Is procrastination a form of ‘urgency addiction’?

Do you know the woman who scurries in a few minutes after a meeting starts, keys jangling in her hand, an unzipped handbag bulging, forehead furrowed, frazzled? 

“What happened?” you ask, concerned. “Are you okay?”

“I had a bad run getting here,” she explains. “The traffic lights were almost all against me, plus I got stuck behind a big truck, and also the school zones slowed me down because it is 9am, and, well, I’m sorry I’m late.” She takes a deep breath, then breathes out slowly and steadily, trying her best to settle and focus.

You feel sorry for her the first time. And the second. But after that, it becomes somewhat predictable. Oh, yes, she is stressed. But she has done it to herself. You wonder why she just doesn’t leave home a few minutes earlier. 

That woman is me. 

An encounter at the gym

I arrived at the gym just a little later than I should have last week. The ladies gym I attend closes at 6pm on Fridays. I arrived at 5.33pm, frazzled. Each workout takes half an hour … ideally.

Usually I race through my exercises, cutting half a minute here and there. I always squeeze in the strength exercises and vow to make up the aerobic bits later.

This time, however, I chatted to a friend there. A wise friend. A friend who recognised something she has been reading up on lately.

“Have you heard of an urgency addiction?” she asked. 

Really? An addiction?

‘Addiction’ sounds bad. It’s not like a proclivity to procrastinate hurts anybody else. It’s not in the same category as, say, an addiction to illegal behaviour-altering substances. 

I suggested this to my friend. “Sometimes our procrastination does impact those with whom with collaborate on projects,” she replied. “It certainly impacts our own well-being and work. Anyhow, there are deeper issues to be probed which lead to this procrastination that generates urgency. Urgency addiction can be deeply rooted.” 

My friend then recommended a book which I won’t quote at the moment because I have not yet read it. It’s coming in the mail. I am looking forward to reading it. No doubt I will write more about this topic then.

And, by the way, of course an addiction to urgency is not in the same category as addictions which lead to violence, crime and ruin. That is, if procrastination even is an ‘addiction to urgency’…..

I use deadlines to my advantage. At the same time, life would be simpler and saner if I could just start things earlier. 

This blog post is my way of exploring the concept. 

A healthy lifestyle

It’s costing me $20 a week for eight weeks. It’s money well spent. 

I am paying to be part of a community which is holding me accountable to meet daily deadlines for what I want to do anyhow. Every day, I will walk 10,000 steps (except Sundays), eat healthily and track what I eat. Every week, I will do four sessions of easy strength training exercises at the gym. 

I’ve done this before and it worked then. It will work again this time. 

It’s really important to be healthy – obviously. It’s comfortable and convenient to be in good shape. Nutritious food is delicious, but having it easily accessible at home just takes a little bit of planning and preparation. Walking for pleasure is refreshing. 

So why do I need to part with financial resources to do what I want to do anyhow? 

For some reason, without the accountability that comes with community, I procrastinate. 

And so I’m leveraging my possible addiction to urgency to make me live a healthy lifestyle … for eight weeks, at least. 

Academic pursuits

I get a thrill as I enter the deadlines for essays, presentations and reading assignments into my diary. Yet the night before the deadline I invariably I ask myself, “Why didn’t I start this earlier?”

This past week we had three days of classes. They were very good. At the same time, the truth is that what I find most beneficial is being forced to read and reflect on material that is relevant to my work. 

Do I need to enrol for classes and write essays to make myself read and think?

Apparently I do.

Again, I am leveraging that possible addiction to urgency to do what I want to do anyhow.

Searching for a solution

So what is the solution to my procrastination problem? Can I enjoy a healthy, productive life without constantly setting semi-artificial deadlines? Life would be simpler if I could.

There are plenty of practical resources out there. I have read books about making lists, setting priorities, tracking how I use that precious resource of time and more. I have productivity apps on my phone. I even use some of them. Yet still I procrastinate. 

I don’t know the specifics yet but suspect that the solution lies in getting to the root of WHY I procrastinate. What is behind this possible ‘addiction to urgency’? 

Identifying those factors will take some work. I shall put that off for another day. 

Okay… it may sound like I am procrastinating … but the book hasn’t arrived in the mail yet. And I have a few other things on my plate just now. And now that I have publicly written about it, I have created some accountability too. 

In the meantime, naming the issue is halfway to finding a solution. My wise friend is probably right … I think it likely is an addiction to urgency. 

Naming it enables me to recognise it and to address it.

Stepping up

As I draft this blog post, it is 7.35pm on a Saturday evening. 

I have 5047 steps to go before I reach my 10,000 step target. That equates to 50 minutes on the cross trainer or stomping around my living room. Most evenings this week I have ended up doing a mixture of both.

My FitBit links me with several others doing the same healthy lifestyle challenge and they will know if I don’t make our shared deadline. Regular exercise has gone from being important to also becoming quite urgent. I need that sense of urgency to motivate me. I’m grateful for it. 

At the same time, I’m hoping very much over the coming weeks to get insights into this ‘urgency addiction’ and … possibly … step by step, to overcome it. 

Watch this space.

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PS After finishing the first draft of this blog post and before posting it, I completed the 10k step goal by leveraging that sense of urgency. It feels good.