Stop Procrastinating, Take Charge of Your Life Now

Sunita Roy* woke up one morning and grimaced in dismay. It was the last day for getting her medical tests done. The IT firm where she worked had given all employees a month’s time for their annual check-up. As usual, Sunita had been putting it off on some pretext or the other until the last day! Now she would have to fit it into her busy schedule for the day, and probably miss an important staff meeting.

Tom Gomes*, a busy management consultant, had been having trouble with an impacted wisdom tooth and had visited the dentist six months ago. His dentist had advised him to have the tooth extracted immediately. Tom, busy with assignments had not found the time to get it done. He woke up one morning with a throbbing pain and was shocked to look into the mirror and see a grossly swollen cheek! There was no way he would be presenting the new product to his prospective customers at the product launch he had planned that day! Tom had to reschedule the event, and lost several potential customers.

So, What Drives People to Procrastinate?

Procrastination is a habit, probably rooted partly in lethargy and partly in apprehension of the outcome of the task. Surprisingly, perfectionism may also be a cause! People who strive for perfection often delay carrying out a task. When they are forced to complete it in a very short time to meet the deadline, they can rationalize a not-so-perfect outcome to themselves, knowing they were rushed for time! Though most procrastinators delay tasks they do not like, sometimes it becomes such a habit that they are late with most appointments and routine tasks!

Do You Procrastinate?

Did you file your income-tax return on time? Have you had an annual health check-up in the last twelve months? Have you reinvested the bank term deposit which matured last month? Have you planned the vacation you intend to take next month? Did you pay your latest electricity bill within the due date? Has your dog received its annual vaccination on time?

If your answer to most of the above questions is “No” and you do not have a legitimate reason for the delay, you may be a procrastinator in need of change.

Why Do You Need To Change?

Most of the time procrastinators do not land themselves in serious trouble as they have mastered the fine art of getting things done in the nick of time in spite of the delay in initiating the task! Of course, there are the occasional slip-ups which need cover-ups. In addition, procrastination can seriously affect the quality of work at the work-place, and cause a potentially brilliant worker to churn out average deliverables. It can also cause a good student to produce only average results. Procrastinating health issues and dealing with disagreements and discords can also have disastrous effects on health and relationships respectively.