I, Too, Procrastinate
For the longest time, I thought I don’t procrastinate. Among all the traits that people typically associate with procrastination, I have none of them. I’m excited to get out of the bed on a sunny day. I make and execute the plans I make for both work and leisure. I am physically active. I keep my living space organized and clean. I don’t hesitate to go to any kinds of doctors. When problems come, solve them. I abide that. Sounds like the opposite of procrastination, right? But what is procrastination, really?
Procrastination is the inability to take actions in a timely manner that the rational mind clearly knows that the actions will bring benefits that outweigh the (usually painful) efforts required. However, I realized that I probably just don’t dislike most of the things that other people procrastinate to do. Listening to podcasts while cleaning isn’t so bad. I much prefer moving my body around in any ways than just sitting around. Going out and doing stuff (honestly anything) is pure fun and exciting, so why would I even hesitate? A few days ago, I was sitting on the train, thinking what I should do once I get home. I've been trying to change my habits around finance but there are a few bank things that I need to take care of first, so I thought maybe I should do them. Frankly, all the bank errands started around the beginning of the year already. Nonetheless, immediately I could think of at least two other things I could do. Unsurprisingly, I decided to do those other things instead of the bank business. Suddenly, the thought hit me: "wait, isn't this exactly what procrastination is?" It’s not that I don’t procrastinate. I just procrastinate in (a) different thing(s) (so far I've only identified one).
Finance, is ones of my weaknesses. I don't make financial plans or even track my spending like most of my peers do, so age is not an excuse. Luckily, I’m not a big spender by nature, so I can still have savings while pretty much doing whatever I want. I was shocked to learn that a lot of my friends do budget allocation and have different bank accounts for different purposes. Some even keep their receipts (although I still don't comprehend how it helps your finance. I guess it must serve some purpose.) They were equally shocked when they learned that I don't even know what my monthly credit card bills are. I have a strong defense for the poor management of my finance (from other people's perspective.) My philosophy is: 1. if you can and will allocate enough budget for all the things that you want to do anyway, what bother? 2. Why do you need to know how much money you spent if you aren't going to do anything about it. Overall, I am all up for investment but am cynical about all the other little habits which I think are just a waste of time and whose only benefit is that you feel good about yourself.
One of my closest friends was really abhorred by my attitude towards money. He argued that these habits will come handy when you are tight with money. I think what he said can be true, so when he told me to do a few things in order to build new habits, I thought "why not?" I'm all up for good advice. I should open a new bank account. Transfer the amount that I plan to spend every month to that account from my existing savings/ salary account. If I have money left, great, keep it as a treat for the future. On the other hand, it's easier to tell when I overspent. I acted quite promptly to the first step. Not only did I open up a Rakuten bank account, I even finally opened up a trading account. I got rejected first for some ridiculous "because you don't speak Japanese" reason but I was determined enough to try again. This time I learnt to pretend that I speak Japanese of course. I really patted myself on the back for this one.
Then what happened? Months have passed. I have never actually transferred money to either the bank account or the trading account. In Japan, there are million steps you need to do. Their UI/UX are just awful that I really took my time to click this and click that to just understand what exactly I have signed up for. This is my excuse of why it took so long. Still, now I understand what's going on but I still don't have any money in those accounts. I'm still not allocating budget, not tracking my expense and not investing.
If you are hoping for another twist in my financial endeavour at the end, I have some bad news for you because there's none. I procrastinate too.
This is a very interesting article. I feel like I procrastinate a lot, but I mostly consider it lack of motivation. Fun fact, I don't procrastinate with things I MUST do. It's mostly the things I'd like to do that end up sitting on the backlog, because I tend to prioritize essential things. But I also learned to be a little more indulgent with myself. I'm not sure that what you describe is really procrastination though. Do you really need to do that? It feels like people tell you you should, but you are aware it won't really affect your life much and that it might not be worth the effort.
ReplyDeleteTake your friend's quote: "These habits will come handy when you are tight with money!"
Well, it never happened that I was tight with money. Since I started working (and was making 1/4 of what I'm making now), literally, never had money problems. I think some people don't need to worry too much because they're naturally good with it. I too don't really keep a tight eye on my finances (though I do know how much I'm paying in credit card bills every month), but I also know that I could be saving something between 20 or 30% month if I did. But would it be worth the extra stress? Not really, not for me. At least, not for now.
So, is that procrastinating? Or is it just being smart at optimizing your time and being able to find the best balance between what you must and what you want to do? :)
> Do you really need to do that?
DeleteI think sometimes we should not be the judge and trust in other peoples' advice and suggestions, especially when we don't know better. We will always do things that are the easiest and/or WE think are important but not indeed be the case. to answer to your question, it'd be a "yes" from people who know me.
> is it just being smart at optimizing your time and being able...
At the same time though, I can't agree with you more. (Tangential topic:) most people think that I always rush into doing things, but from my point of view, I think people waste too much time trying to get the best things, while I'm quite happy to just move on with "good enough" (even sometimes by spending more money.). Maximizing reward to time/money ratio is more important than just maximizing rewards.