I’m A Procrastinator

My name is Robert Paul Reyes, and I’m a procrastinator. I would join a Procrastinators Anonymous group, but I’m always putting off searching the Internet to see if such a support group really exists.

I start off each day intending to write a brilliant analysis of Bush’s foreign policy or some other high faluting project, but then I spend all my time online reading about Britney Spears pantyless shenanigans or about Donald Trump’s feud with Rosie O’Donnell. Then I end up writing another fluff piece about some clueless celebrity.

From “Why We Procrastinate” by LiveScience.com writer Jeanna Bryner:

“Now, a recent study reveals some causes of the foot-dragging phenomenon and what dooms New Year’s resolutions to failure.

‘Essentially, procrastinators have less confidence in themselves, less expectancy that they can actually complete a task, said lead researcher Piers Steel of the University of Calgary.”

I don’t agree with Steel’s analysis; I have tremendous confidence in myself. Some folks even accuse me of having a “monstrous ego.” I think I can write the “Great American Novel”, if I only could take a year off from work

I have confidence in myself, but I don’t have confidence that I can find the time to do everything I want to.

From “Why We Procrastinate”:

“Steel found in another study that when procrastinators do cram to finish the work, they work at a dizzying pace. ‘They work almost 11 times the average rate. Real procrastinators, just before the deadline, are mercurial,” he said.’”

That’s true, I write an opinion column for a newspaper and when I’m right up against a deadline, I can crank out an essay in about 10 minutes.

For those of you waiting for me to write a spellbinding essay about a serious subject, complete with footnotes: I’ll get around to it tomorrow, I promise. But right now I’m reading about Angelina Jolie’s desire to adopt a baby from every African country.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 28th, 2007 at 4:30 pm and is filed under Vox Populi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. | 7 views | Trackback | Print this page |

I write a weekly column for a small town newspaper in Virginia, and I also write for several Web sites. Please leave a comment or send me an email at: rreyes4966@aol.com | More from Robert Paul Reyes