the mists of time, one can learn that mankind has been afflicted with procrastination for at least as long as leprosy and diabetes!

Procrastination even has had martyrs, like Archimedes, one of the world’s most famous inventors who, when his life was threatened by invading Roman soldiers, chose the heroic path of procrastination. Rather than attend to the immediate necessity of escape, the great man delayed this task and told the soldiers to leave him alone until he had finished his calculation! Tragically, the Romans killed him on the spot.

Ironically, it might be argued that it was not barbarian hordes, but rather the spectre of procrastination that finally brought the Roman Empire to its knees. While we are uncertain whether Nero really fiddled (actually played the lyre) in theatre costume, while Rome burned in AD 64, it is well-known that the warning plume of smoke coming from Mount Vesuvius was conveniently ignored by the inhabitants of Pompeii and Herculaneum in AD 79. Perhaps the inhabitants thought they might leave the city…yes, after the gladiatorial games will be okay…Unfortunately the volcano had other ideas and the cities were destroyed by ash and mud.

Echoing the procrastination of the great Archimedes, Leonardo da Vinci of Renaissance Italy, the most universal genius of the past 500 years confessed on his deathbed to how he had wasted his talents in unfinished projects. It is clear that Leonardo embarked on hundreds of projects, but finished precious few, and some of his greatest masterpieces remain incomplete. It is said that genius is very close to insanity, but is it actually much closer to procrastination?

Would the world of classical music be the treasure it is today without a little procrastination? Who can forget Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony? And why did Mozart and Beethoven leave incomplete works? Was it a joke on future musicians, who still strive to fill in the missing passages, or really just a case of procrastination, when Wolfgang would rather go down to the billiards hall with his pals, or Beethoven was having one of his mood swings and decided ‘postpone’!

in 1936, Sir Winston Churchill leading the battle, not only against the spectre of fascism, but also fighting a second front against the menace of procrastination that threatened to overrun the free world. Churchill warned us that, ‘The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays is coming to a close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences’. The reality of the decade to come proved to be far more complex.

Our book The Art of Procrastination and Other Time Wasters’ Thoughts does not debate the perils (or otherwise) of procrastination. Rather we say, “Manana!” and revel in the colourful ways in which people procrastinate, discussing peculiar reasons one gives to avoid work and laugh at it.

We invite you to join us on our exploration of this fascinating subject. Please let us know how you procrastinate.

Kris and Ian.

As part of our writing for charity principles, we have committed to donate the entire proceeds of our royalties to a charity. We will update the details soon.

This entry was posted on Monday, 18 August 2008 at 12:05 am and is filed under Books, Featured, General, Humour, Psychology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.