Procrastination Anxiety. Does the longer we wait to do something makes us more anxious?

Dear Readers,

I am a natural procrastinator and I have been for as long as I can remember. I eat my breakfast at lunch time, I used to do my homework for class while the teacher was taking attendance. No matter how large or daunting the task, I can't remember a time in my life when I actually took the initiative to start a project right from the onset. It's probably one of my defining characteristics.

Lets not confuse tardiness and procrastination, I never had a problem with deadlines, but my rationale was that as long as the work gets done, who really cares when you start. Remember, it's not how we start, it's how we finish.

That cliche just happens to work for me, but isn't that the point? I was giving this idea some thought today and wondered have all those years of procrastination catered to my anxiousness?

Lets break this idea down to it's simplest form. Assuming today you get assigned a project that isn't due for two weeks. You decide there are just other things going on that seem to take precedent and you say to yourself as I would " There's plenty of time to get this done, I'll just hold off for a little while."

That's how it all starts, but really what we are doing when we say this to ourselves is:

I'll keep this project in the back of my mind, so that i have something to keep thinking about. It's like these little ghosts that haunt our minds and every so often until we actually take the initiative to start, they keep haunting us; thereby giving us additional things to worry over.

I don't see myself changing anytime soon, but I know that I can be more conscious of the things I have to get done. I can't say that procrastinating is all bad, it has taught me to work under pressure like a champion. I can knock out a 20 page paper in an hour, clean my house as if i were the Tasmanian devil. The bad part is, it doesn't slow us down, it just makes the adrenaline which causes our panic attacks and anxiousness to become that much more prevalent within us.

I think the idea is that if we pace our actions, we pace our thoughts and therefore we would decrease the likelihood of feeling anxious. We can slowly train ourselves to do things in pieces and avoid "the rush" which occurs when we feel that time has gone by and we have no more choices. Than all we are left with is consequences and it's either you sink or swim at that point.

I know it will be difficult for me to retrain myself to do things in stages, but I'm working on that right now and overtime I think that will help to reduce some of my anxiety. I would love to know from all my fellow procrastinators on this issue. Does procrastination lead you to be more anxious?

_The People_