Procrastina- tion is when we put off doing something now even while knowing it will be worse for us later. It’s a spiritual issue with a long history. The earliest written account of procrastination we have is from ancient Egypt. The account from ancient Egypt tells us of issues that arose from putting off farming tasks and what that cost them.

So, humanity has struggled with the issue of procrastination for a very long time.

Putting off farming tasks could lead to rotten crops and sick livestock. It can and did. It’s part of why a lot of the lore around the gods of farming and fertility, and what they required, came about. The consequence of ignoring this higher power in their lives was severe yet they still did it.

We still haven’t figured a way to eliminate procrastination from human behaviour. But consider, even in the most primitive conditions we can imagine, humanity still displays procrastination. When survival is a day to day issue, humanity still procrastinates.

I put off having a second child and when I finally decided to have one I ended up with twins. Does that count? Well, delay is not by itself procrastination. Delay can just simply be informed choice. Some activities are indeed better off delayed till an appropriate time.

Does it have to be a bad thing? Procrastination is actually a complex issue.

Much of the recent research in neuroscience reveals a great deal about not only human nature but animal nature as well. Simple survival itself is not sufficient to satisfy us. Even animals will neglect survival needs if the need for play, the need for social interaction, is not being met.

It’s said that all work and no play makes for a very dull person. It actually makes for worse than that, try dead person, everything from self-destructive behaviour to complications arising from chronic stress, alcoholism, recreational drug use. The whole array of issues stem not from a failure to do practical things, but from the insufficiency of practical things to provide quality of life. Is this fair to say?

We bore ourselves. Yes. Another word like bore is dig. Perhaps digging a grave? But that is not the reason procrastination remains such a serious issue.

Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.

Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~