eBusiness Weekly
Arthur Marara
“Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy” — (Wayne Gretzky).
One of the greatest problems that is bedevilling the world today and since time immemorial is procrastination.
Procrastination is the art of deferring what is supposed to be done today, to tomorrow.
It is the ability to distance one’s self from what is supposed to be done at the moment and take solace in the fact that it can be done some other day.
Greatness is in impatience with procrastination. You can never do anything with your life if you just use your diary to elope today’s tasks.
Great ideas have perished at the hands of procrastinators. Disembark from procrastination and embark on a meaningful journey to fully maximise on your time. This week we shall share some important thoughts on dealing with procrastination.
Do not congest tomorrow
Tomorrow is the most congested day of the year. There are a lot of people who are always confident to delegate today’s assignments tomorrow. You do not own tomorrow.
There is no guarantee that you are not going to postpone tomorrow.
If you are confident to postpone the task today, you can always find an excuse to move it to another day. If you have meetings that you have to schedule today, do it.
Do not postpone it to tomorrow. Do not inconvenience other people by your disorganisation.
A number of times other people want everyone to feel busy because they could not do what they were supposed to do on time.
The net effect of procrastination is to exaggerate the sense of urgency when at some point in time the task did not have the same level of urgency.
Interrogate your motives for procrastination
If you ever think of procrastinating a task, examine the reason why you want to do so. Evaluate the pecuniary value of the motive.
What is it that you are doing now that is worth postponing the other task? Thrive on high paying activity.
If you have a defunct or a defective value system you will always make things of value suffer at the expense of things that do not value most.
I have nothing against social networking sites, but this is where some of the most precious time has been lost.
Some people are deeply immersed into these social networking sites when they are supposed to be working.
In other instances, you find piles of work on desks which is unattended yet someone is busy doing something else which is totally divorced from the principal duty.
The exception is only when you are being paid at the end of the month to be on a social networking sites for that amount of time or possibly that’s where your business comes from.
Make today count
We always dream about having tomorrow but we often forget that tomorrow is shaped by what we do today.
Never walk into a new day and leave it without doing anything of consequence in it.
Discipline yourself to execute the tasks of today, today. Have specific task for the day, and respect the plans that you put in place for the day.
Greatness is a decision.
One of the decisions that you have to take is to wean yourself from the web of procrastination. Do not postpone your greatness, take action today. Now is always the best time for action.
Never lose sight of the fact that tomorrow will be today tomorrow. “We shall never have more time. We have, and have always had, all the time there is. No object is served in waiting until next week or even until tomorrow. Keep going day in and day out. Concentrate on something useful. Having decided to achieve a task, achieve it at all costs” (Arnold Bennett).
Procrastination destroys opportunities
A lot of people could have been somewhere in their lives had it not been that they delayed a little.
The time that you have lost procrastinating will never be recovered.
If you are jobless and thinking that the time will come when you are going out and market yourself, you are daydreaming.
If you are in the office and you think the time will come when you will be “free” to do something, you are wrong.
The time is now. A number of times wait for them to be in the “mood” to do something.
Discipline yourself to do certain things you do not want to do in order to take your life where you want.
Opportunities are time bound, if you do not seize them timeously, someone will and you will add regret to your life. Never think that time will wait for you to recover from procrastination.
If you take your time to respond to the advert that has been placed in the press, do not think everyone else is waiting like you do. “Procrastination is suicide on the instalment plan.” (Author Unknown)
Be particular about your goals
If you are not serious with your own life, business, marriage what have you, no one will be serious with it.
If you are going to get your goals, it is the respect that you accord to the time and not the watch bearing it that matters.
If you are a serious student, your goal is to ensure that you are as ready as possible for your papers, if your business, you want to ensure that the various facets, departments are in place.
If you respect your goals so much, you will make every second count. “People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going.” — (Earl Nightingale).
Break the tasks into small pieces
Never wait for the work to be too much. Do your projects in small parts. The Chinese often say, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
That little step towards your task will trigger the next step. If you are studying, why wait until your lecturers have cover three quarters of your syllabus.
Do it chapter by chapter. If you are preparing for an important meeting and you need to research, why not thematically break the assignment and prepare along those lines.
By taking small steps daily, you will discover you will cover much ground with little or no stress at all. It is always important to remember that, “procrastination usually results in sorrowful regret.
Today’s duties put off tomorrow give us a double burden to bear; the best way is to do them in their proper time.” (Ida Scott Taylor)
Join me on Star FM on Wednesdays (09:30am-10:00am) for some moments of inspiration on the Breeze with Tariro “Mai Judah”.
Arthur Marara is a corporate law attorney, keynote and peak performance speaker, business strategy facilitator commanding the stage with his delightful humour, raw energy, and wealth of life experiences. He is a financial wellness expert and is passionate about addressing the issues of wellness, sales, business leadership and strategy. Arthur is the author of the “Personal Development Toolkit”, “Keys to Effective Time Management” among other inspirational books. Follow him on social media, or WhatsApp him on +263780055512 or email [email protected]
