The New Yorker has a very nice piece about the follies and foibles of procrastination. I really identified with it, especially the ruminations of multiple/divided selves (I do feel more like Biella’s instead of Biella especially during moments of extreme procrastination).
The heart of the piece has to do with the existential face of procrastination, which the author nails with this quote by Mark Kingwell:
““Procrastination most often arises from a sense that there is too much to do, and hence no single aspect of the to-do worth doing. . . . Underneath this rather antic form of action-as-inaction is the much more unsettling question whether anything is worth doing at all”
This reminds me of another one of my favorite (and kinda distributing but also kinda liberating) quotes by Henry Miller:
“Life has to be given a meaning because of the obvious fact that it has no meaning”
Finally, the most humorous bit in the article had to do with Victor Hugo, who apparently, to stave off distraction, would write in the nude and then make what sounds like his man servant hide his clothes so he could not go outside. Reminds me that prior to the Internet, there were certainly other ways to “squander” time.
For now, I encourage some procrastination: read it and you might get some insight as to this habit, which seems to afflict so many.
[...] Interprete » The Existential Philsophy of Procrastination gabriellacoleman.org/blog/?p=2081 – view page – cached The New Yorker has a very nice piece about the follies and foibles of procrastination. I really identified with it, especially the ruminations of multiple/divided selves (I do feel more like Biella’s instead of Biella especially during moments of extreme procrastination). Tweets about this link [...]
Pingback by Twitter Trackbacks for Interprete » The Existential Philsophy of Procrastination [gabriellacoleman.org] on Topsy.com — November 28, 2010 @ 11:48 am
I think Mako found an alternative to the ‘lose the clothes’ idea with this: http://wiki.mako.cc/Glacetarium.
Comment by Kevin Mark — November 28, 2010 @ 5:26 pm
That Miller quote reminds me of some parts of existentialism which had a deep impact on my teenage self, and still influences me today. As you say, it can be quite liberating.
As for Hugo, it makes me nostalgic of that era and of Paris. Nothing like going out to a café to have animated conversations with friends, even if some work doesn’t get done. Between the cicada and the ant, I root for the cicada and avoid Protestant Work Ethic through “Catholic Party Ethic.”
Comment by Alexandre — November 29, 2010 @ 9:25 am
[...] The Existential Philsophy of Procrastination (gabriellacoleman.org) [...]
Pingback by Stop Procrastination: Seek Help | Bayview Hunters Point — December 1, 2010 @ 7:34 am
Paul Graham has a useful point of view on “effective procrastination:
“There are three variants of procrastination, depending on what you do instead of working on something: you could work on
(a) nothing,
(b) something less important, or
(c) something more important.
That last type, I’d argue, is good procrastination.”
- Paul Graham Good and Bad Procrastination (December 2005)
http://www.paulgraham.com/procrastination.html
Comment by Mark Jones — January 17, 2011 @ 2:13 pm
I have a feeling you might also like this wonderful n+1 piece: http://nplusonemag.com/amwriting
Comment by Kevin Gotkin — October 3, 2011 @ 7:21 pm