The stories in this article show that you are not alone. They show that people experience similar feelings when they procrastinate. To procrastinate is to be human and to share the experience of humanity.

The American writer procrastinated while working on Moby Dick.

It worked because the novel became one of the greatest works of fiction.

The author of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books hated writing. Adams drank tea, took a bath, lay on the sofa - anything to avoid sitting down with a book. He could not cope with procrastination and turned to publishers and editors for help. Adams asked them to lock him in a room and watch him with displeased eyes until he got to work.

According to Adams' friend Steve Meretsky, this is no exaggeration. Steve says, “Adams has become a master of procrastination. He seems to have mastered the art of procrastination. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy would never have happened if I hadn't driven across England to him and set up camp at his door.

Adams avoided unpleasant tasks, and his unpleasant task was writing. He put it off as long as he could, then worked like crazy under the threat of a deadline. The situation was worsened by a lot of money that the writer earned from early bestsellers: there was no particular need to write and the procrastination lasted for years.

Adams toiled for a long time over the last novel "Salmon of Doubt". He soaked in the bathroom for hours instead of working on the book. The work took ten years, but it was never finished: in 2001, the writer died of a heart attack. As a result, fragments of the novel were published piece by piece, but it was not possible to make something coherent out of them.

During her 50-year career, the writer published 14 novels, 9 collections of short stories, 16 collections of poetry, 8 children's books, and 10 non-fiction full-length films. According to her, this is how she managed it: "In the morning I procrastinate and worry about it. Then, at three o'clock in the afternoon, in a frenzy of anxiety, I take up the manuscripts."

On Sunday morning, the businessman called and said he couldn't wait to see the design of the house and would come to see it before lunch. Wright sat down and ate his breakfast in complete silence. Then, under the nervous supervision of the students, he started designing. As a result, the architect managed to finish the work. The work took two hours and became Wright's coolest creation - "House over the waterfall". Later, the house was included in the list of places to visit before you die.

The 14th Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. 

Tenjin Gyamtso, also known as the Dalai Lama, was bored as a student and could not motivate himself to study. "Only under the pressure of an urgent deadline did I get to work," Tenjing recalls. But since then, he has learned his lesson and this is what he says about it: “You should stop procrastinating. Instead, try to live in such a way that if you die today, you will not regret anything."

Leonardo consulted for a long time with the work "The Last Supper". He didn't want to finish the fresco on the wall of the monastery until he found the perfect evil face for Judas. But Leonardo searched for him for so long that the Duke of Milan threatened to stop funding his work. In addition, the abbot of the monastery pouted at the artist: "You can't drag out work for so long!"

It was necessary to act. Leonardo wrote a letter to the head of the monastery and explained that he was looking for the perfect evil face for Judas. And if such a person is not found, she draws the face of the abbot of the monastery.

In the last years of his life, Leonardo regretted that "he did not finish any of the works." He turned to God: "Give a sign if something has been done. Give a sign if something has been done. When Leonardo died in France in 1519, he left manuscripts with countless sketches of unfinished works.

When a famous person took years to finish work, we cannot diagnose the reason from afar. Parallel projects, changing ideas, funding, health, politics, or avoidance may all matter. Biography is useful without a psychological label.

Leonardo's history includes slow development and many unfinished works. Darwin accumulated material for years amid methodical work, caution, health, and social context. Neither example proves that delay automatically produces genius.

A pause may help when it produces a new perspective and a return to the task. Avoidance mainly offers brief relief while uncertainty and deadline cost grow. Ask: what became clearer because of this pause?

CBT SHIFT helps examine thoughts before starting and define the next action.