PROCRASTINATION- The Thief of Time
By: Varunavi Bhatnagar
Procrastination is the grave in which opportunity is buried. It is the thief of time. Overcoming procrastination is a daily struggle that often requires you to take action- even when a specific activity is the last thing you feel like working on. It is something we all experience. Perhaps procrastination is a part of the human condition, having an extended period of time to accomplish something makes us put it off into the future, even if we can begin it now. Perhaps it is modern society, which often seems to focus on immediate and instant results, rather than something carefully crafted and refined over a longer period of time. We often make excuses like — “I’ll do this tomorrow, there’s not enough time to do this today”; “I don’t really need to do this yet; it can wait until sometime in the future.”, to ourselves. This procrastination cycle keeps on going leading us to the inevitable deadline and that’s when we start losing our cool. And while most people actually do get it done under that time pressure, working that way does not always produce the best results, and allows less time to prove and make it perfect.
Mark Twain famously said that if the first thing you do in the morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the rest of the day knowing the worst is behind you. Your frog is your worst task, and you should do it first thing in the morning. “EAT THE FROG” means you get it out of your head so you stop worrying about it. When you have a big list, you can pick off the big frogs and get started immediately. This means that you can start with the bigger tasks, and get them done first. When you start your day without knowing what to work on, it becomes much easier to procrastinate on doing anything at all. Therefore, making a To-do-list at the beginning of the day proves to be quite a boon as it gives you a clear mindset to do your work.
Researchers suggest that procrastination can be particularly pronounced among students. A 2007 meta-analysis published in the Psychological Bulletin found that a whopping 80% to 95% of college students procrastinated regularly, particularly when it came to completing assignments and coursework. In most cases, procrastination is not a sign of a serious problem. It’s a common tendency that most people give in to at some point or another. We all just need to know the right ways and methods to overcome procrastination to bear fruit by doing our tasks.
A few practices to overcome procrastination are:
1) Resolve any potential emergency
Ask yourself what is the worst-case scenario if I ignore this issue.
2) Eat the frog
Complete the hardest task first, the one you’re most likely to procrastinate on.
3) Build the awareness habit
Ask yourself,
What reason do I have for putting off this task?
4) Bundle rewards with actions
Only allow to reward yourself when u do something that benefits u in the long term.
These practices if followed properly can surely help overcome procrastination and instead motivate you to do the work to the best of your ability. It is rightly said, “every day spent procrastinating is another day spent worrying about a thing.” So do it now and move on with your life! Good luck!