Now that the weekend FSCONS conference is over and I am sitting in front of the screen again I have that all to familiar feeling of emptiness. I know there is work to be done. I know which work needs to be done, it’s just that I really do not feel like doing it.
This emotional drain occurs most often after handing in a major work or after (as this weekend) a major conference (especially if you are on the arranging team). It’s as if the mind needs to take a break and actively works against serious work.
Bodil Jonsson wrote in her wonderful little book Ten thoughts about time about the concept of “ställtid”. I read her book in the original Swedish so I may translate some words differently. Basically the concept of ställtid is the time you need to arrange stuff around you before you can actually begin doing something. This is particularly important when moving from one task to the next since we often forget to factor such time into the equation.
This arranging time varies in length. Easy and enjoyable tasks require little or no time while complex or dreary tasks require a lot more time before they can be carried out. In some cases these tasks cannot be carried out until the absolutely final moment.
So the fact that we know that we must do something is not enough. Even facing a punishment, fine or dissaproving look is not enough to actually make us do what we must. All this is due to the need of the mind to come to terms with the old tasks and begin preparing for the new tasks.
Most probably this eminent theory of procrastination was written during a period of time when the author was avoiding doing something she really was supposed to be doing. It does not really help me in my situation but it is always nice to know that I am not alone.