12 Signs You’re A Procrastinator

Admit it, most of you reading this would already be feeling guilty thinking about that assignment you’re supposed to be working on right now. Anything remotely related to work unleashes the procrastinator in most of us and then it’s the same old series of events that ultimately lead to the last-minute panic. “Something is better than nothing” would become your newfound motto in life and the best part is getting the work done on time despite what you had to go through. Here are some signs you’re a procrastinator:

You have over 23 pending things to do at this moment

Sounds exaggerated but it is true. Every procrastinator has their to-do list filled with pending things that were supposed to get done three weeks ago.

“Naale cheyyam”

The commonly used phrase in the procrastinator community. Some say live in the present, but no, we procrastinators live in the future because basically our entire life is scheduled for tomorrow. If you’re wondering if your procrastinator friend is the king or queen of procrastination, let me tell you the truth – there will never be such a person because they are busy convincing themselves that they will claim their throne tomorrow!

“I’ll start at sharp 10:00… Oh no it’s 10:03 now!”

Here’s to everybody who likes to start their work only if the time is in multiples of 5. It’s either 10 o’clock or it’s over. And if you miss that exact time then oh well, we shall wait for it to be 11.

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The deadline is your one true motivator

Motivational videos have zero effect on you. The thought of the deadline is the only true motivation that can get you going. And if there is no deadline…naale cheyyam!

Coffee runs through your veins

Most procrastinators finally get up from their couches the night before the deadline and would probably be 27% lazy and 73% coffee. Keeping you up through the night is just a bonus when compared to the mood-boosting effect of caffeine. Anything is a cinch when you have one whole night and four cups of coffee, especially in student life.

You keep lingering around the outer details

Now you finally get started with the task, but it takes an eternity till you stop focusing on the less important details and start the actual work. Anything remotely related to the task at hand is sufficient to make you proud. Surely there would be memories of you sitting at your table staring at the beautiful margins and titles you worked on for hours but with nothing written.

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Suddenly everything else interests you

Everything is interesting if you are a procrastinator who is assigned some work. The walls start radiating this strange beauty that you had never noticed before, that movie you had put off suddenly finds its place in the must-watch list, and replying to pending messages on social media becomes the need of the hour. Some people would even start cleaning their rooms or start reading a book. You would start doing the most random things just to steer away from the job you’re supposed to do. And strangely enough, sometimes it proves productive – you get a clean room!

(Secretly happy) damsel in distress

When you meet with an inconvenience that hinders your work, there is that mixed feeling of annoyance but also relief at the same time. While your productive friend immediately finds their way around the problem and continues with their work, the procrastinator in you says that this is a sign from the universe that you should stop working.

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Daydreaming comes back in full force

Suddenly your mind is filled with the most insane thoughts or you start imagining various scenarios you didn’t even know you liked. Continuing that imaginary argument or picturing yourself in that movie you watched, every thought becomes one to be lingered on.

You start coming up with unrealistic plans

As insane as your backup plan might sound, what’s important is the relief it brings because now you at least have a plan. Only that it’s usually setting the alarm in the middle of the night, doing three tasks at a time or magically getting productive at your own will and finish everything off.

Fighting failure with failure

Procrastinators have a weird logic when it comes to doing things. “What if I fail at it?” is a common thought that triggers their procrastination, so as a solution they decide to not do it at all – which obviously means that they will fail at it anyway.

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Midnight magician

Finally, at the stroke of midnight on the day of the deadline, every procrastinator unleashes the magician inside them, and gets the whole work done in one night – whether it’s studying the whole syllabus the night before the exam, or finishing a project at work that took you weeks to plan. Then they themselves wonder why they couldn’t do this in the first place!

That last-minute adrenaline rush

Let’s face it, nothing beats that feeling of panic, excitement, and motivation altogether and the pure euphoria once the work is done and submitted. Procrastinators can be said to be living in their own world of danger-sports where that last-minute panic attack could move mountains.