Fight Procrastination Day! There’s really a day set aside for this?
Procrastinate. Do you? Procrastinate, I mean.
If you’re like me, there are times when you put off or delay, or absolutely neglect, doing something you have to do or should be doing.
Procrastination can become a habit if you allow it. “I’ll do it later” or “there will be plenty of time tomorrow” becomes your mantra, but “it” never gets done. Or you rush to get everything done but do nothing well.
Life is such that your list of what you’ll do tomorrow becomes longer and longer and nothing is completed or accomplished.
I procrastinate when there’s a necessary task that I don’t like to do. One of those things is cleaning out the refrigerator. I don’t know why, but I put if off as long as I can. Cleaning a refrigerator isn’t a difficult task if you do it regularly, and a clean, fresh, uncluttered refrigerator is satisfying as well as healthier for my family.
I procrastinate when a task is time-consuming and might create more clutter or chaos temporarily. My freezer has been calling out for defrosting and cleaning for a couple of months. That involves finding other places to store the frozen food during the defrosting and cleaning process. Washing curtains and windows is also time-consuming. Fortunately, these are occasional tasks, and are now behind me for a while.
I procrastinate in making telephone calls, even to friends. It’s so easy to say, “It’s too late tonight, I’ll do it tomorrow” and then not do it at all. Sadly, I also put off visiting elderly friends or writing letters, sometimes until it’s too late.
I procrastinate when it comes time to send in a manuscript. What if it’s not good enough? What if the editor or publisher rejects it?
I admire people who are busy and yet always have time for what’s important.
Along with circumstances in life, priorities change. I’ve learned there are times when illness, family concerns, or community disasters may cause plans to be delayed. Prioritizing and making lists of tasks, then checking off each item on the list is a great way to overcome procrastination.
Don’t let procrastination become a habit. Just do it!
Procrastination is a robber of time and energy, and habitual procrastination leaves too many tasks left undone and becomes overwhelming and sometimes harmful. I rest more comfortably at night when I’ve accomplished necessary tasks.
Honestly, it has been many years since I’ve been without something that needed doing.
Proverbs 27:1 tells us not to depend on tomorrow.
“Do not boast about tomorrow,
For you do not know what a day may bring forth.”
The author of the book of James in the Bible writes similarly:
“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’: whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” (James 4:13-14)
James then goes on to state, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17)
Ouch!
When I don’t procrastinate, I can comfortably look forward to reading a book, going out for ice cream, visiting a friend, or taking a walk in the park.
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