Inside The Mind Of a Procrastinator

I have been a chronic procrastinator and have been trying to fight and beat procrastination since almost all my working life.

By the way, after a long stint procrastinating, I've devised another definition for it. Procrastination is the ART of ruining your own life for no real reason.

And its ironic that while I have written this post about what procrastination is, I had been procrastinating to write this article for the last almost 4 weeks.

I am not writing this post as a psychologist or a professional, but as a patient. As a chronic procrastinator.

I do not intend to show a scientific treatment for this problem but I intend to tell you what goes on in the mind of a procrastinator.

Why in the world do we postpone our chores for no apparent reasons.

I am trying not to judge myself or anyone by this, but trust me, this habit sometimes feels like a disease.

But why do we do it? Psychologists call this as the mind's habit to not accept change. Many people call it laziness or an avoidance behaviour, or poor time management.

But what actually is it?

From the procrastinator point of view, the problem with a real procrastinator is that he doesn't know how not to procrastinate.


He does not understand how not to do it. At times he doesn't even realise that he left his most important work, to do everything else like browsing, reading something else etc.

Tim Urban wrote a funny explanation about this in his blog "Wait But Why". According to him, the mind of a procrastinator is the same as a non procrastinator except for the presence of a little friend who he calls as an "Instant Gratification Monkey".

It is this monkey who is responsible to deviate the mind from making rational decisions. He is the sole guy who makes you browse facebook when you are supposed to finish writing your assignment.

 He is the one who tells you to watch a movie, for there is still time left for the examinations to begin.

Sounds familiar?

Yes this is the guy who makes a procrastinator focus on every other thing than the important thing.

It takes the procrastinator to that position in time where you are at the verge of being doomed. Your exam date has approached and you are not yet prepared, your thesis deadline is very near and you have not yet started writing it.

This is when another friend that Urban calls "The Panic Monster"" comes into picture and spurs us into action.

While in the non-procrastinator's mind the rational decision maker dominates, our monkey on the other side creates havoc in a procrastinator's mind and life.

If I write from my perspective, most people from both these categories plan their work/day/to-do list. After-all,  planning does not need you to do these tasks.

But only a non procrastinator does the planned tasks because doing things is his kryptonite.

The root of the problem is that a procrastinator does not want to involve in any activity that takes him out of his comfort zone or challenges him to put effort. His mind resists change.

Another thing could be a lack of self confidence. Being under confident about your own strengths helps the self gratification monkey take command and give us a feeling of being in a happy playground, by not doing things at all.

In reality, the monkey takes control and ruins everything.

Most of us have this monkey inside us, yet we try to survive in this competent world. But that is only survival. With the monkey in control we cannot reach our potential, cannot outgrow our fears of change and cannot avoid stress and cannot live our lives the way we want to.

A little change, if brought in ourselves can make us high achievers and help us exploit our potential. That little change does not let the panic monster and the stress monster hover our lives and trouble us.



For if we change ourselves, we might be able to lead a kind of life that we want to and achieve the success that we dream of.




Copyright © 2016 Twinny Lives All rights reserved. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material and images without express and written permission from this blog's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Twinny Lives with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.


Picture courtesy: mr-procrastinator.blogspot.com, duffmcduffee.com, glotime.org, huffingtonpost.com

From Ordinary to Extraordinary

I often find my mind comparing myself to others. I often wish I could go back in time and change the things I don't like happening in the present. I often wish I could be different; prettier, more efficient, more godly, more successful than I currently am.

On the other side, I often find my heart telling me that all these are the thoughts grounded in our society and embedded in our minds. For no-one is perfect or better than anyone.

I have begin to realise that behind every successful or flawless person is an ordinary human being who deals or has dealt with their ordinary struggles to become extraordinary.

In reality, we are all extraordinary. What we choose to be, makes us ordinary or extraordinary. The dreams we see, the goals we set for ourselves and the steps we take to accomplish these goals, make us extraordinary.

The more we learn to perfect our craft, the more we develop a mindset destined for success; that 10% little extra effort, that we put in with utmost sincerity and perseverance; and a zeal to achieve something is all that does the trick.

Everything in life starts with a dream. A dream so big that it brightens your eyes and mind at the meagre thought of it. A dream that brings a smile to your face and makes you realise your passion.

But dreams don't just become reality. Almost every person who has achieved success has tasted failure. Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Inc was fired from his own company. He tasted failure in such a way that his life is graphically drawn with crests and troughs.

Ever wondered how blind people are able to read those bumps on paper? I believe that they are not born with special senses for touch or special brains, they simply develop something within themselves that seems impossible to us.

Say YES to your dreams. Commit 110% to achieve it. Master your craft and invest your time and effort walking step by step each day. Set goals for yourself.

Think, what extra or better you should be doing to make your work and you, extraordinary.

Remember, the extra that we look for - is found in the "Ordinary".

Finding more meaning in what you do, than finding more things to do is what makes you extraordinary. 

Opportunities come to everyone but only a few grab them. Grab the opportunities that come towards you.

Overcome your demons of fear which lower your self confidence.  Be enthusiastic and try to be the light that would help others too to overcome their fears.

It would take just a little bit extra.

Copyright © 2016 Twinny Lives All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material and images without express and written permission from this blog's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Twinny Lives with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Pictures Courtesy: Forbes.com, Steemit.com

The Loss of A Loved One

It is true, some people come in our lives and leave footprints on our hearts. But when they leave, we are never ever the same. They are so important in our lives that living without them feels incredibly incapacitating.

Since childhood I had been very close to my paternal grandmother. She was more than a mother to me. The first person I saw after waking up in the morning, to being the last person I saw before falling asleep at night. She was my world. The one who brought me up, who taught me to be me, who taught me to stand up for myself and the one who stood by me in every situation. 

Losing her

was the biggest shock of my life, one that I am yet to overcome, even after 11 years of her passing away. The very thought of not being able to see her, not being able to care for her or talk to her in the last moments of her life kills me. 

Not able to accept that she is gone, I have walked to my school and back home numerous times in the hope that I will get to see her walking besides me one last time. The same way as she used to walk with me when I was a kid. I've broken down a thousand times when all my hopes to see her again, shattered. 

My tears and years of living in pain taught me to believe on one thing, that what I am trying to cope up with, is not a loss but a change. I have learnt that all this while I have been trying to resist change. The change, that my grandma is not a part of this material world anymore, that she might not be a human being anymore but she does exist in the world somehow. 

She exists in my memories. She exists in my feelings. She exists in my nature and in my soul, for she is the one who taught me morals and values. She exists in everything that i have learnt from her. 

This has made it easier for me to accept the reality. 

When we lose someone we love, it distorts our universe and our peace of mind. There is a past that we always want to go back into, for that is the place that gives us a peace of mind. A place where there is no reality check.  

We lose ourself in the grief of what we have lost. The only way to cope from such a trauma is to change ourselves. Nothing can bring our loved ones back, nothing can change the present. Rather we should move forward, so that it becomes easier for us to accept change.

In the end though we are only left with memories of our loved ones and some dreams which seem so real and vivid. We should never stop cherishing them because it is God's way of bringing our loved ones back to us, even if it is for a minute.


Copyright © 2016 Twinny Lives All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material  and images without express and written permission from this blog's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Twinny Lives with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.