Procrastination vs Pleasure

            Starting off the school year behind a majority of your peers is never the ideal situation for a student much less an AP student. To begin I would like to formally apologize to Mr. Preston for not completing the required reading material that would have benefited me greatly, considering the essay prompt was based on the material. I debated for a while whether or not to do what I have done all through my school career and fake my knowledge of a subject and hope the teacher doesn’t realize that what I wrote about was a combination of vague assumptions, spark notes, and desperation. If I am going to be the best that I can be I’m not going to start heading down that path by lying about who I am and not fully taking advantage of my abilities. I figured since I didn’t complete the reading because of my own procrastination I thought it would be beneficial for other students to learn about what procrastination is from a scientific perspective, and how to overcome it.

            Procrastination has sabotaged all of us on more than one occasion and continues to keep us from accomplishing tasks we either want to do or need to. This problem usually is the result of contributing factors such as laziness, fatigue, or even the overstimulation of the reward centers of our brains. If a human had the ability to never procrastinate and have a never fleeting focus then what task could they not accomplish, this theoretical person could be in college before they started puberty with average intelligence, if they put there will into learning. So as people who probably possess some form of above average intelligence why do we let procrastination best us on a regular basis when it’s the one predictability of our day. This is a self-affliction is done before we know it, in ways that have become habits that border the edge and regularly manifest as addiction.

            The limbic system drives you towards tasks or activities that are pleasant and rewarding to yourself but cuts the engine to the car once presented with a task that will require actual effort. After this everyone abuses the accelerator or in your brains case the prefrontal cortex to make the car go forward. Every human being at some point has been given a job that they find less than enjoyable and they keep telling themselves that they need to do this but they won’t make the effort to actually put the keys in. While using the prefrontal cortex you have to consciously use it instead of just thinking that you should. Pleasurable tasks such as watching your favorite series or eating peanut butter and chocolate in quantities that make your blood more sugar then cells we get rewarded mentally. As of now I’m thinking about ditching this essay and playing on my phone because one task is more easily attainable. The difference in the two tasks is the instant gratification task though quick and reusable only activates the reward system with dopamine for so long and in smaller doses. The harder more rewarding task creates more dopamine in larger quantities for an extended period of time. Your brain knows what task is more fulfilling but because your limbic system is wired to avoid pain and seek pleasure we usually choose the quickest way to feeling good.

            Addiction is the brains way of receiving the rush of endorphins and dopamine through any means necessary for an extended amount of time that is otherwise harmful to oneself. If you dismiss this and believe that you are not addicted to something such as your phone or more commonly the internet then try to go 48 hours completely without it and feel the cravings pollute your thoughts. A few years ago I didn’t believe that I was any way addicted to anything in my life, that notion quickly revolted against me when I took a trip to South America. In South America we didn’t use any electronic devices besides some flashlights and cameras. We were also put on a diet that consisted of mostly greens and lean meat that was only ever served with a glass of water. I craved sugar the most which drove me to leaving our housing in the middle of the night to see if a nearby store had anything that would at least give me a quick fix. As I continued my midnight excursion in a foreign country I had barely arrived in the store manager wouldn’t let me purchase the candy and soda I had selected. The only store open at this late hour was denying me my addictions source of food. I was more livid then I would like to admit but he explained that he wasn’t allowed to sell any food to people on the trip as instructed by our leader. After suffering a little over a week my cravings vanished. I told you that little story because we live in perpetual denial of facts such as addiction because we don’t believe them to be real until faced with the consequences.

            Procrastination can be managed by setting rewards for yourself if you complete the task. The most useful tactic is to just eliminate your distractions and suffering through what needs to be done, our minds usually over think how hard a task would be to complete instead of starting the task. The most successful students aren’t all the most intelligent or the most talented but they do get their work done and that’s more than a majority of us even try. If you come to one conclusion through reading this article I would hope that you know that you have all the potential now all you have to do is actually use it, and if you don’t then what’s the point of having the best tool for the job when you only ever use your bare hands.

Works Cited

"Procrastinate." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 13 Aug. 2014

"Drugs, Dopamine, and the Reward System." Addict Science Drugs Dopamine and the Reward System Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Aug. 2014

"Procrastination - Is Dopamine to Blame? - Neurogistics." Neurogistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Aug. 2014.

"Tips for Overcoming Procrastination." About.com Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Aug. 2014.

"The Science Behind Procrastination." Real Simple. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Aug. 2014.