I'LL DO IT SOON

Procrastination; The Bane and Its Solution

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest - and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. (Proverbs 6:10-11 NIV)

If you read my post on distraction, and I’m sure you picked a thing or two from it, get ready to meet its comrade, procrastination.

Another very effective weapon in the arsenal of failure, procrastination is yet another one of those things that has kept countless people from fulfilling their destinies, achieving goals, and making other positive strides in their lives.

Before I proceed, let’s defined procrastination properly so we know exactly what we are talking about. Procrastination, gotten from procrastinate (from Latin words pro- forward, and cras – tomorrow), simply means to put off intentionally and habitually. In other words, it’s waiting to do later, what should be done in the present. Procrastination, Mr P, should not be mistaken for scheduling, or planning (we should have a post next month on time management, hopefully), procrastination is neither.

Often borne out of sheer laziness, it is even worse than distraction, Mr D, as it doesn’t even let you get started on the task at all. To give a few instances, where distraction waits for you to start reading before it makes you stop, or takes away your focus, Mr P tells you to not even start reading at all. When Mr D makes you burn that pot of rice because he took your mind away, Mr P says you can cook the food later, you’re not that hungry after all. Mr D gets you to play games just as soon as you start reading, Mr P doesn’t even put reading on your schedule at all. We could go on and on with the examples, but take a moment right now to imagine these two in partnership against one person. Failure in leaps and bounds await such a fellow!

As we smile over this, it is safe for me to assume that no adult has never fought and lost a battle with Mr P, the experienced veteran. The battle with procrastination though, is one of those things you can’t blame yourself for initially falling victim to, but you are to blame if you remain a victim. But why do people procrastinate? This might be for the following reasons:

1. Just plain laziness

Lazy people like no work, at all. They can even be too lazy to feed themselves (I speak here of just having to fetch already prepared food for them to eat), take a bath, or even wash their mouth. It can always be done later, they say, until it’s never done.

2. Distraction

If you still haven’t checked out our post on distraction, please take a moment to do so already. Distraction takes people away from their actual focus. Trivial things become priorities and every other thing can wait.

This is very common among teenagers and youths. Countless number of boys, including me, have shifted domestic chores for a game of football at some point in their lives. It so often starts out as just one match, for 10 minutes, then another 10 minutes. Friends join in, and the chores are forgotten. We might have healed from the beatings we got when caught and disciplined, but we made our lessons in discipline drag a little longer.

3. No desire/passion

It is one thing to get a horse to the stream, and it is another to get it to drink the water. People who are asked to do things they have little desire tend to look for all possible ways to avoid the tasks. Mr P comes on scene and doesn’t disappoint. “Just put it off till later” is the voice they hear, the ever friendly adviser.

4. Poor sense of duty

There are those smart ones who always find a way to put off work, hoping someone else would do it. This is particularly common in families with 4 children or more, and is also a common feature in groups of similar age grades, schools, and offices among others.

Most fun lovers feel a very low sense of duty or commitment towards tasks that require effort, so they push it as far as they can

How to Overcome Procrastination

1. Determination

If you realise that you are easily given in to procrastination, the first step I suggest you take is a determination to break out of it. Do a review of yourself, identify your areas of weakness, and make up your mind to break out of the hold that Mr P has over your mind.

2. Discipline

You have to discipline yourself once you have identified the factors around you that sponsor procrastination. You cut out distractions and other negative influences that sponsor procrastination in your life.

3. Instant response to tasks

Adopt a lifestyle of a person who does thongs immediately the task is assigned. Waiting to carry out immediate tasks does not make the task any easier. If you learn to employ the immediate approach, you find that seemingly difficult tasks are not as tough as they initially appeared.

4. Build support systems

Build a team, or at least have a person who positively impacts you. Whether it’s a person or a team, learn to be accountable to someone. This means that the person or group can question your activities and schedule and you truly answer. This would guide you into being more conscious of the actions you take or do not take.

Be careful though, that you choose a person or group with better responses to tasks than you for this job. If you pick your fellow slackers, you would be stuck in the valley of procrastination for a very long time.

5. Use checklists

Write your tasks down and tick the ones you do. Commit yourself to achieving certain tasks within a certain time and do all it takes to accomplish your mission. This would help you become better organised and would increase your productivity.

6. Reward yourself

Make it a habit to reward yourself for certain milestone achievements you hit on your checklist. You could have enough free time for leisure, or even enough cash to take yourself out, and that’s fine. After all, what do they say about all work and no play?

With these few points of mine, I hope I have been able to convince you and not confuse you that Mr P isn’t one person you need in life.

Do drop your comments and questions. Our story drops tomorrow!

Stay smart!