Procrastination
Procrastination is the tendency to prioritize immediate gratification over long-term goals, often by deferring necessary actions to a later time.
THE IDEA
Procrastination
Procrastination occurs when you put off investing in the future for the sake of the present moment. For example, even though your aim is to lose weight, you could still go for a thick slice of cake today and say you’re going to start your diet tomorrow. This occurs mainly because, when you set a weight-loss target, you don’t take into consideration that there will be several times where you’re faced with a cake and you don’t have a strategy to control your future desires.
When to use it
Personal finance: Delaying saving for retirement to spend on luxury items now.
Academics: Putting off studying for an exam until the last minute to enjoy leisure activities.
Health: Skipping exercise for the day and promising to exercise tomorrow, repeatedly.
Work: Procrastinating on a project by doing less important tasks.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Diet Procrastination
Even though your aim is to lose weight, you could still go for a thick slice of cake today and say you’re going to start your diet tomorrow.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
When have you postponed an important task for a short-term pleasure? What was the impact?
How can you create a strategy to overcome the temptation to procrastinate on your current goals?
What triggers your tendency to choose immediate rewards over long-term benefits?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- 60 Cognitive Biases That Ruin Everything We Do by David Scott