SNOOZE! SNOOZE! SNOOZE!!
….Guess what…. you lose!!
Before I get you guys started on my coding journey, let me introduce you to my old friend, snooze. You might also know him, but you call him procrastination. Leti me telo you something guys, nimeshoka na hii friendship. As a matter of fact, I’m currently on a self-induced procrastination rehab. Hopefully, I do not relapse… or rather, hopefully, I procrastinate on my relapse.
I have been procrastinating for the better part of my life. I almost thought it had become chronic. The biggest challenge came with me thinking that I was just a lazy person. My mum threw around the word “lazy” because I did not like to do dishes or clean the house, and I believed her. However, I went to boarding schools and there I would be up by 4 am, take a cold shower, and rush to class to do my math. What happened to my laziness then? At this time, I was willing to sacrifice my sleep or force myself out of it if I had to. So, am I lazy? Not even close!! I just do not like to do important stuff when I need to. This brings me to my campus life. HO! MY ! GAD! This is where the snoozing came and stuck with me. I had no drive; I just did not feel like doing anything (and not coz for a minute I looked like Bruno Mars). All I needed to do was put in the bare minimum in my life and a lot of effort in watching movies, sleeping, and ignoring life. So why did I break up with a habit with which I had grown so familiar and fond?
REALITY! Even with my procrastinating habits on campus, I did manage to do a few productive things. The more productive I became, the bigger my goals grew. However, I found myself snoozing on my goals and hence my life. I would get up every morning, set up a few goals and then, weeeell, watch a movie. Yes I know, I was a big joke. Before I got into bed, guilt would eat me up. I would find myself curled up in my bed with wild wild wild! wild wild wild thoughts. When I was with me, all I had was wild thoughts. But not in a cute way. More like a “what the fuck you bitch!!” way. I needed to snap out of my addiction. I tried everything possible. Listening to Oprah Winfrey, setting time tables, and drawing my friends into trying to develop good habits, but nothing worked. Guess what did…
UNDERSTANDING PROCRASTINATION. Before I get to this, I came across a blog that enlightened me on what snoozing your morning alarm does to you. You train your brain to give up. You reinforce to your brain that important things can wait as you do the less important stuff, like that Netflix show you do not like so much. Here is the catch though, once you snooze on that clock, you are literally snoozing on life. That clock doesn’t read 8 am; it reads “LIFE”, or better yet “PRIORITIES”. Once you hit the snooze button you are simply saying “chill baaana! I am busy”. Am I shouting?
So, what is this procrastination? Simply put, its the negative emotions that we associate with specific tasks. As human beings, once we find ourselves straining, we seek relief. With procrastination, we use the negative reinforcement approach to encourage procrastination. Once you engage in a more “enjoyable” activity that takes away the negative emotions associated with what we really want to do, that relief is what makes procrastination such a vicious cycle. I snapped out of it by fixing my mood; by being more focused on the journey than the result; by realizing that my actions are on me, and they always have consequences.
Now, imma head out. I hope this helps someone.
Be there for the next one.
Yours, Dame-Techie,
