I suffer from a disability that is entirely in my mind. While I have suffered from this disability my whole life, I first became aware of it when I was in the fifth grade and was assigned my first “essay” paper. Although I had two full weeks to work on the paper before it was due, my brain simply refused to even ponder on the paper until two days before it was due. At first I was frightened, and even more frustrated, but I soon found out that I was not alone.
My disability is commonly known as procrastination. Procrastination is a self-inflicted disability in which one does not lack the skills or talent to complete tasks, but lacks the motivation to complete tasks before a required date.
Those who do not personally suffer from this disability often associate the term with words such as lazy or worthless, or they say that they, procrastinators, just merely do not care. Oh how these critics are awfully wrong. As someone who suffers from procrastination, I find it very insulting when someone assigns a word such as lazy to me not knowing I have a disability. Just because my disability is not visibly evident, does not mean it does not exist.
Although scientists and doctors may disagree, I am convinced that somewhere in my genetic makeup there is a glitch in the “get it done” department. This glitch is completely and entirely in my mind. My brain loves to work under pressure, thus almost everything I do is done last minute. My brain basically refuses to let me complete something early, because what fun is it to complete something early and be totally relaxed and stress free?
I do not only believe procrastination is due to a faulty gene, I also believe it is hereditary. Yes, just like getting blue eyes, a big nose, a high pitched voice, or an uneven body shape, I believe procrastination is passed down from some ancestor who either wanted to torture us, or procrastination was the only acceptable.
