[sdeep27]

I like the take here, but I think it's also worth mentioning that procrastination is also an adaptive mechanism and can be a positive thing.

As humans we have limited time and energy, and procrastination can be a signal that we are using our time and energy on the wrong project or activity.

It can also be productive time for our subconscious to come up with creative directions for our {software architecture, novel, movie, music production, etc} when we are not sure what direction to consciously go in.

[Bakary]

The problem is that the procrastination is triggered from the subconscious realization that much of the work we have to do is nonsensical or the result of societal barriers being there because there is too much competition and too many other people around.

For instance, in all of the steps needed to get job X, you have to expend effort on classes and activities in school that often do not have an impact on your actual life circumstances or intellectual world in and of themselves, but are necessary if you are to compete against other students for limited spaces in specific universities. Once in university, you have to continue a similar if albeit less absurd dance that is necessary to get a recognized certification that in turn is only needed because the employer has to sift through many applications and doesn't have time to evaluate you as an individual.

In a service based economy, there also comes the realization that the result of your work is often in the most fundamental terms an attempt to funnel some surplus your way through a product or service that is often superfluous, redistributive, and/or reliant on its marketing. Or the job itself only exists because other humans are in a state of competition or artificial scarcity. The proportion of people who actually create non-virtual wealth or provide truly essential services is fairly low. In the end, it's pretty uncommon to have a job that only gives you autonomy and inherent joy in the task themselves but also the sense that you are making a tangible non-redistributive contribution. In the crab bucket, only a small portion of the work serves to better the human condition in a genuine, direct manner.

Of course, there are many exceptions to this, and plenty of people are no doubt very satisfied with their occupations. But there is something about modern life in general that short-circuits the adaptiveness of procrastination you describe by providing only tasks that should ideally be procrastinated forever on.

[sdeep27]

Fair - we all have obligations that would be better to do now rather than later, yet we procrastinate. I understand that.

However, in your examples, again - I think procrastination provides a useful signal. If you already have your sights set on "job X" while in university, and you find yourself procastinating all your assignments - maybe it's time to re-evaluate your desire to have job X (maybe it came from your parents or societal pressure rather than an internal desire) and be more flexible in your goals.

It's a bit idealistic, but I do feel that even in modern society, people can find fulfilling work even at the lower pay-grades - and if you're continually procrastinating all your tasks that are required for you to get that work, that is likely a useful sign that it is not the fulfilling work you are looking for.

[mckirk]

I've come to realize the same thing: it's not all bad and at least makes sense in some regard.

If you think of your will power as a limited resource for example, with blocking out distractions an actively depleting activity (not sure what the latest results on that are, afaik it's a generally valid model that sometimes doesn't hold up), it makes sense to wait with starting your work until the point where distractions simply aren't a viable option anymore. Basically, you conserve energy by making it easier for yourself to stay on task, by raising the 'importance gradient' until 'action selection' becomes effortless.

[agumonkey]

I'll add that a skill in life is sensing from the get go what activity will bring more excitement than burden and say no or yes accordingly. You end up filling your days with joyful stuff or waiting to think what next good thing you'll do.