As per dictionary definition, procrastination is delaying or postponing something, something that requires some action from your side. As simple as that. To be shamelessly truthful, I do procrastinate, many a times, for many things. Call me lazy, but yes, some things require us to take an action in life, but we keep on postponing them, that we eventually forget about the particular activity or event. Sad but true.
Now, the question is why do we do that? I mean why do we become lazy about certain things in life, even though we know they are going to benefit us in near future or sometimes, maybe later in life. Why laziness for certain things? Well, it is difficult to explain, but it’s all about priorities. I think it is mostly because of the laziness in thinking about how this act will affect us in future. It’s really important to know the impact of procrastinating certain things, only then we will be able to stop this thirteen letter word to become a habit in life. We fail to think about the consequences that we may need to face if we keep on delaying things.
This can be easily explained with the help of following example. Daily fitness routine. This impacts the most important thing in life, health. A simple walk, run, exercise for half an hour to an hour is enough to keep us healthy. But, it is human nature to procrastinate. “I’ll do it tomorrow. Today doesn’t seem to be a good day.”, these are the exact words going on in the mind of a person who is trying to delay even a simple 30 minute workout. He/she is trying to persuade himself/herself in his/her head that postponing is alright, since I have tomorrow in my hand. There you go, the person lost 90% of the battle here. The remaining 10% will be lost, when the walk will again be postponed tomorrow because of some other reason. The importance of their own health has been reduced because of a mere single act of procrastination. And since this habit multiplies when used, people end up forgetting that it was for their own benefit, till they land themselves up in an emergency situation.
“Tomorrow never comes”, the phrase holds true to its definition. So, how do we actually stop this habit. Well, first of all, stop being a slave to the theory of tomorrow. Creating a plan for everything you do is definitely a solution, but, the most important and effective solution, in my opinion, is to train your brain. Talk to yourself in your head about the situation or task at hand that you are about to postpone. If it is really going to affect you in case you postpone it again the next day, then stop thinking and just go for it. Got for the walk, go for a run, call the friend, read the book, write that blog, do the damn thing. Don’t stop. Kill the lazy person sitting inside your head.
Well, I killed one today. As funny as it may sound, I had been procrastinating writing this blog on procrastination from few days. LOL!! And here I am, killing that daemon who tried to stop me or from doing it by persuading me every time to delay. These people sitting in your head telling you that it is ok to postpone or you can do it tomorrow, need to be told to SHUT UP. Try it once, its contagious, for all your tasks at hand. Slowly it will become a habit. Trust me, you won’t regret saying Shut Up to the lazy voice in your head. Till then.
Adios Amigos
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