Part 2
In the first article we spoke about the bad effects that
procrastination has on our lives both on a ruchniyus
level and on a gashmiyus one, and that it is not only
practically a hindrance but that it is also intrinsically
bad. In this article, we will deal with a few of its causes
and some remedies.
A common reaction of parents and teachers when they see
excessive procrastination in their children and students is
to criticize them and say something like, "Why are you being
so lazy? Why can't you pull yourselves together and ... (fill
in the blank) earlier?"
This standard reaction is built on a common misunderstanding
that all procrastination is rooted in laziness. The truth is
however that the Ramchal in Mesillas Yeshorim (perek
9) writes that although laziness is the dominant reason for
procrastination, there is also another reason for it.
Realizing this distinction is essential before we can
effectively attempt to help ourselves, our children and
students become more efficient, since obviously the remedies
for each cause differ.
Ramchal in Mesillas Yeshorim (perek 9) writes that
laziness, the main cause of procrastination, can be broken
down into three subcategories. The first one is "the desire
for leisure." I heard the best description of this from a
troubled teenager who told me, when I tried to get him out of
bed to go to shiur, "Rabbi, you have to offer me
something pretty exciting to compete with my warm and
comfortable bed!" Although this is an acute example of the
way "desire for leisure" cripples lives, we all suffer a bit
from the desire to stay in bed, "just for a few more
minutes," sometimes even at the cost of missing a bus or
being late for a minyan.
The other two subcategories of laziness are: "Detest of labor
and the love of delicacies," which the Ramchal goes on to
describe as ". . . someone who wants to eat his meals in
total calmness and tranquility . . . (and he) is determined
to only walk slowly." I think that this is what Maran Rosh
Yeshiva HaRav Shach zt"l was referring to when he
would say, "The people of our generation want to be
talmidei chachomim no less than the people of the
previous generations. However there is one major difference:
we also want to sleep eight hours a night and drink Coca Cola
all day, while the previous generations worked hard to become
talmidei chachomim!"
Unfortunately the cure for laziness isn't easy. First, we are
by nature lazy, as the Mesillas Yeshorim writes
(perek 6), "You must realize that a person's nature is
very lethargic because his physical composition is earthly
and bulky. This causes him not to like toil and work . . .
One who seeks to transform his nature completely requires
great strength."
HaRav Chaim Shmuelevitz (Sichos Mussar Behar-
Bechukosai 5732) maintains that the "great strength" to
which the Ramchal is referring is in reality a superhuman
strength that no one actually possesses. The only way to
attain it is to totally use the strength that we do have
— and thereby merit Hashem's help to enhance and add to
our efforts the additional strength that is needed. To
totally muster up all of one's strength is a difficult task
for anyone and especially for someone who is lazy.
Shlomo Hamelech in Mishlei (26:16) reveals to us that
another reason why it is so difficult to overcome laziness
is, "A lazy man, in his own eyes, is smarter than seven wise
advisors." A lazy person possesses a full arsenal of excuses,
justifications, and rationalizations to convince himself that
there is no need to take any action. His laziness blinds him
to such a degree that even if seven wise men prove to him
that he should do something, he doesn't move from his
position, believing that only he is speaking sensibly.
This posuk teaches us that his arguments do not stem
from his intelligence, but rather it his laziness that
controls and taints his thinking and reasoning.
HaRav Chaim Shmuelevitz (ibid.) cites an example of
this from the leaders of the Tribes, the Nesi'im, who
were not the first group of people to bring donations to
build the Mishkan but were the last ones. On the other
hand, we find that at the time of the inauguration of the
Altar they were the first ones to bring sacrifices.
Rashi explains this discrepancy in that they initially
reasoned that it was more beneficial for the Mishkan
that they wait. That way they would bring whatever the rest
of Klal Yisroel didn't bring and was still needed for
the building of the Mishkan. What happened, however,
was that Klal Yisroel brought all that was needed to
build the Mishkan and their contributions were not
used for the Mishkan itself but they were only used
for the garments of the Cohanim.
In order not to repeat the same mistake they were the first
ones to bring the inauguration sacrifices of the Altar.
Seemingly they acted intelligently and properly.
However, Rashi points out that their title is written in the
Chumash missing the letter "yud." Rashi
explains that this teaches us that they were wrong for
waiting with their donations because their real motive for
waiting to donate at the end wasn't, as they may have thought
to themselves, that it was beneficial for the Mishkan,
but rather it was simply that they were lazy and it was their
laziness that blinded them to their real motives.
Sad to say, because it is so extremely difficult to rid
ourselves of laziness, people rarely change until they
experience some horrible experience of stress or pressure.
Only then do they finally yell at themselves, "That's it! I
have to .... sooner. No more waiting for the last minute!" It
is similar to an alcoholic who doesn't get jolted from his
state of denial until something very tragic happens to
him.
The second reason for procrastination is fear, which is an
extremely wide-ranging category that includes many types of
fears, some visible and some very subtle. The most basic fear
is, of course, the fear of physical pain, like pushing off
going to a dentist for fear of having to have a root canal.
To prevent this type of fear from thwarting us from acting,
we don't really need superhuman strength but we do need to
change the way in which we look at things (which admittedly
is also not so easy). We have to keep focused on the outcome
and not on the unpleasantness of getting there.
This type of thinking is similar to the incident with the
Chofetz Chaim who, when asked why his house is so humble,
replied that a man traveling home after many years of being
in captivity doesn't notice the bumpiness of the roads on
which he is traveling to get there since he is so happy about
where he is going.
Another strategy is to visualize and feel the consequence of
not doing the action which is being put off. The realization
that "no action" is often more painful than doing what one is
meant to be doing, can result in simply "choosing the lesser
of two evils" and doing it just "to get through with it."
This is in line with Chazal's advice to "weigh the gain of
doing a mitzvoh against the damage of not doing it and the
damage of doing a sin against the gain from refraining from
doing it." Another type of fear is that of failure: why try,
fail, and then feel rotten about oneself? It's less painful
not to try at all. To be victorious over this thought one has
to keep in mind that all success is preceded by many failures
as Chazal teach us (Shabbos 120a), "A person doesn't
understand the Torah until he makes mistakes."
On the other side of the spectrum is the fear of success. I
recently encountered a yeshiva bochur who was very
reluctant to do his work in yeshiva. After speaking to him I
realized that he is simply afraid to succeed and to admit to
himself that he can learn well. This fear affected him to
such a degree that one time when I pointed out to him that he
arrived to the Maharsha's question on his own he passionately
replied, "It must be that the Maharsha isn't as
choshuv as people think he is!"
I later spoke to an odom godol who explained to me
that the root of this fear is a low self-esteem and that the
remedy for this is to have this bochur learn and
internalize the following piece by Reb Tzodok Hacohen
(Tzidkus HaTzaddik 154): "Just as there is a mitzvoh
to believe in Hashem, there is also a mitzvoh to believe in
ourselves . . . Hashem has great pleasure in us when we do
His will . . ." Only after one recognizes his true importance
will he lose this fear of succeeding.
This list is only part of all of the fears that prevent us
from taking immediate action, but hopefully it will create an
awareness not to treat all procrastination as a symptom of
laziness. When we, our children, or students chronically put
things off, we have to first identify what is the cause and
only then try to overcome it. If not, we might be trying to
treat a sore throat with medicine for a pulled muscle.
Of course, changing this crippling behavior takes work and
can be threatening; breaking out of one's comfort zone is
rarely easy and is never risk-free. It requires a hard look
at oneself and often necessitates change and growth.
But better the ache of muscle-building from an unaccustomed
workout, than the stress, pain, loss of money, and
embarrassment of not dealing with this horrible habit of
procrastination.
