Etymologically, “procrastination” is derived from the Latin verb “procrastinare” – to put off until tomorrow.
Procrastination is also derived from the ancient Greek word “anrasia” which means “doing something against our better judgement.” But it’s more than just voluntarily delaying.
Procrastination is not a unique character flaw or a mysterious curse on your ability to manage time, but a way of coping with challenging emotions and negative moods induced by certain resentment, self-doubt, insecurity, frustration and beyond. It is emotion regulation problem rather than a time management problem.
We must realise that procrastination at its core is about emotion and not about productivity, and so, its solution doesn’t involve learning new strategies for self-control. It has to do with managing our emotions in a better way.
The difficulty with breaking the addiction to procrastination in particular is that there is an infinite number of potential substitute actions that will still be forms of procrastination. Forgive yourself and move on, never to repeat such mistake of procrastination.
The reason for procrastination varies from person to person and is not always obvious. Most times it is a hidden fear that we don’t want to acknowledge, or it could be as simple as not wanting to do something because it just doesn’t motivates us.
Because of the high dread of procrastination and its effects in life the following are the most detailed reason why procrastination shouldn’t be masterminded.
YOU PUT YOURSELF AT A STRATEGIC POSITION OF DISADVANTAGED
Procrastination has a way of making you blow opportunities as you didn’t take advantage of them when they were there.
What most people miss out in this is that they forget that opportunity can be life changing; which if missed out of, will never guarantee when a second chance. Opportunity is a way of giving you more.
YOU WONT BE ABLE TO MEET GOALS
Procrastination seems to come on with full force when we entertain the thoughts of wanting to achieve more. You might have a strong desire to change but you just can’t seem to take the first step.
You set goals because you want a better life and if you don’t do this because of procrastination, then you destroy the possibility of a better life.
YOU COULD RUIN YOUR CAREER
One of the laws of business is that the way you work directly affects your results, how much you achieve and how you perform them.
Perhaps it could be preventing you from meeting deadlines or achieving your targets. You could imagine the consequence this will have on your career. Don’t undermine your performance unnecessarily.
LOWERED ESTEEM
We tend to procrastinate sometimes because of low self esteem, but fail to understand that procrastination doesn’t only reinforce this but makes it even lower. Having low esteem have a way of making you hold back or feel less than you should. Procrastination eats away your confidence, slowly but surely.
DAMAGED REPUTATION
Failure in doing what you promised to do inevitably tarnishes your reputation. This is because nobody wants empty promises. This could lead to people no longer depending on you, or possibly holding back on offering opportunities to you because they are scared you might fail and leave them with a mess to clean up.
YOU COULD LOOSE OR RUN OUT OF TIME
The worst thing about procrastination is the moment that you realise that you are three, four or six years older and nothing have changed. The question becomes where did all the time go to?
This is a terrible feeling because you cannot turn the hand of the clock, you just have to endure and live with the helpless feeling of regret.
There is nothing worse than regret in your action, knowing the situation could have been different if only you had taken that first step.
YOU COULD MAKE POOR DECISIONS
When you procrastinate and make decisions from this standpoint, they are almost always going to be poor decisions because of the place you are coming from. Poor decisions hurt our happiness, result, and life generally.
Put an end to procrastination.
