On a Monday morning, the aroma of freshly made sweets made me enter the kitchen. Looking at the sweets, I immediately tried to pick one of them and taste. However, my inner voice stopped me from having it reminding me of the recent resolution of not eating sweets. Is this Procrastination? No, this is commitment.
We all make resolutions and break it immediately on one or the other pretext and conveniently reasoning it out. This breaking of resolutions not only is about food but many of our daily routines or the goals we set for ourselves. The very fact of breaking our resolution indicates our low commitment and tendency to Procrastinate.
It is said, “Never put off till tomorrow what may be done day after tomorrow just as well.” However, it is easier said than done.
With the Pandemic around us, many of us have made serious resolutions of following our hobby or doing something which has been a passion for over years however we have not been able to do it due to paucity of time. The enthusiasm to declare was quite vigorous with everyone using social media to declare the same. However, with time during a lockdown, the resolution made died a slow death due to procrastination.
If you find yourself procrastinating more these days, you're likely not alone. Our current crisis may have something to do with it. Factors like added stress and anxiety, a lack of mental preparation for work that comes with a commute, massive outside stressors making work seem trivial by comparison and less friendly socializing, among other things, feeds our need to procrastinate as a coping mechanism.So I decided to delve into the word Procrastination to understand what does it mean?
Procrastination is putting something aside or being indecisive about certain things.
Procrastination gets converted into laziness and a habit over a period leading to a personality type of being able to prioritize, take timely decisions, and is always confused and has a dilemma over things. We find a lot of personalities in and around us leading to delay in work completion and thus the resolution was taken fails.
In the Mahabharata war, Arjuna was in dilemma to wage a war against his cousins. He was indecisive and decided to procrastinate his action. Lord Krishna shared his insights with Arjuna and facilitated the decision-making process and thus prompted Arjuna to wage a war against Kauravas. It has been seen that great leaders also procrastinate decisions when they do not have the right and correct information to make insightful decisions.
One of my bosses, ex-Managing Director of the Company once told me not taking a decision is also a decision leading to procrastination for others.
The reality is many of these goals have fallen by the wayside, along with our motivation and focus—why is this? Does research support the fact that about 20% view themselves as chronic procrastinators in the areas about making decisions in a relationship, health, work, and finances, or even what to cook?
Most of the time we tend to postpone tasks for short-term benefits. Although procrastination is not a psychiatric problem, it can lead to surging stress levels, health issues, and poor performance at work leading to an increase in anxiety-related issues.
Procrastination often leads to developing underlying insecurities, depression, and lowering down self-esteem and losing self-control. Now the simple thought of doing it the next day or the word Procrastination is not simple as it sounds. It has greater implications in our lives and it indicates our mental health and well-being.
Parkinson’s Law does have to have its importance in Procrastination. Essentially Law states that “work expands to fill the time available for its completion’ which means that if you give yourself a day to complete a two-hour task, then (psychologically speaking) the task will increase in complexity and become more daunting.
More time is invested in doing things that would have otherwise little time. The last-minute study before the exam by a student or the last minute project completion by a student are all examples of Procrastination. Often, we fill a lot of the time procrastinating and wasting hours away.
Fear to ask, Fear to confront, Fear of being put down by others, Fear of being mocked, fear of peer pressure, or certain baggage forming a part of growing years leads to chronic Procrastination.
Procrastination is the result of distractions. Each distraction forms another focus point for procrastination to kick in.
In my corporate training module, I cover a lot on Procrastination and ways to overcome it. Some have succeeded in overcoming it by taking baby-steps however I happen to see a
lot who have many excuses for not doing certain things and blaming others for their procrastination.
Have always suggested and followed the practiced the fact of completing tasks or things that are within my circle of influence and expanding my circle of influence to help others lead to a state where am comfortable to help. Some opine that Procrastination is good and bad both. Many have experienced that delay in taking decisions has helped them.
Good Procrastination is about avoiding taking impulsive decisions that would later lead to an uncontrollable chain of events.
Good Procrastination could be assessing the pro and cons of a situation and then taking a calculated risk to do a certain activity.I often see people Reading about the techniques to fight procrastination, but implementing them is a task! Without taking action, you won’t see the results you desire.
Hence we need to set goals, get ready to analyse, strategize, implement and execute. We may fail sometimes but may succeed most of the time and thus paving a way for our happiness, joy, and freedom to take more decisions.
#Procrastination #Commitment to complete #Timewasters #Circle of Influence #Paucity of time #Prioritise