# Defeating Procrastination.
## Categories:
Education, Gifted Education, Self-Help, Behavioral Modification.

## <a name="contents">Contents</a>
* General Observations
* Sources of Motivation and De-motivation
* Primary Dimensions of Adjustment
*	Suggestions and Tips.
* Examples of people who learned to do what they disliked.
* Other ways of getting results.
* Self-forgiveness, and the long goals.

## General Observations


Motivation is complex and not easily understood, and everyone suffers the burden of learning ways to self-manipulate to alter behavior. It is also basic to human life, and is involved in all thought and action. Procrastination concerns any goal, but more especially meaningful goals, so concerns almost all aspects of human life, particularly activities that are important to us. Attention and motivation are at the root of human behaviors. It is a mistake to think these are not intertwined, or not basic to human life at all times. Articles on this topic are frequently dissatisfying because they fail to appreciate this, and instead of providing nuanced recommendations, with an eye to the whole, present some solution that covers only a small portion of the phenomena. The result is like a diet plan that does not take everything into consideration. One fails in earnestness, because there are too many aspects to the issue that have not been considered. 

Because of the pervasiveness of factors, there are innumerable relations to other topics. Selective keywords are included to provide a sense of scope, and of the important elements involved.

When considered carefully, one quickly finds oneself considering the neurological and evnironmental precursors of attention. Behind concerns about why one selects one activity over the one that is needed, is the concern about why one fails to maintain attention, or generate attention, for the required acts at earlier more desirable times. While going very deep on this topic is interesting, it is not very useful for anyone seeking self-help or cooperative improvement. We will not cover the pharmacological or clinical techniques for modifying behavior, or any approach requiring long term professional intervention. Here the interest is self-aware modification of environment and self to support individual efforts at modification. It is for those who think "I'm having trouble doing the things I need to do, or want to do, but I don't believe I have any medical condition that will block my progress, if I work at it." The details are important, for forming an appropriate strategy, and finding tricks, and generating awareness. The goal here is psychological/environmental self-manipulation. General approaches are given that can be sifted through, or tweaked, for specific use.

Procrastination itself is a complex activity that one should hope not to become good at. There are many maladaptive self-delusions and tricks that are easy to miss. These are stress relieving and pleasant self-manipulations to alleviate the uncomfortable feelings and dissonance of not doing what one simultaneously feels is necessary or desirable.

There is no single recommendation or trick that will enable one to alter behavior successfully. Motivation, choice, habit, and behavior, involve complex brain functions, and thereforie have many pieces. These parts are often hidden from view, and are certainly far from being understood. A complete picture of human psychology would be required to fully comprehend motivation. Thus attempts to help oneself and others with motivational challenges, should be kept realistic, and be sensible that there is a process of discovery and trial and error involved. 

When attempting to support someone with motivation troubles, one cannot know exactly what is contributing to the problems, because he/she is probably not fully aware of the pieces involved, making it impossible to build a complete case history. Communication and interviews will be found inadequate for the task. Furthermore, there is risk that any particular recommendation will fail to result in success, since the particular case is not sufficiently understood. Instead of offering specific tricks, which can fail or backfire, it is better to supply many tools that can be used in wide variety of situations.

The best approach, as far as I can see is to list out the factors that contribute to success in the area of interest, and use that as a guide for gradual improvement. 

Within attentional control is mindfulness, and the ability, which is not simple, and must be learned, of strategic extinguishing of thoughts. As certain thoughts arise, they are detected, presumably by metacognitive processes, and are promptly let go. There is a distinct sensation involved in the extinguishing of certain ideas and even feelings, that can be learnt in the process of meditation, and also in fasting from recurring behaviors. Recurrent behaviors stem from thoughts that are not always apparent until long after they have arisen, but through fasting one gets a better feel for how they arise, and how they pass by.

Of long term importance is the ability to see how insidious replacement behaviors arise in consciousness, and formation of meta-cognitive processes for detection, prioritization, and attention maintenance. For some things that present to consciousness need to be dealt with, but others are mere distractions from within. One needs to be able to automatically sort it out, preferably practiced until it is subconsciously achieved in the course of preferred activities. As for myself, someone who feels pulled between alternative ideas, associations, tangents constantly, and excess curiosity, such that one does nothing for not having anything discernably favorable to pursue ("buriden's ass" of curiosity). Instead of entertaining every idea that comes to mind as important (although sometimes this is an excellent intellectual brainstorm" (literal) to let happen, it is actually a brainstorm and is not focused, and therefore when appropriate, an ability to discard is valuable. This is easier for some than others depending on their neural hardware and neurotransmitters. This is easily demonstrated by administering verious drugs.


Change of habit is incredibly difficult, and I doubt anyone could use all of the suggestions at once and maintain the change permanently. But making a plan that takes many of these options into consideration, and making key environmental changes, can result in a lot of progress. This fact should not discourage-- rather it should thwart unrealistic expectations. Personal growth is a long term process, and it is healthy to accept and plan for most great changes to not involve quick fixes. Early on, this is where hopelessness is felt, or plan deviations that are not understood. Insidious replacement behaviors arising out from consciousness are rewarding because they activate habit relief and often use low mental energy over high.

Procrastination with schoolwork should be combated on several different fronts at the same time. What are the factors involved that contribute to successfully following through on tasks, that are not necessarily interesting to accomplish? First, let's list out all the factors that seem to be involved.

* Energy, mental and physical. 
* It has to be fun.
* Time devoted to the task.
* Planning.
* Desire for new habits
* Habits and compulsions
* Distractions
* Consistent with longer term goals
* Consistent with identity

Now let's build a picture of what success would look like, taking these factors into consideration. There are many paths to success. People do not use the same techniques, they simply apply what they find useful as they go. Case studies in people who are able to direct attention, *find* motivation, and reach long term goals, would be very different from one another, but there would be common features.

## Sources of Motivation and Demotivation

Demotivators and competing Motivators
* Anxiety
* Depression
* Attention Deficits
* Obsessive compulsive Disorder
* Autism Spectrum disorders
* Beliefs
* Prejudgment
* Drugs
* Compulsions
* Friends and Family
* Excitement, Pre-existing Interests
* Pre-existing habits, compulsions
* Punishments
* Impulsiveness
* Apathetic, Sociopathic, or Psychopathic personality.
* Personality in general.
* Appearance and relative health.
* characteristics of the task. Too long, too difficult, 
* perceptions of the task. Unrealistic
* Perceptions about ability, self-esteem

Motivators
* Social approval
* Money 
* Rewards 
* Removal of obstacles
* Imagined rewards
* Proximity
* Comfortable conducive environment
* Memory - remembering to do something.
* Priming
* Previous conducive habit


This is far from an exhausitve list. Instead this should give a glimpse into the many pieces.

It is helpful to think of someone who is very successful and highly motivated. One should not miss the other end of the spectrum and see those who are the least motivated.

Depiction of a highly motivated person:
* I enjoy what I do (but to get there, I did what I did not enjoy for a long time).

## Primary Dimensions for Adjustment

t is most important is to create a maximally favorable setting and context for success. To do this, it is best to imagine what it would look like to get all the work done. Be holistic about it, and think about the most important “dimensions” involved.

Suggestions:

Think in terms of: Enjoyment, Energy, Environment, Imagination, Communication, Social, Planning, Time, Threats, Tricks (how to trick yourself), Rewards, Visualize


## Suggestions

* Time/energy: Finish work at school. Every moment you could be doing your work, do it, and you will see great improvement. This way all work that could be completed while at school, is completed at school. When you have a full time job, you will have no desire to bring work home. Doing so is inefficient. You get paid less per hour that way. It is much better to use all time wisely to separate work life from personal life.

* Enjoyment, Tricks: Make boring tasks fun. Add personality. Feel free with it. Teachers would appreciate creative humor and personality more than the answers, and it will make grading fun for them. Add flair, or spin the tasks to be more interesting to you.

* Enjoyment/Energy: Find a way to focus, so you can enjoy free time when it comes. You don't want your lack of focus to result in cutting into your personal time. Remember why you are at school, when at school. When studying, remember why you are studying. (Even if really, you are there because you are forced to. Ignore that. Think about the fact that you actually can go do school, and you can make an opportunity out of it. Imagine if you could not go to college, what resources you would lose. Personally, I like having a library, and a place to research, and time to read. Now I have to make time for all that. In the future, you might need tools that college offers to actually do what you want. You can’t experiment in a 10 million dollar laboratory from home. Remember what you have, and what you can do with what you have). If you don’t focus on why you’re there, you will have to think about all this when you are doing other things, when you really deserve to enjoy with a clear head. (When you’re at home, are you thinking about school still? That is due to lack of focus at the appropriate time and place.)

* Plan/Vision: Have a plan. Without a plan, things will come up, that will cause you to do other things. Friends will ask you to spend time with them, you will get more tired than expected, or you will want to do other things you already do habitually or compulsively.

* Enjoyment/Tricks. Imagine it is fun and easy. getting work done efficiently, without excess concern for quality, is fun and will earn you time to do whatever you want.

* Social/Communication. Talk to your teachers. I know, it sounds crazy. Even if you think you do not have a good relationship with your teacher, tell them your feelings. You will be surprised if you do this. They will probably become more supportive since they can understand what is happening. I did not do this. But if you do it now, it will help you in college and with future bosses.

* Visualize/Plan. Mentally trace out your day, and all the things you will do. Focus on what you will do, and not what you will avoid.

* Time/Energy. Put time aside, for when you will still have energy. *If* you have work to do after school, do it immediately when you get home, before you risk drifting to other things and using all your energy.

* Visualization/Plan. Think to yourself, I need to finish this in the time put aside. Nothing spills out. Your goal is to energetically finish it in the time. It is a race, and it isn't that important. Only finishing is important.

* Enjoyment. Create a nice and comfortable environment, free of distractions. It should be barren of things to look at, other than school work, and have everything you need to achieve the task. A quiet room, facing a wall with a desk is a good option. Listen to music (best if no lyrics), make some tea or coffee. Make it a situation you would be happy to repeat, because you have to repeat it. It will be your new habit. It is practice for your college or work life, so you'll need to find a way to like it.

* Energy/Environment/Tricks. If still distracted, make more permanent sacrifices, in your larger environment. Give yourself consequences for not doing what you planned. No television at all. No internet, no social media, no phone notifications. These should already be out of the study environment listed above. But if you don't even make it to your environment, or you don't even keep to the schedule, it means you are already distracted... so bigger changes need to happen. To give an example, when I kept getting sucked into watching television, I ended up removing the batteries from the remote, and wrapping it in a paper note to create an obstacle. Today I don't even care about television. You don't need to go that far, but if necessary, do it.

* Focus/Environment. Sometimes the environment is not working. Somehow it is distracting. If you need a change of environment to focus, make the change. But the new environment should resemble the earlier environment, in that there are no distractions. Studying at a friends house, with the television on, talking about other topics, will not work well. Personally I like coffee houses with earplugs or ear buds with music.

* Focus/Tricks. Be aware of how you drift away from your work. Do you really know how you end up not doing what you plan to do (on a mental level, how distraction arises)? When you become aware, the distraction is weakened. After all, perhaps before you don't even feel it happening.

* “Fasting” from distractions. Have some days where you skip all the things that distract you. You'll find on these days, urges to go back to your regular activities. Commit to not doing these other things. This will give you a chance to see how these other motive forces are generated, and spring into your consciousness. This is why fasting with food is useful from time to time. You can see exactly how food related motives come into consciousness, in surprising ways. And then you get the chance to watch those motivations drift way, and feel what it is like to not cave in.

* Reflect on your accomplishments. Doing small tasks is great: you can now genuinely relax. Feel good about discipline gained. Notice and take the good feedback from teachers. Make it more rewarding by actually recognizing yourself and taking recognition from teachers. And ignore when it doesn't go well the best you can.

I did not add an item for “Threats”. By that I mean, recognizing the risks of not doing what you need to do, and seeing the threats in yourself and environment preventing you from doing it. Entertainment and other people are usually *Threats.* Imagine how it plays out, and plan around it, being as vivid and visual as you can be. (“Threat” is a little over the top, but even that helps. The whole process can be kindof fun. I think of it as a psych experiment on myself).

At school, there is a new focus on trying to complete work in a timely fashion, to save entergy, and to complete tasks before mental and phsyical energy is depleted. This means enjoyable activities or relaxation at school is sacrificed to finish work before getting home.


Completing the work will require replacing other activities, that historically have been more interesting and motivating. Replacement of behavior is implied. To do this successfully, it will be important to make long term plans, and create structures, increasing the probability of success. 



### Goal: Reserve Mental Energy
* Remove de-motivators. Things that weaken your impetus towards completing a specific task.
Television, Social Media, Phone, Email, Notifications of any kind-- turn them off.

* Be aware of your motivation reserve
* Be on guard against task substitution. What are your substitutions you keep handy?
* "Time Box" it for when you still have energy


### Goal: All homework is classwork.
Finish the homework while at school, any free moment you have. The goal is to feel done, and have *nothing* to do when you get home. Get it done fast and don't worry about quality. If you feel like it later you can improve it. If you don't guess what?- it is done. This is a skill in itself. Get the right answers as fast as you can. Soon your mind is faster and more intuitive as well.

Tip: Can you determine what homework you will have in advance. Try to get ahead.


### Goal: Think about Strategy and Averages
Patterns are key. Habits and discipline vital. 
Effort happens at first, automation follows.

Create a favorable environment, that you can still enjoy.
* Listen to music. Choose music with no lyrics.
* Make it well lit
* Drink some tea or coffee (low caffeine at night or you will deal with insomnia and sleeplessness the next day).

Don't have a great environment or have to be in public?
* ear plugs
* face a wall or window

### Remind and Inspire yourself
Take a tip from athletes. They keep motivators handy. Quotes, lists of goals, dreams-- are kept handy. Videos and images of important people and role models are kept.
i
### Future-proof yourself
Diodging obstacles is hard
A decisive plan and vision in advance uses less mental energy and produces success.
Keep to the strategy and your average completion will increase.
Mentally trace your day-- imagine the exact path you will take visually. Think it through in advance and make it dodge rather than encounter obstacles.



## Examples of people who are able to do things they were not motivated to do.

It is important to recognize the variation in goals, situations, and expected outcomes. Through all this variation, there is a helpful pattern we can find. Sometimes, we find that a distant goal is more possible to us than we realize. Other times, we find that procrastination is a sign that we should abandon the goal itself.

| Visceral | Intellectual/Aesthetic | Aptitude | Skills | Ease | Success Probability | 
| -------- | ---------------------- | -------- | ------ | ---- | ------------------- |
| low | low | low | low | low | low |
| med | med | low | low | low | low |
| med | med | med | med | med | low? |
| high | med | med | med | med | med?  |
| high | low | high | high | med | med? |
| high | high | high | high | low | high  |

To add to the complexity, most goals are composite, because they require many subgoals. 
If you have a goal, think of what it takes to succees. Make a list. Then, for each thing you need to do, create a row that includes the real ratings. Resist editing it based on any mood you are in. Attempt to do it rationally and then let it be for a while. For each, create a corresponding table of where you think you can alter yourself to get the levels higher. Then think, will I succeed if I can make the previous table like the second table. The second row is what could happen if you use comprehensive self manipulation tactics like those listed above.

The diagram does not include all permutations, because intutively, there are just a few of special interest and importance for this discussion (and there are 243 possibilities). One should use this as a tool to determine if the goal is sensible and the odds of working through all levels in the path to the goal.

Levels in the path to the goal.
* Inception phase.
* Rationale phase. It is an illusion to think that the first step is generate the motive force to do it. That is step two. First is to determine the worth of doing it. This is why we separate rational goals and plans, from impulse and compulsion. There are things we can do, because to motive force is easy to find (visceral), but then it is not rational. Rational decisions, are the decisions we would especially expect to procrastinate about. 
* Mental Readiness phase.  
* The second step is to generate sufficient motive force to begin. 

These steps can processed simultaneously and subconsciously by a person. Awareness about the pieces in time is important. It should be noticed that usually this is a jumble for most people. Stages are skipped, and no wonder procrastination occurs. The mental and phsycial environment is not conducive for success. 

One should also determine if a goal is absolutely necessary or foundational, or if it is a "nice to have." One can use this to quantify the amount of effort required, and then think about one's rhythm to estimate effort required.

Here it is a good idea to get past something people can become hung up on: Do I want to do it or not? We can fix this with a simple distinction. There are different categories of "wants" and "desires" -- intellectual, aesthetic, and visceral. An intellectual desire is seeing that some alteration for the better is "good" or "valuable." It is a logical conclusion that is pleasing. Aesthetic is similar. It involves a pleasant vision that feels desirable. Neither of these two necessarily connect with a visceral internal impetus towards taking all the acts required to reaching the goal. Visceral is the desire to do what we already do. The goal, and trick in life, is to find what types of activities are possible to convert from merely intellectual or aesthetic to visceral, or things we can come to enjoy in practice. Because there are many things we could try to force ourselves to enjoy. But the things we try to force ourselves to enjoy, we also hope, will bring us to an aesthetic or intellectally prejudged place in the future. There is a process of self discovery involved in finding activities that are both pleasant and have potential for future fulfillment. 

It does not make sense to forever attempt to make something enjoyable, and bring about motivations, if it is not aligned with goals. 

The exception to this, are things we must do to secure basic things in life, that might be preconditions for the other things we want, and in these cases, we have to be very smart in how we get ourselves to do them. Significant self-manipulation may be requried to get ourselves to become physically fit, eat healthy, or work everyday to earn money. 

It is not merely about learning to delay gratification, but how to make the delay as pleasant or suitable to our characteristics as possible. 

## Other Ways of getting Results

Resumes:

For me, the single biggest motivator was in the unlikeliest, most boring of places- The Resume.

This might work for you as well. I highly suggest writing a resume early. Just to start it, and watch it grow. A resume is like a journal in a sense, but once you start, you want to make it as interesting and high quality as possible.

It becomes amazing to see how the resume that is growing, actually creates opportunity and brings in money. And you can see how you're in control of the whole thing-- suddenly you want to see A's on there, and college courses, and experiences. And you start to see what you've done and what is possible.

If you don't have a resume, I recommend starting one with school achievements. Another approach, is to create a linkedin account and start building out a profile, trying to make it accurate but as favorable as possible.

## Self forgiveness

Ultimately there are times you will not do what you hope to do. It didn't turn out as you expected, or somehow it wasn't within you to act, or finish... Then a few days or weeks after that time, you will forget why you cared. If you experience regret instead, then you should rethink regretful thinking in general. You don't have complete control.

Life is a slow process-- let it be slow. Get used to accomplishing only a little at a time. Becoming more in control of motivation, attention, and procrastination will take a long time. Overcoming fear alone takes a long time. "Rome wasn't built in a day" is an apt expression here.The mental apparatus you will need to alter might exceed the complexity of Rome's physical plan and structures. 

If 3 days of 7 are active, for just a few hours, at the end of a year, you will have had 156 days of accumulation, of **something** useful, if you only remember and look for it. It is better to see the distant future, and just point where one would like to be. Over time, all your slowness, and delays, become understood, and you learn to *work* with them. You start to see the reality of slow progress, and become more hopeful about accomplishing things slowly. Glacial progress can create rock solid, durable achievement.

Surely your see how your immediate goals, point at longer term virtues? If they do not, then they are probably superficial mirages, and you are only fooling yourself.

Get focused, simplify, and strive for discipline. Find a rhythm, and you'll get stuff done at your own pace. 


## Resources/Bibliography
###Cursory Reference
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procrastination
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivation

###General References
Encyclopedia Brittanica Entries:
Oxford English Dictionary Entries:
Websters Entries: 

###Discipline Specific References:
Dictionary of Psychology: 

### Key Research Papers to find.


(Role of the prefrontal cortex with attention and impulse control. Meaning can be taken from deficits in this area.)
Evans, James R. (8 August 2007). Handbook of Neurofeedback: Dynamics and Clinical Applications. Psychology Press. p. 293. ISBN 978-0-7890-3360-4. Retrieved 8 October 2010.

(definition of personality that is good, requiring that it involves inefficient planning. Deferring decisionsn and activities does not imply irrationality. Procrastination is shorthand for avoidances which fall further to the end of the irrational side of the spectrum of prudent action.)
Steel, P.; Brothen, T.; Wambach, C. (2001). "Procrastination and Personality, Performance and Mood". Personality and Individual Differences. 30: 95–106. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(00)00013-1.

(Genetic contribution, twin studies)
Gustavson, Daniel E.; Miyake A; Hewitt 
edman NP (4 April 2014). "Genetic Relations Among Procrastination, Impulsivity, and Goal-Management Ability Implications for the Evolutionary Origin of Procrastination". Psychological Science. e publication (6): 1178–1188. doi:10.1177/0956797614526260. PMID 24705635.

(Circadian Rhythym and Procrastination)
Horne, JA, Östberg O (1976). "A self-assessment questionnaire to determine morningness-eveningness in human circadian rhythms". International Journal of Chronobiology. 4 (2): 97–110. PMID 1027738.

(Drugs and treatment of attention issues)


(Neuropsychology and attention)


http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=horne+ostberg+1976

### Keywords
Laziness, Attention, Tardiness, Akrasia, Attention Economy, Avoidant Personality Disorder, Distributed Practice, Postponement of Affect, Resistance, Emotional Self-regulation, Attention Management, Decision Making, Temporal Motivation Theory, Time Management, Trait Theory, Pomodoro Technique, Time Perception, Work Aversion, Workaholism, Restraint bias, Empathy Gap, Egosystonic, Egodystonic, Student Syndrome, eveningness, Mindfulness, Extinguishing

### Theories

* Expectancy Theory
* Bernard Weiner’s Three-Dimensional theory of attribution.
* Hawthorne Effect (Henry A. Landsberger). Western Electric study at Hawthorne.
* Maslow's hierarchy of needs. 
* 


### Videos

### Support Groups
http://procrastinators-anonymous.org/files/PA_Tools.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lucinda-cross/procrastinators-anonymous_b_6987828.html
https://www.facebook.com/ProcrastinatorsAnonymous/



## Appendix

### Table Guide
Visceral is comparative. Think of it this way: will this motivation win against other visceral motives? Is it weaker or stronger than the others. Low indicates weaker, medium indicates equivalent, so it will sometimes win, and high indicates it will frequently win. Interestingly, if you have many compulsions or many other things you enjoy that are highly motive, then the frequency of success of even a high visceral must be downgraded to medium or low.

Aptitude. Here should be taken to include interest, and ability. This may not be "intellectual interest" so it is easy to get confused, and think there is no desire to carry out such tasks. For this, think of something you are very good at, regardless of if you believe you like it or find it intellectually or aesthetically satisfying.

### Exaggerating the Pains of Procrastination. 

Procrastination should not be taken to imply, that one will not accomplish much, or that one will not reach meaningful life goals. Procrastination is not how dreams die, at least not necessarily. It is a mistake to think that anyone lives according to their hopes and dreams at all. No one can honestly claim, in old age, that their life went exactly as they planned and expected. Youthful visions for the future are immature and incomplete, and new aspirations arise afresh every few years. Our plans are short-sighted, and for good reason: we are unable to remember, with any detail, what it was we wanted only a short time earlier, because we are constantly changing. Everyone procrastinates, especially when young. And nobody is sure what they want to achieve, at least not until they are older.

To a large degree, when we are immature, we cycle rapidly through random desires, as they stir up,  without any good reason to choose one over the other. None of these desires, that relate to long term goals, can be preferred over any other. This is important, to keep this in mind, during times of decreased motivation and procrastination.

Even after this is alleviated, and motivation can be generated as needed, and focus has been attained, unpleasant mysteries remain. We are all born without a plan and without direction, and there is no *right* direction is to be found. We think to ourselves all our life: What will I do next? What *should* I do next? How can I know what I will want for myself, tomorrow, or ten years from now? Can I recall the things I really do want, when the time comes to act? If I can recall, does that mean I will act accordingly? Will my mood be correct, or will I instantly squander an opportunity? Is it possible to internalize my priorities?

For any goal we form, there is no switch that will activate us towards its realization, or any means of determining if the goal is *right* for us.

Dreams turn out to be whimsical fantasies of immaturity-- it is a mark of childishness to take dreams too seriously. It is clinging to previous, less-mature thoughts. We are uncertain what we really want, until we have experienced enough life, and are stable enough, to achieve a more fixed self-understanting. We learn to make decisions between our diverse talents and interests, which are too numerous to develop jointly in any one lifetime. This relates to the question of depth and breadth of experience and learning. One must use one's judgment and simply choose. How rare is it for someone to know what they will want all life long, and continually act consistent with those wants? As if new wants do not replace earlier ones? Everyone discovers they want to be too much, and prune it down, to what is realistic. Adults ask teens to determine what they would like to do with their lives, out of self-projection-- they wish they could have chosen what they wanted earlier. By projecting, they reveal how little they recall about their earlier life. If a teen were to follow this advice, and really choose a course zealously, they would be faulted for naiveté, by at least some grown-ups. Some would tell them to prefer bredth of experience to depth. For how can one choose depth with no breadth at all! Yet they are expected to choose.

Human potential and dream realization is a source of chronic confusion. The word "Potential" brings misfortune; we apply it incorrectly when we are melancholy or dissatisfied. When indolenct, we use it to exaggerate our difficulties, and our sadness swells; despair sets in. "I will never reach my true potential!" we tell ourselves, without really knowing what we are talking about. We feel hopeless in the face of a long and arduous task, and think that if this goes unfinished, then all is for nothing. 

"Potential" is a confusing word-- when I use it, I feel inauthentic. But the usage is epidemic, so there must be some reason behind it. I cannot myself give up the idea of growth and progression, according to personal strengths. But that is a very different formulation. Clarification of the other, more common formulation is needed. I think we can achieve this by briefly analysing the idea of personal potential, and by remembering to use an analogy to the growth of a bonzai tree, which will be discussed shortly.

On analysis, I find that potential is indeterminate. It is about unspecified possibility, around personal development and future rewards, or desirable situations and states-of-affairs. For the logically inclined, I say no truth value can be applied to statements like "I did not live up to my potential." It is much healthier to be specific, and say for example, "I did not become a famous country singer." This feels authentic to me. To this we can apply a truth value. It is specific enough, to keep a sense of proportion with the rest of our life. In my case, I might realize that I was delusional about my singing ability, and then remember why I did not choose this course.

Potential is open-ended, and this is made clear, when we consider the range of potential over the animal kingdom, from basic species with only a few possibities, to the most gifted of humans with the maximum of possibility. Animals develop as much as they can, by simply reaching maturity and behaving instinctively and freely, with basic needs satisfied. This is nearly true for people as well, but we don't talk about human potential unless we are referring to achievements and development. So we cannot quite say this about humans. For a human, there are many maturization paths, and many possibilities around development. We can think of many fuzzy futures for ourselves. For most people, potential is too big to fill with any single activity, accomplishment, or future scenario. We can imagine fulfillment in one way or another, but not in all ways. We might say that a swimmer reached his potential by winning many gold medals. But if this swimmer is very gifted in a universal way, then very much was lost by focusing exclusively on swimming. But what we mean is usually quite narrow, in the sense that we are not thinking across the life span, and we are only considering a small cluster of aptitudes, rather than all of them. Gifted individuals are better at developing numerous skills in parallel, or at the same time, but no matter who you are, you must choose between breadth and depth. 

The pain associated with procrastination, demotivation, and feelings about "unrealized potential" is great among those who are both highly gifted, and find themselves in favorable circumstances. It is also great, for those who believe they have only one or two gifts, because then there could be no confusion over which skill to practice. Whatever the level of giftedness and talent, the suffering can be great if it is perceived that there is nothing excusing lack of development. 

When a person is born with exceedingly great gifts, they are like a young tree, containing instructions to become among the best of its kind<sup>1</sup>. It will be the most reslient, the tallest, the strongest, the most fruitful, with the most heavy limbs, pointed in all directions, with many smaller branches and leaves.

Others may lament excess development in one area, at the necessary exlusion of others. A man might wonder why he chose to become a chemist, or a cellist. Instead, he might wish he was eclectic, to cover the breadth of experience and knowledge, to achieve wisdom and balance. Perhaps this is the taller tree, with more modest branches, that towers over vast spaces. Some discover later that they do not want a large limb, where it has grown, and where it is pointing, and wish for something different instead. Neither of these indicates unfulfilled potential in an absolutely general sense. It is absolute only with respect to specific capacities, that have not been developed.

We can speak of the fullness of a satisfying life, with some measure of actualization, but what is fulfilling in the end, almost certainly is not somethign envisioned in the beginning. If one has lived a full life, to advanced age, and high maturity, it is a mistake to think one's potential has not been realized, in some meaningful ways. The main outward evidence of realization, for any species, is maturity. What more can we expect beyond developing to high maturity, when we consider what that really implies for a human being? People have many aptitudes, and they can be directed in innumerable ways, and there is no way to prefer one aptitude over another, in some final judgment. Even where one ability is stronger than another, one must consider the preferences of the person, and the advantages/disadvantages of developing that ability. 

Perhaps what is meant is best described in the cases of what we believe is squandered potential. Some ability exists but is not used, ever. Thus there is no progression of a skill, and an imagined consummate level of ability is never attained. I don't believe this is a demonstration of unrealized potential. 

Potential is simply all of the highly desirable futures we can imagine for a person, when we know something about what they are capable of. We are not so imaginative as to see all the possible desirable futures. If a person simply lives well, and develops some skills greatly, we are not inclined to question their success. We speak of unrealized potential, when things have not gone well, or some skill has gone unused.

For all humans potential must be unrealized for some skills, at the development of others. One must select one at the expense of others. Potential realized in one domain implies potential unrealized in another. For someone with few skills, we might lament their fortune when the fail to develop their single talent to a high ability. 

One thing that must be admitted is that no person is able to know their own potential. This should be clear, by the observation that no one can describe their own potential when asked. Everyone is self-searching all their lives for meaning and purpose which is never answered for them. Purpose is bound up with potential, because if one can identify what one "is supposed to do" it is usually related to talent or intense interest, which are usually themselves related. I do not think people have a potential to discover, and my reason is simple. Humans are highly flexible generalists, that have an infinite number of things they can do, if placed in the circumstances to do it. 

Furthermore, I believe there is a defect in the idea of potential. Everyone thinks that a seed has potential, to grow into a blade of grass, for example. But what is the potential of a burnt seed-- completely charred? No one believes a dead seed has any potential that a healthy seed has. But let's take it a step further: What is the potential of a seed that you know with certainty will be burnt? Is this healthy seed still one that has potential to grow into a blade of grass? The actual future of any object, seed, or person, must be sufficiently open to consider it's potential. Any objections that a soon-to-be-burned seed still has potential, is connected with the recognition that a seed has instructions for normal growth, and our imagination telling us that it will grow if we do not burn yet.  Yet the seed is burnt and nothing grows, as anticipated. There is not enough room here to explain in detail, but I do not think human beings have a future that is as open, as their imaginations lead them to believe. 

This is the useful meaning within the concept of potential- that we can expect, in a set of conditions favorable, for growth and maturity to occur according to a pattern related to the instructions contained, in interaction with the surroundings. Potential itself is open-ended according to this, and I find this to be a correct and full definition of potential. Potential is so open ended, that we must admit that there is no meaning to "fulfilling potential" that is not itself very general. Fulfilling potential, is mostly just growth to maturity. Two identical twins, like two seeds, are expected to mature in basically the same way, but can mature in ways that are different according to the environment. So long as both grow and mature, we can say they have fulfilled their potential, as biological organisms containing instructions.

But at this juncture, the reader will exclaim, that more is meant for the person. A person, being more complex, has more variability in maturity, than a seed, and that some people are fortunate enough to grow their natural talents to very great levels, while others who are also talented, do not.

What would it mean to know the potential of something? Firstly we are confined to speaking in the singular, as if humans didn't possess hundreds of abilities, that could result in innumerable skills with innumerable applications. But let us look at how the story of potential normally plays out. Before we appraise the potential of any child, we first want to know some things about the child. Nowadays we do not make the mistake, of saying all people have equal potential. A child will have certain attributes, that we discover in their education and behavior. Our observations are limited. We learn that a child has aptitude for piano, only if we provide the opportunity for them to learn piano. Some aptitudes are more general, like speaking ability, or drawing ability. Many aptitudes, one must realize, are permanently unknowable. But we've identified piano playing ability. The next step is to connect this with some desirable future related to piano playing, that we imagine. The child might come to imagine a similar future. We might say that this child's potential is to become a piano player. But then what if the child decides not to play piano any longer, for lack of interest. This person may come to believe that they have not fulfilled their potential, if they choose an alternative lifestyle, that does not result in something as great as what was imagined. 

A specific potential is nothing more than our imagined progression of some perceived aptitude. Taking a gifted child as an example, someone who has many general abilities, one having no more weight than the others, would be quite perplexed about determining potential. They would use their imagination and make comparisons. Should I be like Einstein, or should I be like Mozart? Or should I take a very different course, and be like Buddha, and renounce accomplishment and attainment, as false paths? There is no possible future or exemplar to choose from in this case. And even if there were an aptitude, we cannot determine if the aptitude should be preferred over another lesser aptitude, that is more beneficial in a variety of ways (some aptitudes provide very little material rewards). And so we end up back where we left off- it turns out that potential is itself open ended. Without any criteria, we have no way to determine what our potential is and whether or not we have lived up to our potential.

It is clear that a human will grow as a seed does, in a predictable fashion, according to the life-cycle of a human animal. Yet humans have no specific occupation calling them.

Identical twins, at the very first, are copies of one another. They become idential later, because they came from the very same zygote-- the same cell. If they never split, one person would have grown, as a normal individual does, uniquely. It is for lack of a twin that we consider ourselves unique both in constitution and in experience. Identical twins are clones, but even clones will have separate circumstances of life. From the moment the split occurs, experiences are different. All life long twins could be nearly indistinguishable, if not for the accumulation of differences due to variable experience.

Any one of us without an identical twin, may have had an identical twin that failed to grow and was reabsorbed by our mother early in gestation. It is nice to think of this, whenever one exalts in being "special" or "unique," or feels preachy, or otherwise inclined to narcissism and megalomania. The idea of an identical twin that ends up wanting a different life from us, should give us a clear idea that humans have no discoverable potential. 

What sort of goal is this, knowing that very few people, truly do all that they can with their native talents? What relationship does this have, with "dream realization." 

The same might be said, by these same people, about the whole of our native talents and capacities. Some children have talents that are quickly identified by adults, 

Life is happening to us, inexpicably, unimaginably, however well it corresponds to our plans. How delusional is it to think that we actually carry out our life plans? Sure tasks can be completed, as with a grocery list. But is it ever like one wanted or expected? Life recollected is starkly unlike life imagined. 

People can only hope to know what they want to do early, create goals based on these activities, and roughly complete them, as they are defined and redefined in the course of life. 

Biographies cancel this delusion by merely stating the sequence.

It has been said, that even the famous have no choice in what they are remembered for. Complete all your goals, and satisfy your dreams, and still you may find you are remembered for something different.

This is a source of profound human discontentment, and confusion. Most work goes uncompleted and unstarted. Laziness and sloth lead to abandonment of hopes and wishes. The lucky few who complete their mostly empty visions, later see it was not as intended-- neither on the path nor at the destination. They are compelled to exaggerate and extend their accomplishments, by others who want the same for themselves. Satisfaction is short: there is always the trailing "What do I do next?" There is no eternal relishing of realized dreams.  The successful conceal their pains-- their clinging to fleeting moments, and futile attempts at dream maintenance and repetition. Dream realization instead leads to greater despair. Our short lives and decline protects us from everlasting discontent about the breif rewards of success.

But people will continue to strive, and they should. The deeply pessimistic account above, can be countered by stories of self-actualization and realization. This would create a more balanced account. However, these stories of contentment, are closely related with social and environmental adjustment. People who have understood and accepted reality, mostly as already written, in the account of Siddartha Gautama, and the Dharma. These people are the realists-- the self-contented and self-satisfied. These are those who have "given up" and yet have not "given up."There is variability even among these types, but it is clear they are fine with reality and they feel the true boundaries of their own powers. They are prepared to recieve, and even enjoy, huge variations in fortune.

This article is called "Defeating Procrastination," but it could have been called "Coping with Procrastination," or even "Enjoying Procrastination." It is about understanding motivation, finding tools and techniques for increasing motivation for reaching desirable goals, and simultaneously, to attain some self-understanding, and contentment with limitations. To be really good at realizing goals, one must give up some things one wants. Motivation is partly a game of prioritization and cancellation of desires. To really enjoy realiing goals, one must understand the realities of the process, and come to accept what one chooses and fails to choose. 

Goal realization is important regardless of what I have said above. Life is little more than mundane "doing and thinking," repetition of habit and compulsion, and goal oriented activity. Goal oriented activity, is what makes change possible. Achieving virtue, and creating a plenty of resources, for the enjoyment and satisfation of human life, is possible, and we see evidence of it all around us. This will be important to us when we forget the existential questions and stop reflecting on existential realities. 

However, it is valuable to keep the deep and concealed aspects in mind as well, becasue with this we are more likely to find lasting pleasure and happiness, and prepare us for the discomforts of limited control. We can become free spirits, and obtain peace of mind, by taking the practical and the philosophical elements very seriously.

## My History

Why am I qualified to provide advice about this? Perhaps I am not the most qualified, but I know I have something to say, that will be valuable, and I hope transformative. I was a failed high school student, that left early, with a GPA of 0.23 in my last quarter (first quarter of senior year). I was an occasional truant, that was completely unable to finish homework. I never won the attention of a teacher or mentor. I was a polite, respectful, and moral teenager, that had no direction. In previous years I did better, but there was a steep decline and disillusionment early in high school. I lost my greatest childhood care, soccer, when I did not get onto the junior-varsity team, for the appearance of being too physically immature, and for lack of political positioning. I was one of the best athletes in my league, and this came as a complete shock. 8 years of play came to a permanent and abrupt end.

My primary school related problems were motivation related, and these lingered into my college years. I did poorly despite being identified as gifted twice in childhood. The ultimate cause of this, was rebellion from authority and a complete lack of structure towards success in education. Boredom and distance from a caring adult also played a role. I was wildly motivated in too many diverse directions, and personal freedom, curiosity, independence, and adventure continually dominated my activity. This is the curse of giftedness: there are too many desires, ideas, and contradictory motivations, such that one can accomplish anything or nothing. Many find they cannot choose, all their lives. I eventually found my focus, after very great pains, and became a successful professional in software. I cannot pretend that I am not torn between interests, but I have found a way to combine them together, in a way that does not stifle my activity. I have had many successes in school, in relationships, and in my profession, and many failures to speak of as well. Soon I will have an autobiography page, to describe my experience more thoroughly. For now, one might substitue a reading of my linkedin page, or other social media content (Quora, etc..), to get more details. But read along and be a judge for yourself, and see if this essay is true to your experience.

My own motivation issues were very challenging, and pitched at the ages of 15-18 and 20-24. There was much that I could not bring myself to accomplish, that I wanted badly; today there is still much that I cannot bring myself to do. But I have clarity now, that one must live in this middle, between doing and not-doing. One must exist amidst activity and reluctance to activity. One creates a pathway towards action and generating nevertheless. I have had much success, and am quite generative now, but not as generative as I would like. But I know how and where to go, and more importantly, I can feel it, and I have the habits behind me to support it. So now, I am confident I have the advice to give, and perhaps what is needed, to help nudge and push others, towards self-motivation. I am probably as motivated and goal oriented as I could be, at this time in my life.

I took my current abilities regarding procrastination and motivation for granted until recently. I was prompted to collect my thoughts by someone in high school, struggling with motivation to complete schoolwork. This ignited within me a desire to help, out of shared experiences. Old experiences and emotions came back to me. What follows is a mixture of advice I provided this student, and additional thoughts, tools, and tricks I have collected over the past twenty years.
