Arthur came over today and we did our math homework for 110a, which isn’t due for 5 whole days. That’s so cool. I can effectively ignore that class for a week or more. If in the next two days I can do that to any of my other classes I’ll really enjoy this next week.

It felt good to get it done, but doing things in advance is so rare a thing for people to do, even smart people. Why? It makes us feel good to get it done and to be productive, to exercise and be fit, etc. But we don’t do it. We procrastinate and put it off until we absolutely have to do it. As an exercise in this, I will attempt to get things done early until the end of the quarter, and I will take note of my desire to procrastinate, and try to figure out what causes it.

I have a few notes already:

  • I invariably find anything else to do instead, no matter how inane.
  • I think I can do it later, that I don’t feel like it right now.
  • I think the task is too big, too difficult (esp. exercising).

What do you notice yourself doing/thinking when you procrastinate?