UPDATED 02/09/2022

We have all procrastinated at least once in our lives.  Procrastination is one of the reasons why many people fail to succeed.  I grew up hearing my elders tell me, “don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today” and for a long time I really did not understand why that was so important.  As I got older, I began to appreciate why procrastination can be so destructive and should be avoided.

Many people feel if they delay in addressing the problem it will go away; unfortunately, that is rarely the case and the situation may actually get worse.  Pretending that something does not exist does not make it so, that is the lie of procrastination.  You delude yourself into thinking that the delay will benefit you but instead you miss valuable opportunities and waste precious time. 

So why do people procrastinate?  Sometimes it’s laziness.  You may procrastinate because you are tired.  Depressed people often procrastinate directly and indirectly.  You procrastinate at times because the task at hand is distasteful.  Perhaps you don’t feel capable of accomplishing the task and you delay because you do not want to confirm your inadequacy.  Whatever your reasons for procrastinating, the outcome is the same.  You find yourself frantically rushing to accomplish the task at the last-minute and often the result is not your best effort or perhaps, you have missed the deadline and now there are negative financial consequences.

So how do you avoid procrastination? Learn to prioritize.  Do the little tasks today and don’t put them off because they will accumulate and seem humongous when you go to tackle them.  Bite the bullet, sometimes you have to do something even when it’s distasteful and putting it off won’t make it any more palatable.

SOURCE OF IMAGE: SHDR