PROCRASTINATION AND ITS INHERENT PERILS - Fortunes Ken
Why can’t I do what I need to do now? Is that question a familiar one? Perhaps, yes. Many a person has asked themselves this rhetoric question with little or no answer coming their way. Do you often putt off intentionally the doing of something that should be done until the last moment? Are you one of the folks that let the low priority tasks get in the way of higher ones? Do you willingly postpone that which you can do forthwith until rush hour? Then you are a procrastinator.
To procrastinate entails to delay, stall, prevaricate, hesitate, putt off, wait or even lag. Although, the tendency to putt off has been with humans since time immemorial, but its inevitable effects have been undaunted. Procrastination is the deliberate attempt to postpone the doing of something that should be done until the dyeingminute. The urge tells you to suspend and leave a project until timeis nomore. Let me also put it in a clearer thesis: it is the avoidance of doing a task, work, assignment,which needs to be done until tomorrow which needs to be done today. This is despite the fact that sometimes we disguise our avoidance and carry on in our facade of pretence; by being very fervent and keen doing things that may be interesting and useful though ,but do not contribute towards the main goal .And consequently, we end up losing the race and failing to change the outcome of any situation.
The best way to ascertain what is procrastination is to examine the outcome of behaviour. Sometimes we suffer great heartache to this phenomenon. For instance, you ‘ve wanted to tellsomebody how much him or her meant to you but you tarried for too long and eventually, the fellow dies unaware of your intention(s). I also know of a situation where two roommates were at war with each other .And later, decided to bury the hatchet and continue their relationship where personal differences met them, but the decision was ill timed as one of them passed on a day before the other could make up his mind. How would the dead ever know of your intents?
Delay has also led to the undoing and abrupt doom of many great men of history. The British ambassador Norbert Quayle said: ‘only a few minutes delay cost him his life, his honour, and the liberty of his soldiers’. Earth’s history according to him ‘is strewn with the wrecks of half-finished plans and unexecuted resolutions’. Quayle maintained that ‘tomorrow is the excuse of the lazy and refugee of the incompetent’.
From the pathetic experience of the said commander Quayle, we can deduce that procrastination is but a thief of time. One sneaky way that it invades our lives is that we lead ourselves to fools’ paradise thinking that because we keep busy every day, we are being productive. This is not always so.You need to examine what keeps you busy and occupied and also, endeavour to know if your preoccupations are really needful and important at a particular point in time. In the odyssey of my life, I‘ve discovered that most at times, we spend our energy and synergy doing the wrong thing oblivious of the fact that we are time killers. It’s germane that one sits down and makes a table of preference either mentally or on paper and enquires from himself/herself what his/her most serious and important urgencies are in life and cultivates an endearing disposition towards them. If by chance you discover that you have derailed from the initial plan, you must make a U-turn in order to make your paths straight. Do it today for tomorrow may never come, even if it does, you may not be there to embrace it.
I’ve always wondered why people especially youngsters of nowadays turn out to be active procrastinators. People postpone activities and engagements for varying reasons best known to them, but the common impact is felt by all and sundry. One of the reasons may be that they do not know the essence of time. But it however,appears that the menace is deeply rooted in psyche and personality. So, it’s not solely dependent on time management. Recent research has proven that there are traits procrastinators. Surveyors postulate that people that fall under this category are likely to pay a high price. This implies that it has a devastating and poignant impact. Their physical health and key relationships suffer. A behavioural therapist, Susan Robert argues that people who have a serious problem with procrastination experience a good deal of shame. Hence, the resulting effect of delay could be brutal, nauseating and fatal, leading to porous career and living lives mired in shame, and uncertainty. But absurdly, knowing the consequences often do not deter us from being victims since the cause differ from individuals.
To many students and undergraduates alike, procrastination isn’t a hobby to them anymore, rather a habit. The spectacle has besieged most students and has left many, potential procrastinators. The reason for these lapses is not unconnected to the insurgence and daily advancement of entertainment options available on the internet. SocialMedia as we all know is a fantastic tool to keep in touch with friends and foes alike and the world at large. Until you realise that you‘ve spent the past one hour in panoply, arguing between Chelsea F.C and Manchester united who is of more economic relevance or discussing Genevieve and Omotola who is prettier; or even why nollywood movies still thrive on the international scene despite what Adichie called “great technical odds”, instead of reading an assigned text in a certain challenging course. The explosion and advance of technology, digital divide, assorted kinds of computers and of course social networks have spurred the menace even more. Suffice me to say that even people living in most dreaded areas could still find ways to take their time and postpone their tasks. Procrastination as Christopher Parker has it ‘is like a credit card: it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill’. Let it not surprise you that you may be busy, yet doing nothing. That little stress and effort that you fear somuch and complain about are nothing to compare to the countless number of hours you spent watching movies of all kind, watching and playing football, stalking profiles of Facebook, Smiggles, Twitter,Flixter, Youtube,Eskimi, 2go, pinging to mention but these few. All these things are of no doubt very important in our everyday life, but they should be given their due places.
It may interest you to know that despite the fact that more than 20% of the world population are chronic procrastinators, that you can still rule your world with pride and pace. The figures are rather amazing. Procrastinators are seldom wealthy, less healthy and less happythan those who don’t delay. You can beat the blues if you are determined to. Those people who as a matter of convention put off basic decisions for weeks, months or even years are more and more in peril of being regarded as relics. I should like to end with this:when we manage our time and space well, when we realise that time is a wonderful gift of nature that need not to be wasted, and understand that procrastination is a thief of time, we regain a kind of self-worth and dignity. Be strong.
Why can’t I do what I need to do now? Is that question a familiar one? Perhaps, yes. Many a person has asked themselves this rhetoric question with little or no answer coming their way. Do you often putt off intentionally the doing of something that should be done until the last moment? Are you one of the folks that let the low priority tasks get in the way of higher ones? Do you willingly postpone that which you can do forthwith until rush hour? Then you are a procrastinator.
To procrastinate entails to delay, stall, prevaricate, hesitate, putt off, wait or even lag. Although, the tendency to putt off has been with humans since time immemorial, but its inevitable effects have been undaunted. Procrastination is the deliberate attempt to postpone the doing of something that should be done until the dyeingminute. The urge tells you to suspend and leave a project until timeis nomore. Let me also put it in a clearer thesis: it is the avoidance of doing a task, work, assignment,which needs to be done until tomorrow which needs to be done today. This is despite the fact that sometimes we disguise our avoidance and carry on in our facade of pretence; by being very fervent and keen doing things that may be interesting and useful though ,but do not contribute towards the main goal .And consequently, we end up losing the race and failing to change the outcome of any situation.
The best way to ascertain what is procrastination is to examine the outcome of behaviour. Sometimes we suffer great heartache to this phenomenon. For instance, you ‘ve wanted to tellsomebody how much him or her meant to you but you tarried for too long and eventually, the fellow dies unaware of your intention(s). I also know of a situation where two roommates were at war with each other .And later, decided to bury the hatchet and continue their relationship where personal differences met them, but the decision was ill timed as one of them passed on a day before the other could make up his mind. How would the dead ever know of your intents?
Delay has also led to the undoing and abrupt doom of many great men of history. The British ambassador Norbert Quayle said: ‘only a few minutes delay cost him his life, his honour, and the liberty of his soldiers’. Earth’s history according to him ‘is strewn with the wrecks of half-finished plans and unexecuted resolutions’. Quayle maintained that ‘tomorrow is the excuse of the lazy and refugee of the incompetent’.
From the pathetic experience of the said commander Quayle, we can deduce that procrastination is but a thief of time. One sneaky way that it invades our lives is that we lead ourselves to fools’ paradise thinking that because we keep busy every day, we are being productive. This is not always so.You need to examine what keeps you busy and occupied and also, endeavour to know if your preoccupations are really needful and important at a particular point in time. In the odyssey of my life, I‘ve discovered that most at times, we spend our energy and synergy doing the wrong thing oblivious of the fact that we are time killers. It’s germane that one sits down and makes a table of preference either mentally or on paper and enquires from himself/herself what his/her most serious and important urgencies are in life and cultivates an endearing disposition towards them. If by chance you discover that you have derailed from the initial plan, you must make a U-turn in order to make your paths straight. Do it today for tomorrow may never come, even if it does, you may not be there to embrace it.
I’ve always wondered why people especially youngsters of nowadays turn out to be active procrastinators. People postpone activities and engagements for varying reasons best known to them, but the common impact is felt by all and sundry. One of the reasons may be that they do not know the essence of time. But it however,appears that the menace is deeply rooted in psyche and personality. So, it’s not solely dependent on time management. Recent research has proven that there are traits procrastinators. Surveyors postulate that people that fall under this category are likely to pay a high price. This implies that it has a devastating and poignant impact. Their physical health and key relationships suffer. A behavioural therapist, Susan Robert argues that people who have a serious problem with procrastination experience a good deal of shame. Hence, the resulting effect of delay could be brutal, nauseating and fatal, leading to porous career and living lives mired in shame, and uncertainty. But absurdly, knowing the consequences often do not deter us from being victims since the cause differ from individuals.
To many students and undergraduates alike, procrastination isn’t a hobby to them anymore, rather a habit. The spectacle has besieged most students and has left many, potential procrastinators. The reason for these lapses is not unconnected to the insurgence and daily advancement of entertainment options available on the internet. SocialMedia as we all know is a fantastic tool to keep in touch with friends and foes alike and the world at large. Until you realise that you‘ve spent the past one hour in panoply, arguing between Chelsea F.C and Manchester united who is of more economic relevance or discussing Genevieve and Omotola who is prettier; or even why nollywood movies still thrive on the international scene despite what Adichie called “great technical odds”, instead of reading an assigned text in a certain challenging course. The explosion and advance of technology, digital divide, assorted kinds of computers and of course social networks have spurred the menace even more. Suffice me to say that even people living in most dreaded areas could still find ways to take their time and postpone their tasks. Procrastination as Christopher Parker has it ‘is like a credit card: it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill’. Let it not surprise you that you may be busy, yet doing nothing. That little stress and effort that you fear somuch and complain about are nothing to compare to the countless number of hours you spent watching movies of all kind, watching and playing football, stalking profiles of Facebook, Smiggles, Twitter,Flixter, Youtube,Eskimi, 2go, pinging to mention but these few. All these things are of no doubt very important in our everyday life, but they should be given their due places.
It may interest you to know that despite the fact that more than 20% of the world population are chronic procrastinators, that you can still rule your world with pride and pace. The figures are rather amazing. Procrastinators are seldom wealthy, less healthy and less happythan those who don’t delay. You can beat the blues if you are determined to. Those people who as a matter of convention put off basic decisions for weeks, months or even years are more and more in peril of being regarded as relics. I should like to end with this:when we manage our time and space well, when we realise that time is a wonderful gift of nature that need not to be wasted, and understand that procrastination is a thief of time, we regain a kind of self-worth and dignity. Be strong.
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