Is Procrastination Thought About Wrongly?

There was a day. During this day, I realized I was procrastinating. I was playing video games intensely for a few hours in the evening despite having a lot of tasks to do but my mood was uneven since I was glad to procrastinate.

Whenever we think about procrastination, we have only one emotion: guilt and occasional anger. Why? Because we could’ve done something better instead of spending time doing leisure activities.

I don’t disagree. Yes, you’re right. Procrastination does indeed make us do activities we otherwise don’t want to and are often escaping from the task we ought to do.

But it’s also important to look at the deeper reason. Let’s say I had an English exam tomorrow but I was still procrastinating by exercising that evening. Am I wrong? Yes I’m wrong in terms of being effective.

While that’s the case, what if I did the same but I procrastinated two days before the exam? I don’t think it’s wrong. We often procrastinate not because we want to waste time but because we think there is enough time to waste. It may sound similar but there’s a huge difference.

I mean, is it really wrong to procrastinate if I know it would only take a day to study while I have five days left? What do you expect? For me to study all five days? I find that if you’re optimizing for being effective then it’s actually detrimental to do so.

Of course, we can talk about the difference between effectiveness and efficiency but that’s a different topic.

Read More

Understand or to be Obedient?

I think we all have lived a meaningful chunk of life whether that is twenty or fifty years. And anyone who lived that long finds few patterns in life. Of course, if you do not think much then you probably did not but anyways today I’m sharing about one of the patterns I have thought about a bit.

It’s an interesting dynamic we have in human relations. The person who is obedient and follows every order is seen as the so-called ‘good guy’ while those who question everything are seen as ‘rebellious’.

But it’s not completely wrong. We want someone who contributes to society, not a wheelchair skeptic so someone who actively takes up our duties is naturally appreciated. But are there any disadvantages of such a life?

On a surface level, there aren’t many. At most, you seem easy to bully if you’re an obedient person but on a deeper level, you do lose valuable lessons if you didn’t otherwise. These valuable lessons instead would have been taught to the one who questions instead.

Is it simply enough to know the specifications of an order or the why and how behind one?

In this theoretical framework, if someone lived a life where they didn’t question anything compared to one who did then the one who did undoubtedly knows far more than one who doesn’t.

While that’s obvious, I think it ties back to the common phrase we hear: “Don’t give them the fish, instead teach them how to catch one.”

Read More

Who is Everyone?

In life, we often define terms. These terms can go from specific terminology that’s present in biology such as zoology and others. These kinds of terminologies are rather strict and understood instantly since they are defined for a specific narrow purpose.

There are also other terminologies which are confusing. For example, a simple one can be a pen. Is it black, blue, red or other rare colors of a pen? We don’t know but we assume it to be blue since it’s the most common.

Perhaps if a teacher uses it, a red pen but regardless, this is an easier example. A more confusing example could be a building. Is this building an apartment, a high-rise office tower, a mansion or other dozens of varieties of buildings?

I’m questioning because I am interested in our definitions. To clarify, we are not talking about the nature of language and its grammar per se but simply what we assume when a word is used. By grammar, it could be the difference between homophones etc but by assumption, we are talking what humans generally assume the instant we hear about it.

Today, I’m exploring the wording of ‘everyone’. When we say everyone, what do we exactly mean? Are we talking about literally everyone? Or are we merely assuming a certain subset of everyone? If so, on what basis though?

I am not silly enough to question whether it’s literally everyone or not. Any sane individual knows when we say everyone, we aren’t literally saying everyone but what needs to be challenged is the reasoning behind a subset of everyone.

If someone says, “I hate that everyone these days is littering the streets.” Perhaps such a certain contains anger and frustration but more so, in this context everyone seems to be the majority of the people.

After all, if literally everyone is littering the street then he would not say people these days are littering since it would become a regular occurrence. Only because it’s becoming far more often than the past is he bringing it up.

But on a deeper note, let’s say person A and B littered the public space. Person A littered because he couldn’t find a dustbin while Person B did so accidentally. My point is Person B does not litter intentionally.

Doesn’t this contradict our above silent agreement that everyone is assumed based on a certain subset of people? But clearly, Person A and B are vastly different. Person B would not even litter usually while Person A does without any guilt. Can these two people really be a part of everyone?

Read More

Getting Rid of Emotions

We all strive to be something better. Successful in a word but how do we go about it? Certainly, doing an action that gives results helps.

If you want to be a pro at basketball then it only makes sense to practice basketball.

But aside from this, we also think about our mindset. Our mindset or rather our internal mood or energy dictates how we approach it and even how consistent we can be about it.

One of the ways we poorly or instinctively think is removing our emotions from the equation.

We think as such, “If only my rational mind can exist without any emotions then I can be infinitely successful in all areas of life.”

We despise our emotions since it catches us off guard and mismanages life.

Speaking of which, we even have a common saying that roughly says, “Don’t let emotions get in the way of your decisions.”

I am not saying that emotions do not affect consequences negatively. If you hit someone when conversing since you got angry then obviously it’s stupid and of poor taste.

All those are 100% valid points to make but the problem is that, this so-called rational mode of ourselves is from a rose tinted glasses view.

You certainly hate the anxiety you face when making a presentation or doing something completely new which is again, valid.

But you should also realize that this anxiety probably helped your ancestor to survive off and allow you to exist.

After all, by being anxious and skeptical about new ventures in the jungle, he ended up coming out alive since he didn’t choose the riskier options present.

Emotions can be helpful and exist for a good reason.

Read More