To
Change Your Thinking, Change Your Words
By Philip Hoy
A very large part of preparing for college and career is
learning how to manage your time—and Advanced Placement classes definitely
force you to do that. They should; after all, they are college level courses, which is why passing an AP test earns
you college credit. You may have already discovered that if you fall behind in
your studies—even a little—you can quickly fall behind in a class…and it’s not
easy to catch up again because the homework just never seems to stop coming.
And you’re probably not only
an AP student, are you? Maybe you are in a sport, or band, or drama, or dance,
or a career academy, or ASB, or a club…or multiple clubs. You probably do some
form of community service or volunteer work…maybe you even have a part-time
job. And chances are you’re someone’s son or daughter, someone’s brother or
sister; you have family responsibilities.
You might even have friends, possibly more than a few…you might even be
someone’s best friend.
Sometimes it may seem that everyone and everything is
demanding a piece of you. It’s a wonder you find time to sleep…or do you?
Well, I’m here to help you lighten that load a little; but
to do so, I’m going to need you to get rid of just one thing—no, not your best
friend—something small, something you’re better off without, just a
word…procrastination.
Procrastination: to put off, postpone, stall, or defer, to
delay doing something until a later time.
We often hear people complain that they suffer from
procrastination, or guiltily admit they are members of the Procrastination Club,
as if there was actually a support group for procrastinators. “Hi, my name is
Philip, and I put things off.” But mostly, we treat procrastination as a kind of
virus, a temporary illness, something going around (especially at school), or
maybe it feels like a non life-threatening disease that flares up or goes into
remission, but is never fully curable.
On our better days, when we feel the symptoms of procrastination
coming on, we fight back. We attack our inertia with action, hoping that our
bodies in motion will remain in motion. Maybe we reach out to other human
beings, if not physically, or over the phone, then with Facebook, at least. Or
we might grab the game remote for a quick adrenaline surge from that life and
death struggle played out again and again on the screen. Perhaps we take our
skateboard and step into the fray where only practice and skill will save our
bruise-able, breakable bodies from the cold, hard justice of the mean cement
streets. Or maybe we become completely desperate and begin to pick up all the
clothes from the floor of our room, get the vacuum out and start
spring-cleaning in November—anything, to avoid homework!
On our worst days, on those days when we might have five
things to do (although it feels like five hundred), and we just don’t know
where to begin—procrastination sets in, amplifying those symptoms of avoidance
and hopelessness. Instead of
accomplishing at least three or four of those five things…we accomplish
nothing. Procrastination weighs on us
like an invisible cloud, a soft white elephant sitting on our chest, slowly
suffocating us with inaction, pinning us to the couch, or chair, or floor, or
wherever we find ourselves with barely the strength to lift our smartphone,
slide a finger over the face of our iPad, nudge a computer mouse, or thumb the
channel on the TV remote. There we remain, paralyzed with
self-disappointment.
Sadly, there is no cure for procrastination…because
procrastination is not a disease; it is a state of mind.
Earlier, I asked you to give up procrastination. But I
didn’t say to give up procrastinating, as in stop doing it. It needs to be more
than that. I want you to stop using
it. Stop using the word: procrastination.
I’d like you to stop saying it, and writing it, and thinking it…and here
is why:
Language, the use of words, our ability to communicate ideas
and emotions—spoken or written—must be the greatest tool we have. As much as it
empowers us though, language also has a way of limiting us, confining and
controlling the way we think. We express our thoughts with words because we use
words to think. But what if our words are limiting our thoughts? It makes sense
then that if we change our words we can sometimes change the way we think.
Procrastination, as we define it, is choosing not to
choose…which is still a choice, of course, only it’s a very passive, even
cowardly one. Start taking responsibility for your choices. Stop being
victimized by the word procrastination. Drop it from your vocabulary and
replace it with a new word: prioritization.
When you prioritize you place an order of importance on your
responsibilities. You choose which tasks need immediate attention and which
tasks can be completed at a later time. When you prioritize you assess your obligations,
evaluate the urgency of each, create a plan, and take action.
Procrastination says play now, do your homework later.
Prioritization says I will do my homework now and reward myself with a game
later. But even if you do choose to play video games instead of completing your
reading assignment for English, you are still prioritizing. You are making a
conscious decision to give gaming more importance than homework…it might not be
a wise decision, but it’s your choice, and you can take responsibility for
making it instead of blaming someone or something else.
When we prioritize, we never put things off; we arrange the
order in which we can afford to get them done. We are not helpless, not victims
of a sickness or a debilitating condition. We are always in control because we
are always the ones making the choices.
Of course we are never in complete control of what happens
in our lives, but we are in control of how we react to it. Sometimes we have to make the tough decision
of choosing homework over spending time with friends…but sometimes our friends,
or our families, need us in unexpected ways. Sometimes we must make the
just-as-difficult decision to place them at the top of our list of priorities
and deal with our other obligations at a later time.
Yes, life happens. Sometimes there is never enough time…due
dates arrive, tests are collected, and deadlines pass. When this happens, procrastinators
blame anything and everyone for their failures, although rarely themselves. Prioritizors
don’t blame anyone; they haven’t got time for guilt or regret because they are
already picking themselves up, reassessing their priorities, and beginning a
new plan of action. Procrastinators, by definition, are always one step behind.
Prioritizors, are always one step ahead.
Making your own choices and taking responsibility for them
is part of growing up. This is something very necessary if you ever want to
gain your adult independence and find happiness, success, and fulfillment in
this world.
Hope this helps.
