Pychyl’s paper starts off showing that people have an irrational disassociation from one’s future self. He states that “We know that we are beings that persist over time, but we assume that who we are now is the same as who we were in the past and who we will be in the future.” He and Michael Wohl believe that “Procrastination as a transgression against …show more content…
Procrastinators disassociate themselves with their future self or believe that the present self is worse off doing the work. Even though we will eventually be forced to a single outcome, we still delay the inevitable for no actual reason. We have a false belief of happiness now being better than happiness later. The fact that people will go out of their way to avoid doing something so measly as the dishes astonishes me. As the dishes pile up, it gets less desirable to clean them until you’re eating cereal out of Tupperware with a serving spoon. Procrastination of the little things in life, like not doing your homework before you play video games, is understandable and still done in reasonable time. When you go days without leaving your bedroom, you are doing nothing more than destroying your future self. It may be fun and games now, but when you need a couple root canals because you drank Mountain Dew and didn’t brush your teeth, your future self will regret it. We are only alive for a finite amount of time, Do not let life slip through your fingers as you ignore the chores.
Pychyl brings up valid points about procrastination being an act of self-harm that you, in the now do not feel. Your future is made from what you do now, whether it be good or bad, even the smallest things could make the difference. If the dishes are stacking up, you should not wait until you have to clean them, wash them soon after you use them. You may think you are out of energy now, and you may have more later, but this is not always the case. The grass may be greener on the other side, but it’s just as hard to mow. Save your future self some pain, do not