Procrastination

first a definition from everyone's favorite, Wikipedia :)

Procrastination is a type of behavior which is characterized by deferment of actions or tasks to a later time. Psychologists often cite procrastination as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision.

For an individual, procrastination may result in stress, a sense of guilt, the loss of personal productivity, the creation of crisis and the disapproval of others for not fulfilling one's responsibilities or commitments. These combined feelings can promote further procrastination. While it is normal for people to procrastinate to some degree, it becomes a problem when it impedes normal functioning. Chronic procrastination may be a sign of an underlying psychological or physiological disorder.

procrastination (uncountable)

The act of postponing, delaying or putting off, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness.

Procrastination is the thief of time. — anon.

So either I have some underlying psychological/physiological problem or I'm just plain lazy. I think it's the latter...I'll be the first to admit that a good portion of the time I'm pretty lazy. I've gotten better about starting projects early on and not leaving things until the last minute but I do like to drag my feet from time to time. Now most likely people that have worked with me in an employment setting or even at school probably don't think I'm lazy because I usually pull through AND I'm really good at looking busy :) Like cleaning the apartment instead of writing the last page of that paper or organizing the desk drawers instead of typing up a report. I find that in order to do a complicated or time consuming task I like to warm up with a mindless one. This may delay me in completing the initial and more important task but cleaning up or organizing first makes me feel accomplished and more capable of successfully completing the task I originally set out to do. Ok maybe I do I have an underlying psychological problem....