It took famed procrastinator Truman Capote six years to complete his seminal true crime book, In Cold Blood, not because he was dragging his feet but because the resolution was tied up with the fate of the two perpetrators. After he delivered the manuscript in 1965, Capote declared his next work would be “easy by comparison”. However, as he lay on his chaise longue, pencil in hand, his writing process stalled. He asked his publisher for an extension. Then another, and another. Capote died in 1984 having never finished the book. His formidable case of writer’s block earned him the reputation as one of the 20th century’s most notorious procrastinators.
We all know the heavy feeling of malaise that can descend when we are required to write a difficult report, clean the oven, file our taxes, or perform any of the necessary tasks of adult life. We do this even though we know delaying the inevitable creates stress and makes it harder to begin.
“I think it’s part of the human condition,” says Megan Pozzi, an unofficial procrastination expert. “As long as there are tasks that are unenjoyable then procrastination will exist.”
Since 2019, Megan has observed procrastination up close. She’s the Support for Learning team leader at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), where she and colleague Elizabeth Naish run an event called Night Against Procrastination, part of a program to help students combat it. They try to normalise procrastination without encouraging it.
この記事は The Australian Women's Weekly の May 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は The Australian Women's Weekly の May 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
Take me to the river
With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.
The last act
When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.
Growing happiness
Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.
Budget dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
