If instant gratification were one side of a coin, what would the other side be?
We procrastinate when we resist doing difficult work that is most important to us. When confronted by doubt and fear, the mind tends to lean away from those feelings in favour of pleasure. It seeks to avoid confrontation and replace it with gratification.
Instant gratification and delayed confrontation form a partnership that prevent us from doing our best work. It pays to be mindful of ways the ways in which we procrastinate. It also helps to identify what we’re running away from.
Very interesting thought! Is this documented somewhere?
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Thank you!
My thoughts on procrastination stem from an online meta-learning course. Here’s an article written by the instructor, Barbara Oakley – https://tinyurl.com/y4n4c7hm.
“Here’s how my brain tricks me into procrastinating. When I think about something I don’t like or don’t particularly want to do, that thought can actually activate the insular cortex—a part of the brain that experiences pain. In other words, it can be physically painful to think about something I’d rather not do. So what do I do in response to those feelings of pain? Simple, I switch my attention to something else. Voila—the pain disappears—but I’ve just procrastinated. “
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