Sr. General Than Shwe is the thief

of time

Procrastination

Procrastination is a type of avoidance behaviour which is characterised by deferment of actions or tasks to a later time. Psychologists often cite procrastination as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision.

For the person procrastinating this may result in stress, a sense of guilt, the loss of personal productivity, the creation of crisis and the disapproval of others for not fulfilling one’s responsibilities or commitments. While it is normal for individuals to procrastinate to some degree, it becomes a problem when it impedes normal functioning. Chronic procrastination may be a sign of an underlying psychological or physiological disorder.

The word itself comes from the Latin word procrastinatus: pro- (forward) and crastinus (of tomorrow). The term’s first known appearance was in Edward Hall’s Chronicle (The union of the two noble and illustre famelies of Lancestre and Yorke), first published sometime before 1548.[2] The sermon reflected procrastination’s connection at the time to task avoidance or delay, volition or will, and sin.

Causes of procrastination

Psychological

The psychological causes of procrastination vary greatly, but generally surround issues of anxiety, low sense of self-worth and a self-defeating mentality. Procrastinators are also thought to have a higher-than-normal level of conscientiousness, more based on the “dreams and wishes” of perfection or achievement in contrast to a realistic appreciation of their obligations and potential.

Author David Allen brings up two major psychological causes of procrastination at work and in life which are related to anxiety, not laziness.[citation needed] The first category comprises things too small to worry about, tasks that are an annoying interruption in the flow of things, and for which there are low-impact workarounds; an example might be organizing a messy room. The second category comprises things too big to control, tasks that a person might fear, or for which the implications might have a great impact on a person’s life; an example might be the adult children of a deteriorating senior parent deciding what living arrangement would be best.

A person might unconsciously overestimate or underestimate the scale of a task if procrastination has become a habit.

From the behavioral psychology point of view, James Mazur has said that procrastination is a particular case of “impulsiveness” as opposed to self control.[citation needed] Mazur states that procrastination occurs because of a temporal discounting of a punisher, as it happens with the temporal discount for a reinforcer. Procrastination, then, as Mazur says, happens when a choice has to be made between a later larger task and a sooner small task; as the absolute value of the task gets discounted by the time, a subject tends to choose the later large task.

Physiological

Research on the physiological roots of procrastination mostly surrounds the role of the prefrontal cortex. This area of the brain is responsible for executive brain functions such as planning, impulse control, attention, and acts as a filter by decreasing distracting stimuli from other brain regions. Damage or low activation in this area can reduce an individual’s ability to filter out distracting stimuli, ultimately resulting in poorer organization, a loss of attention and increased procrastination. This is similar to the prefrontal lobe’s role in Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), where underactivation is common. [3]

Procrastination and mental health

Procrastination can be a persistent and debilitating disorder in some people, causing significant psychological disability and dysfunction. These individuals may actually be suffering from an underlying mental health problem such as depression or ADHD.While procrastination is a behavioral condition, these underlying mental health disorders can be treated with medication and/or therapy. Therapy can be a useful tool in helping an individual learn new behaviors, overcome fears and anxieties, and achieve an improved quality of life. Thus it is important for people who chronically struggle with debilitating procrastination to see a trained therapist or psychiatrist to see if an underlying mental health issue may be present.

Severe procrastination can cross over into internet addiction or computer addiction. In this instance the individual has a compulsion to avoid reality by surfing the web or playing video games (game addiction) or looking at online pornography (pornography addiction). Although these are relatively new phenomena, they are being considered as psychiatric diagnoses by mental health professionals.

Perfectionism

Traditionally, procrastination has been associated with perfectionism, a tendency to negatively evaluate outcomes and one’s own performance, intense fear and avoidance of evaluation of one’s abilities by others, heightened social self-consciousness and anxiety, recurrent low mood, and workaholism. Slaney (1996) found that adaptive perfectionists were less likely to procrastinate than non-perfectionists, while maladaptive perfectionists (people who saw their perfectionism as a problem) had high levels of procrastination (and also of anxiety).[4]

Academic procrastination

While academic procrastination is not a special type of procrastination, procrastination is thought to be particularly prevalent in the academic setting[citation needed], where students are required to meet deadlines for assignments and tests in an environment full of events and activities which compete for the students’ time and attention. More specifically, a 1992 study showed that “52% of surveyed students indicated having a moderate to high need for help concerning procrastination”[5].Some students struggle with procrastination due to a lack of time management or study skills, stress, or feeling overwhelmed with their work.[

Quotations on procrastination

1.  ”I’ll stop procrastinating, I swear… Starting on Monday.” — Frikkin Ninja

2. “You can read this one later!” - Evrim

3. “If it weren’t for the last minute, I wouldn’t get anything done.” — Anon

4. “I think a lot of the basis of the open source movement comes from procrastinating students…” — Andrew Tridgell (Article)

5. “I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” — Douglas Adams

6. “Waiting is a trap. There will always be reasons to wait - The truth is, there are only two things in life, reasons and results, and reasons simply don’t count.” — Robert Anthony

7. “We don’t have anything as urgent as mañana in Ireland.” — Stuart Banks

8. “A perfect method for adding drama to life is to wait until the deadline looms large.” — Alyce P. Cornyn-Selby

9. “Procrastination: Hard work often pays off after time, but laziness always pays off now.” — Larry Kersten

10. “Anyone can do any amount of work provided it isn’t the work he’s supposed to be doing at the moment.” — Robert Benchley

11. “Procrastination is the art of waiting.” — Procrastination help

12. “Procrastination is like masturbation, It’s fun until you realize you just screwed yourself”–Anonymous

13. “Only Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday.” — Author Unknown

14. “Procrastinate now, don’t put it off.” — Ellen DeGeneres

15. “Procrastination is the thief of time.” — Edward Young

16. “You can procrastinate later.” — kanzure

17. “Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.” — Don Marquis

18. “Procrastination is my sin. It brings me naught but sorrow. I know that I should stop it. In fact, I will–tomorrow!” — Gloria Pitzer

19. “Procrastination will kill us all if it ever gets around to it.” — Anon

20. “Time you enjoy wasting isn’t wasted time.” — Bertrand Russell

21. “Procrastination is the key to flexibility” — Anon

22. Between saying and doing many a pair of shoes is worn out. ~ Italian Proverb

23. One of these days is none of these days. ~ English

24. “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” — Mark Twain

25. “Telling someone who procrastinates to buy a weekly planner is like telling someone with chronic depression to just cheer up.” — Joseph Ferrari

26. “Faith in to-morrow, instead of Christ, is Satan’s nurse for man’s perdition.” Rev. Dr. Cheever

27. “To be always intending to live a new life, but never to find time to set about it; this is as if a man should put off eating and drinking and sleeping from one day and night to another, till he is starved and destroyed.” Tillotson

28. ‘By the streets of “By and By” one arrives at the house of “Never.”‘ Cervantes

29. “By one delay after another they spin out their whole lives, till there’s no more future left for them.” L’Estrange

30. “For Yesterday was once To-morrow.” Persius

31. “Never leave that till to-morrow which you can do to-day” Franklin

32. “Indulge in procrastination, and in time you will come to this, that because a thing ought to be done, therefore you can’t do it.” Charles Buxton

33. Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday. Don Marquis (1878 - 1937)

34. Procrastination isn’t the problem, it’s the solution. So procrastinate now, don’t put it off. Ellen DeGeneres

35. Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness; no laziness; no procrastination; never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Lord Chesterfield (1694 - 1773)

36. My evil genius Procrastination has whispered me to tarry ’til a more convenient season. Mary Todd Lincoln (1818 - 1882)

37. Procrastination is the thief of time. Edward Young (1683 - 1765)

38. Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday. Don Marquis (1878 - 1937)

39. Procrastination is the thief of time. Edward Young (1683 - 1765)

40. If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he next comes to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination. Thomas De Quincey, Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts - 1827

41. Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no delay, no procrastination; never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Earl of Chesterfield

42. Procrastination is the grave in which opportunity is buried. Author Unknown

Reference

1. Wikipedia encyclopedia

2. Wikiquote

3. And Google search of various Quotations

4. All Quotations search site