Essay Procrastination By Steve Ford	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
ぐずぐず先延ばしすること ことわざに"Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today."（今日できることを明日に延ばすな）という。 だが、ついつい物事をぐずぐず先延ばししてしまう人は多いことだろう。 筆者もまた、このテーマで原稿を書くのをずるずると遅らせてきたようだが…。

I've been meaning to write an essay on procrastination for the longest time, but I never seem to get around to it.

The procrastinator's fundamental philosophy is: "Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow." The word procrastination comes from the Latin words "pro," meaning "forward," and "crastinus," of tomorrow.

Delaying some small tasks can be a good strategy for dealing with a busy schedule, but when used across the board it can be paralyzing because tomorrow keeps receding into the future and nothing ever actually gets done.

One U.S. expert on the problem says that as many as 70 percent of college students procrastinate and among the general population, the number is around 20 to 25 percent.

Procrastinators can be easily distracted from the task at hand, a problem aggravated by today's computer-centric workplace. (I'll get back to writing this piece just as soon as I check my e-mail again.)

But procrastination is no laughing matter, a leading expert on the subject, U.S.-based professor of psychology Dr. Joseph Ferrari says that telling a procrastinator to "just do it," is the same as telling a clinically depressed person to "cheer up."

Psychologists say that people who put things off for later often are afflicted with low self-esteem. People who delay might base their self-worth on their work and doubt their abilities. The thinking goes like this: to avoid a judgment of themselves that could be damaging to their self worth, they just avoid completing the task.

I certainly had that feeling when writing literary criticisms and other subjects in college, but these days my procrastination seems more driven by a desire to avoid tasks that might be unpleasant or uninteresting. Other theories chalk this desire to do things later up to rebellion against a strict or overbearing father.

So what can be done about the problem? Some psychologists take the view that this behavior is difficult to change and that it requires extensive therapy.

Others, including self-help writers and the appropriately named website Procrastinators Anonymous, offer support and advice on the nuts and bolts of getting things done today.

Personally, I force myself to get started on a project before I'm ready. Readiness is a state of mind that may or may not be attained, but one can always dig in and get started. Once a task has been started, creativity usually will follow.

Finally, for motivation I imagine how good it will feel to finish whatever it was I was putting off.

If that advice doesn't help, one can always say a prayer to Saint Expeditus, the patron saint of procrastinators.

Shukan ST: December 11, 2009

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