Procrastination

 

There was an interesting article that popped up on my computer from "Inc." magazine related to procrastination. I am quoting an excerpt of this article, below (the italics):

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Procrastination isn't about laziness. In fact, it’s about your emotions.

According to Fuschia Sirois, professor of psychology at the University of Sheffield, it logically does not make sense that anyone would partake in something (like procrastination) when he or she knows it is going to have negative consequences. “This is why we say that procrastination is essentially irrational,” Sirois comments. And, she reveals, “people engage in this irrational cycle of chronic procrastination because of an inability to manage negative moods around a task.”

That’s right: Your mood plays a huge part in how much of a procrastinator you are. In one 2013 study, Sirois, along with Tim Pychyl of Ottawa’s Carleton University, found that procrastination is “the primacy of short-term mood repair ... over the longer-term pursuit of intended actions.”

Although you might understandably think overcoming procrastination is first concerned with task completion, in reality it’s primarily concerned with “the immediate urgency of managing negative moods.” 

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Even though I have never thought of procrastination in the above fashion, the ideas suggested above do ring very true to me. I will have to keep this in mind the next time I am procrastinating badly about something.  

Other thoughts this  morning:

• To make up for my feeble mileage yesterday, I ran 16.1 miles (~26 km) this morning.  It was a beautiful, cool morning, so even though it was a lot of miles, it was nice on the trails.  With these miles, I am now back up to snuff for my mileage mark for Wednesday.  I typically would need to be at 33 miles (~52 km) since Monday to be on track.  I now have 36.6 (~59 km) miles so far.  This gives me a bit of a cushion in case tomorrow's early teaching time limits again the miles I can accomplish.   
• There is a Jazz Festival in the Downtown area tonight that my wife and I relish going to each year.  We have done this many years, but it has not been happening since damnable Covid hit.  But, it is returning today, and I am looking forward to this.  
• I am beginning a process of reorganizing and improving many aspects of my research laboratory.  I suspect it will take a few weeks worth of effort (interspersed between other U duties of course).  But, this time of year is a relatively slow time in my lab anyway, so it makes for a good time to clean and reorganize things so that there is greater ease and ability to start a new projects when Fall hits.  
• I keep looking and re-looking at that pipe tobacco I found online called "Peter's Pleasure".  It is the pipe tobacco described as "made from the flue-cured tobaccos of Zimbabwe and Malawi, with the addition of Black Cavendish and mild Burley tobaccos. Fruit and vanilla flavoring awaken this mild bend’s outstanding taste and aroma." I am still very intrigued by the description of this pipe tobacco.  It sounds as if it would be wonderful and remarkable.  I keep hovering over the "order" tab to potentially purchase a few ounces.  And, at one level, I tell myself, I will be happy to have it if I order it, for I can spend time smelling the aroma of this leaf in the pouch.  But, truthfully, I also hesitate ordering, because I am not sure if I would be overly tempted to smoke a bowl or two of the leaf as well.  All the many, many, many pipe tobaccos I have currently..... I HAVE smoked, so I know and recall each of their beauty and attributes.  But, this new tobacco, if I were to order it, even though the pouch aroma will likely be delightful.... I imagine it may gnaw at me, wondering what it is actually like while smoking it, which (of course) gives any pipe tobacco a whole myriad of additional delights.  And, while I think it would not hurt me to smoke a bowl or two of this pipe tobacco (or for that matter, any pipe tobacco).... I am not really sure if I have enough determination yet to indulge in a pipe ON OCCASION.... or if having a bowlful will simply cascade me back into my prior, regular indulgence (which at one level I WOULD relish, but I can also recognize as unwise).  Therefore, I keep hesitating on whether to purchase a few ounces or not.  

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