Procrastination: good for self storage?

The story goes that there is an organisation called the Procrastination Society. If you apply, they’ll send you a form, eventually. And if you return it within three months you are automatically disqualified.

In fact, there are several organisations called the Procrastination Society, or something like it. One has a website called www.procrastinationsociety.com. Click on it, and you find a page saying simply “Coming soon…”

Their motto could be “Procrastinators of the world unite – tomorrow!”

Procrastination and self storage

Every self storage manager knows that inertia is good for business. Clients move in for a short time, then stay… and stay… and stay. It is just so much simpler to keep on paying that monthly direct debit bill than spending a weekend, or three, finding homes for – and shifting – all the accumulated contents of a self storage unit.

Self storage managers might say: “Shhh! Don’t tell the customers! You don’t want to unsettle this inertia!”

But in fact it works both ways. Many people procrastinate endlessly about decluttering their homes, or putting off redecorating rooms because they are full of stuff that has no other home. Break that inertia, and they’ll be ringing their nearest self storage company (or putting their postcode into Storage.co.uk’s “Find Storage Near You” search box) to get on with the job.

The psychology of procrastination

You might shrug and say, “Only Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday,” but procrastination is no laughing matter. Not according to psychologists and psychiatrists, that is.

Procrastination is not just a question of delaying decisions and actions: there may be valid reasons for doing that. It is about replacing decisions and actions that are high priority with ones that are low priority.

Writers know that only too well: when they feel just about ready to write Chapter 1, they suddenly feel it would help them to mow the lawn, then cook dinner, then they drink too much and decide that it would be better to make to fresh start tomorrow.

That is the very meaning of procrastination: from the Latin for “forward” and “tomorrow”.

Chronic procrastinators who delay making important decisions are also likely to delay in paying bills, in leaving for the airport on time, and in snapping up the “for a limited time only” offer for self storage. In other words, they may be making a mess of their lives generally.

According to research, some 20% of people identify themselves as chronic procrastinators. Nearly 50%, according to one survey, say that procrastination has a negative impact on their happiness.

Some psychologists suggest that procrastination is a form of sabotage – self-inflicted harm, a subconscious desire to fail or make a mess of things. Associated negative attributes can be self-deception, low self-esteem, and obsessive perfectionism.

Quite a bit of the research into procrastination has been carried out by students, who have found that the peak age in life for procrastination is the age of… students. How convenient: a study group on your doorstep – and a perfect excuse for failing to meet a deadline!

Procrastination is generally thought to be learnt behaviour rather than genetic or biological: perhaps some aspect of childhood has permitted procrastination, or even made it an advantage – overindulgent parents, for example, who have always stepped in to do something for the child if the child puts off doing it for him/herself.

Solution… or not

In other words, procrastination is a habit of mind. And the only way out of it is to kick the habit.

Go on: just ring that self storage company now and tell them:

• You want to move in
• You want to move out

 Or, on the other hand, you might say: “What’s the rush?”

And you could take your cue from the great American writer Mark Twain, who knew a thing or two about procrastination, “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.”