Procrastination V laziness

Hello to all!

No, I actually haven't been procrastinating this time. I've been researching two words which seem to mean the same at first sight. They are procrastination and laziness.

Are they the same meaning-wise? I guess it depends on you and your view of things. Mind you, procrastination does sound better than lazy!

So what are the differences? Well, let's have a look at lazy and all its derivatives first.

All of us have usually learned the meaning of lazy from when we were tiny. 'Stop being so lazy: and get up/ wash your face/ make your bed/ pick your own ending. I know my mother probably opened her eyes in the morning saying this to whichever of her brood she was cranky with.

Lazy will take the path of least resistance usually. That is, if you can take the rapid repetitions that follow, with little variation. Actually  if you know in your heart of hearts that the nagging is correct and it will cease as soon as you obey, but you choose not to do it and can ignore the two voices, one inside your head and one actual, then you have laziness almost to a fine art. This state of being is also enhanced by the fact that you are extremely comfortable living in a mess. Lazy, bone-idle, call it what you will, but not procrastination.

Procrastination is when you acknowledge it has to be done, but find as many things as possible to do before giving in to the evil deed. So with laziness there is a high chance that whatever it is will definitely not get done no matter how much it begs; by you anyway. With procrastination it at least has a chance of being started, if not finished, and maybe some other things may benefit as well.

My mother had a simple way to get the bed made. If pulling the offending child out of it and standing there tapping her foot didn't work, she usually screamed for a sibling to get in and help. If that didn't have results, she usually gave in and made it herself. These were not the days of doonas and simple ways of making beds, but roll the mattress, apply sheets and tuck them in, followed by a blanket maybe and certainly a quilt. And she did it in less time than a trained nurse would or a housemaid, although she was never either of those. it used to amaze us children at her speed. Then she would proceed to take her vengeance, usually by some other task that had gone begging around the home.

So take heart. Procrastinating is better than laziness. It sounds better, it often results in some other task getting done, although the proper object may only get started, and you usually feel better. And livestock do not usually get a chance to set up home inside your wardrobe.