What We Can Learn About Procrastination From Memes

When we think of ways to communicate with others, sometimes memes are the way to go. They can give us a good laugh, and they can even make us feel less alone when they joke about something common and relatable.

A meme isn’t always just an image with text. They can also be commonly held ideas that spread like wildfire until many people experience the same thought or joke.

While they may not help you beat procrastination, here are some of what may be the best procrastination memes and meme sites out there, what they mean, and how we might relate to them.

The Reddit tab

If you often use Reddit, then perhaps you’ve used it at some point to procrastinate. Reddit is a place for anyone to laugh or learn about almost any topic. There are so many subjects out there that one minute you may be learning about facts for a history paper, and the next you are leaving a comment on a Reddit thread about cats on bicycles.

And at some point, you might look up and realize you spent half your day on a post about cats on bicycles instead of doing the work that you had hoped to finish in the same time frame.

Even if Reddit isn’t the website that you close then open to read again, then perhaps you’ve done the same with another site or game.

Procrastination level: Expert meme

This is a meme that might be relatable to those who have procrastinated often. It can be very easy to delay work in the modern times, with the advent of technology, different devices, streaming services, different shows to watch, video games to play—sometimes procrastination feels like the more logical route.

But procrastination isn’t new, and many of us have even been doing it before the advent of social media.

This take on the popular Bane meme indicates that procrastination is a very common human behavior, and not something that you should beat yourself up over. However, with certain techniques and resources, beating procrastination is feasible.

Procrastination as a challenge

This meme jokes that many cats enjoy simply relaxing in the sun all day. When we self-deprecate ourselves, we may call this behavior lazy, but by observing cats we can recognize that they don’t see this act as good or bad. Sometimes we can learn from our pets and try to take things at face value; if he or she’s enjoying the sun and doesn’t see it as “unproductive” behavior, why should we?

After four hours of writing an essay

If you’ve seen SpongeBob, you might remember a scene when he tries to write an essay.

Even without spending time looking at memes or reading internet threads, we may still find ourselves procrastinating with things like the font, doodles, or even just daydreaming.

Some say that the creative process is made of three phases: inspiration, production, and rest. You may notice that only one third of that process involves actually creating something, but that doesn’t make the other two thirds any less essential. Instead of pressuring yourself to produce constantly, ask yourself if your brain needs rest, or if you need to get out and find inspiration in the world. You may also find motivation by sharing your experience with a friend or loved one.  

The study dilemma

This common thought process goes as follows: "During the day: ‘I'll study at night when there aren’t any distractions.’ At night: ‘I'll study in the morning when I'm fresh.’"

This is a common, cyclical problem that unfortunately can lead to us not getting anything done at all.

If you are a student and you are struggling with things like procrastinating, while this is a very normal circumstance, consider that there might be something deeper going on, such as disproportionate pressure being put on your attention difficulties. Studies have shown that online therapy is effective in reducing psychological distress among college students, whatever the cause of that stress may be. An online therapist can offer you resources and support that can help you manage your workload and ease your burden so that you can enjoy school and learning.

Rewarding yourself for the small things

While you might get frustrated with yourself for finishing one thing then binging on a movie, something similar to this can be useful. The Pomodoro technique has been proven as effective in helping procrastination and it has a similar philosophy to what the meme mentions above. 

This technique involves working for 25 minutes, “rewarding” yourself with a break for five minutes and repeating that process four times. Then, on the fifth time, you reward your hard work with a longer break of 15-30 minutes. 

This process helps you break up big tasks into smaller ones, which may make the whole thing feel less daunting so that you don’t feel the same need to procrastinate.

Bite that procrastination bug with online therapy

If you are having trouble making a change in your procrastination or want to discuss your feelings on a complicated subject, a licensed therapist might be able to help. Online therapy has been proven to be just as effective as in-person treatment for many mental health conditions and daily stresses. 

Additionally, this therapeutic method is convenient and flexible; you can meet with trained counselors who can offer much close attention and advice regarding procrastination and productivity, all from the comfort of your own home. Eliminating the commute to the office may even reduce your chance of procrastinating your appointments!