Procrastination: How to beat the thief of time

Akrasia can be described as the act of acting against your better judgment. In other words, procrastination. This disease was coined by Greek philosophers, Socrates and Aristotle. 

Procrastinating is something all humans struggle with from time to time. For some reason, it only hits when you are at your busiest, when one of your biggest projects needs to be completed. 

Victor Hugo and procrastination

Victor Hugo, French poet, novelist and dramatist is considered to be one of the greatest and best-known writers. Throughout his life, he had to face many impossible deadlines. In 1830 the French writer promised his publisher a new book. Instead of finishing his book, he spent a year busy with other projects or entertaining guests. His publisher became frustrated by his procrastination and decided on a deadline, six months later.

Hugo developed a plan to beat this procrastination of his. He got rid of all his clothes and locked them away. He was left with one piece of clothing, which made it impossible for him to leave the house. He stayed inside, focusing on finishing his book, and his book was finished two weeks earlier than the deadline.

Why do we set goals if we have no intention of reaching them?

The human brain has a tendency to value immediate rewards more than future rewards. When you imagine the future, it becomes easy for your brain to see the value in taking action which includes long-term benefits. When it comes to actually making a decision, your brain only thinks about the present.

The three ways to beat procrastination

Design your future actions

Psychologists refer to Hugo’s decision to put all of his clothes away as a “commitment device”. Find a way to lock in your future behaviour. Bind yourself to good habits and restrict yourself from bad ones.

Get yourself to start

An American artificial intelligence researcher once said: “On a moment-to-moment basis, being in the middle of doing the work is usually less painful than being in the middle of procrastination.” Get yourself to begin, and before you realise it, you will be halfway done.

Implementation of specific strategies

State your intention to implement something specific. It may seem obvious to schedule things ahead of time, but scheduling an action can make the possibility of following through more likely.

Aristotle coined the term enkrateia as the antonym of akracia. Enkrateia means to “to be in power over oneself”.

Decide what you want and whether you are willing to do what needs to be done in order to reach your goals and commit. It may be easier done than you think!

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