I thought I had all the time,
Will do it later, should be fine
Didn't realize how the time flew by
Now all I can do is cry and sigh!
(SD)
It is said that procrastination is the ‘thief of time’. Indeed procrastination can be colloquially termed as ‘the art of putting off for tomorrow what can be, and perhaps needs to be done today” J
If you come to think of it
honestly, almost everyone is guilty of procrastinating at some time or the
other. Think of the time as a student you knew you had an exam a week
hence, and started studying only a couple of days prior. Or the time when an
important presentation had to be made at office and you put it off till the
very last minute, later complaining that the PPT really didn’t come out as well
as you had intended. This is not to say I am taking a ‘holier than thou’ stance
here. There have been so many times I have procrastinated on things, it’s not
really funny!
Why do we procrastinate?
One of the main reasons why
we procrastinate is because we view some tasks as being undesirable, a drudgery
or plain boring. We would rather do something else, and frankly sometimes when
you know that something unappealing needs to be done, the prospect of indulging
in leisure or postponing the inevitable becomes so very appealing.
For some folks the jury
seems to be still out on whether procrastination is harmful or it aids
productivity. Someone told me the other day that he is not able to give his
very best until the deliverable is just due, i.e. at the very last moment. It
seems he gets a rush of adrenalin that pushes him to greater heights of
excellence. A Smart Alec also quips, ““The
best part about procrastination is that you are never bored, because you have
all kinds of things that you should be doing.”
While this may seem true
superficially, such an approach does not account for last minute hiccups or
impediments that may suddenly present themselves unannounced.
Some honest introspection is
most likely to reveal that people seem to procrastinate on tasks that seem
unappealing but which they intrinsically know that they can handle even at the
last minute. This implies that the level of difficulty of such tasks is not
very high, and secondly where the consequences of failure (payoffs) are not too
high. They would typically not have the same approach for really tough or
important tasks that could have a material bearing on career or personal
well-being.
Perils
of procrastinating
Ø
Panic: Putting off things till
the very end invariably leads to panic when something has to be closed and you
have very less time for it.
Ø
Suboptimal
quality:
High quality work and a rushed schedule seldom go together. You really have to
be a genius if you can consistently pull off high quality stuff at the eleventh
hour every time.
Ø
Weighs on your
mind:
Anything you are putting off for the last minute has a tendency to figure as a sword hanging over your head which robs you
of your peace of mind and invariably negatively impacts your productivity. Highly
avoidable!
Simple Tips to avoid procrastination
Ø Slice up tasks into small portions: If the overall task seems
daunting and puts you off, try and break it into small time-bound slices which
you can tackle over a period of time while ensuring that you meet the
overarching deadline.
Ø ‘Do it afraid’: It
helps if you cheat your feelings of fear and anxiety by biting the bullet and
start doing the task at hand, knowing that FEAR is actually ‘False Evidence
Appearing Real’. As you start making progress, you will see your fears melting
away and a sense of confidence and self assurance sweeping in.
Ø Watch your company: You are less likely to procrastinate if you
make it a point to be around positive, action oriented folks. Laziness has a
tendency of rubbing off, hence you would do yourself a favour by steering clear
of those who are lackadaisical if not plain lazy!
