This morning, Rabbi Miriam Lorie joined BBC Radio 2's Pause for thought.
Full script as follows:
The procrastination monkey
I’m one of millions of self-employed people in the UK who still need to file their tax return. There is exactly 1 week to go and the adrenaline of pressure is starting to kick in.
It’s a familiar feeling for me, because I am a seasoned procrastinator. There’s a brilliant TED video about what the writer Tim Urban calls “the procrastination monkey”, who steers us into the world of the easy and fun, and away from the things we actually need to do. That is, until another character, “the panic monster” sets in as a deadline approaches.
But here’s a fun example. I was interrupted from watching that very video, so I hit pause and then left the tab open on my laptop for a good further six months, procrastinating on finishing it. I’m a lost cause!
I will always get a job done, but my own inner procrastination monkey needs to wait until there’s urgency. Or maybe something even bigger to procrastinate on. I know I’m not alone. In an extreme case, I’ve seen a fellow rabbi write his wedding sermon as guests trooped into the Synagogue.
Of course, my Jewish texts have wisdom on this. Curiously, they’re also animal themed.
“Wake up like a lion”
says our law book, the Shulchan Aruch. And The Ethics of the Fathers tells us to:
“Be bold as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a deer, and strong as a lion to do the will of your Heavenly Parent.”
The Hebrew word for this attribute is “zrizut”, meaning alacrity.
In other words, look to nature, because some animals just get straight to the task at hand with “zrizut”. Apart from those playful procrastination monkeys. And my own very sleepy cat. Don’t be too much like them.
Mark, I know I’m never going to be that person who files their tax return six months early, and in a weird way, my methods are working for me. But maybe I’ll try to be a bit more lion or deer-like, because that tax return IS getting filed tonight! (Or maybe tomorrow).
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