PROCRASTINATION TO OBSCURITY
A rather convoluted caution heard in the old days was: “Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone”. Of course there was always someone who would say that the word “willing” should be replaced with “unwilling”. But that being a matter of perspective one takes the essence of the caution – and files it away in the recesses of one’s mind.
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And the world goes on while we keep putting off that great novel that we had dreamt of writing or that great social project that would draw us into the limelight. That BIG project in its dreamy, misty elusiveness holds us aloft, separating us from the rest of humanity,as we dream on … like Hardy’s Jude, The Obscure whose “dreams were as gigantic as his surroundings were small”.
Jude yearned for the happiness that Christ minster seems to hold out for him, the lights of the town he could see on the horizon; later on we find him lying in“the pathetic state of mind of a middle-aged man who perceives at length that his life, intellectual and domestic, is tending to failure and gloom.” Our greatest fear is to die in obscurity. Without leaving the proverbial footprint in the sands of time.
And yet procrastination takes its toll – leading millions of us die with the song in our hearts. It is this universal failing that prompts the likes of Phyllis Korkki to tell us how we can convert our dreams into reality. Something that, perhaps in another context, Stephen Covey keeps harping on: The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing, in his Seven Habits and in First Things First.And then, there are umpteen other authors who have written about the need to get your priorities straight and to get going on your dream-project. So what’s new about Phyllis Korkki?
The book under review starts off on a defensive note – justifying the author’s own tendency to procrastination and how it is necessary to get the dream to fill you up so much that it pushes you into action.
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In fact the book describes the steps in the long journey the author has taken to complete The Big Thing! So Phyllis starts on the foundation that we have a dream “to express our truest being”, and that’s the dream that will leave a legacy far beyond our physical existence on this earth. There is enough detail about the need to be physically fit and therefore the need for proper posture and breathing habits when you type and / or read.
There may be times when you may like to work in bed – all that hassle of getting up. She has suggestions for that too. How do you balance your day job and the need to express your truest being? And what about your love life? How do you tide over or take advantage of an illness when your dream project is burning inside you? All these aspects of the life of the potential writer are handled by the author with a psychologist’s detachment, as far as that is possible – interspersed with candid tales of her own struggle to continually get back to the book.
She also talks about the need for and the advantages of being in a group: the kind of assistance and confidence that a like-minded group can give you. Beyond the mere security of numbers there is the possibility of the group members with their own special interests helping you out in the research, the composition of your material and so on. So if you feel that you would have written a great novel “if only I had the time to write!” then this is the book to read and digest.
The author also brings home the fact that by postponing your project, your BIG thing, you are actually passing on the responsibility of your possible legacy to your ‘future-self’. It is the present-self that needs expression and it is the responsibility of the present and past selves to get the project up and running.
The Big Thing, she says, is an accumulation of the moments where you brought yourself back to the thing you decided to create because it was meaningful to you. According to Joe Finder (author of Guilty Minds) the most successful writers are not the most talented; they are the most stubborn. Anne Lamott (author of Bird by Bird) quoted by Joe Finder, says,“the good news is that some days it feels like you just have to keep getting out of your own way so that whatever wants to be written can use you to write it … the bad news is that if you’re at all like me, you’ll probably read over what you’ve written and spend the rest of the day obsessing, and praying that you do not die before you can completely rewrite or destroy what you have written…” Basically, you’re your own worst critic. This needs to be controlled.
In short, the message is: Keep writing – writing is a full time job. Get that dream-project moving. You do have enough time – manage it ruthlessly; manage your distractions with equal ruthlessness. Set up milestones for yourself and reward yourself at each stage – even if it is only a cup of coffee!
The problem with books on procrastination, however, is that it is difficult to read them completely at one sitting. Every page reminds you of your own projects left undone – the faucet that’s been dripping for your attention this last month, the lawn that need tending, your investments that need to be revamped … and the book that needs to be completed. But the easy frankness in the book keeps you going till the end of the book – and to your unfinished projects.
