Procrastination
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, “Where’s the self-help section?” She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose. —Steven Wright
Is there any cure for procrastination?
Is there even any treatment?
Suppose it’s been too long since I mowed my lawn, and it’s looking pretty shaggy. What should I do:
(a) Go to my local bookstore and find a book on how to beat procrastination, then sit down on my living room couch and start reading? or
(b) Go to a therapist and discuss my procrastination problem at length, or
(c) Fire up my mower and cut the grass.
“Wait a minute,” you might say, “what if I read the book, or talked to my therapist, and then I procrastinated a lot less in the future, because the book or therapy helped me?” Interesting theory. But what if it’s false? What if beat-procrastination books are really purchased by people who secretly want to procrastinate more? What if people go talk to therapists about their procrastination problem because they’d rather be talking to a therapist than mowing the lawn?
What if the only cure for an overgrown lawn is to mow it? What if the only treatment for an out-of-shape body is to eat less and exercise? What if the only way to complete an unfinished project is to work on it?
What if you don’t really feel bad about the fact that you frequently let your lawn get so shaggy — what if you really feel bad about the fact that lawns have to be mowed? Or that you don’t have enough money to pay someone else to do it for you?
If you mow the lawn regularly (i.e. before it gets shaggy), what if you’ll get accustomed to doing that, and then you won’t feel so bad about having to do it?
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