The words ‘motivation’ and ‘procrastination’ have become buzzwords of late, often used in conjunction with one another to describe a severe lack of the former leading to an abundance of the latter. This highly infectious form of unproductivity appears to be particularly rife amongst those in their late teens (I for one cannot criticise, as this article is a form of procrastination in itself, oh the irony), which is hardly surprising considering the pressure and uncertainty that many of them feel regarding the path in life that they must shape for themselves. The overuse of these words has led them to become a socially acceptable excuse for laziness, disillusionment or simply boredom regarding tasks we feel obliged to complete, yet cannot. The very fact that procrastination has become so widely tolerated – and even appreciated – has not only spawned numerous complaints from older generations but has seemingly led to the creation of a society of apathetic teenagers lacking the ‘get up and go’ mentality that our parents constantly claim to have had.
The most obvious explanation for this is the common scapegoat – the internet. The ubiquity of it and the numerous forms that it takes ensure that hours of entertainment can be found without having to leave your bed. This is particularly true with things such as Netflix. Whilst many forms of social media are equally as addictive, their purpose is fulfilled reasonably quickly. For example, you’d never spend 12 hours on Instagram or Snapchat, but it would be perfectly acceptable to binge-watch an entire series of Orange Is The New Black, hoping that your computer screen doesn’t reflect the mound of essays piling up on your desk. In fact, procrastination has a very competitive element to it, at times it can seem even honourable to place your whole life on the back burner because you’re dying to find out who A is in Pretty Little Liars (guilty as charged).
Of course, there has always been lethargy amongst adolescents and ours is definitely not the first generation to be shamed for their lack of motivation, but it definitely appears that there’s a direct correlation between the growing popularity of social media and the growing disillusionment with their responsibilities that young people possess. Sites such as Tumblr seek to exploit this – their users post numerous text posts humouring the practise of procrastination, which infinitely leads to even lower levels of motivation and a satisfaction that their actions perfectly represent societal norms. However, it seems a shame that many young people are allowing their lives to be dictated by forms of media that aren’t really that interesting or entertaining; their popularity arises more from the fact that they are a justifiable distraction from hard work rather than a genuine interest in the application itself.
Like Russell Brand, I appear to be all sweeping statements and no solutions. As somebody completely guilty of procrastination, my only advice is to channel your lack of motivation or world-weariness into something vaguely productive. It has been proven that simple actions such as cooking dinner or going for a run increase your sense of general motivation and allow you to gradually wean yourself away from the multitude of screens and touchpads that surround our day to day lives. Procrastination however, can be seen as a necessary respite from the pressure of struggling against a tide of uncertainty as adulthood looms and childhood is a far-off flicker. Productivity and procrastination can coexist: provided that we find a way out of the dark without using our iPhone screens as a torch.
Words by Beth Chaplow