Today I really just have one main thought that has carried over since a I needed to fill a short-timeframe request from my boss this morning. I was a bit concerned I wasn't going to be able to make the deadline, but in the end I did and it went well.
The relief and pride that I felt after completing the task in the short amount of time and under pressure reminded me of an interesting discussion I had with one of my psychology professors on procrastination.
I don't know about any of you, but I am a chronic procrastinator. "Why put off until tomorrow what can be put off until the day after tomorrow." kind of person. Not really intentionally, it's just a bad habit that I slipped into a long time ago. At first I said it was just because I work best under pressure; I've played soccer my entire life and I honestly feel at my best when everything is moving quickly and I execute well at the exact moment I need to. It's a rush.
But let's stop and think about that rush for a second - it's the happiness we get from success, compounded with the fact that we found success under tight restrictions. Go us!
Applying that rush out to procrastination, we find that procrastination reinforces itself. 'Wait, what? Having to pull an all-nighter to finish my paper shouldn't reinforce itself, I'm tired and this sucks!' Right? Wrong. Sure, the whole not sleeping thing sucks, and you have to deal with the consequences later, but you also see the consequences of the work you did during that night of no sleep. You got the paper done before it was due, turned it in on time, and hey, when you got it back you see you even got a B+! Let's pull out the positive feelings from this situation:
1) I finished it! It's done! I did it!
2) It was hard work, but here I am handing it in on time just like I was supposed to.
3) I did what it took to complete it, even though it meant not sleeping. I did well under pressure!
[Note - we never seem to really ponder that the pressure was created by our own choice to procrastinate....]
4) I got a B+! That's pretty good, and just imagine if I hadn't waited until the last minute, I'll have to try that next time.
Next time - hey, I got a B+ last time, I don't have to worry about starting super early this time either....
So the cycle continues!
It is true that there are people who perform best under pressure, the adrenaline and energy it brings get them fired up and rolling better than a more relaxed atmosphere. Keep in mind, though, that you can't always be under tons of pressure or you're going to get caught eventually, pressure is good, consistent heavy pressure can be crushing.
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