Procrastination

The most common time wasters is procrastination says author Paul J. Meyers. People who are masters of their time usually do not look to the left or to the right and they always turn out successful even in face of adversity. Procrastination is the grave in which opportunity is buried says an unknown author. A quote by Jimmy Lyons says ''Tomorrow is the only day in the year that appeals to a lazy man''. A common quote we learnt in school was ''Procrastination is the thief of time''. Procrastination refers to an act of replacing high priority actions with task of low priority that will not yield anything positive thus putting off important task to a later date and thereby not meeting up responsibilities or commitments. Laziness is the blood brother to procrastination and it is having a low will power to survive the storms of life and this act usually stems from procrastination.

We are all guilty of procrastination. Many times we get overwhelmed when we look at the magnitude of tasks we have to accomplish in a day, to escape these tasks we make excuses not to complete them. As a result, we feel dissatisfied, frustrated, stressed out and overworked on a day to day basis. It is important that despite the load of work we have to complete in a day, we take out time to think, prioritize, create our task list, do one thing at a time.

Many people instead of increasing are decreasing and are even in debts because they never pay up their bills on time and they leave things till the very last minute before they can act. This is a bad habit you must put away if you are guilty. An economist George Ainsle, a central figure in the study of procrastination, argues that dragging our heels is as fundamental as the shape of time and could well be called the ''Basic Impulse''.

Another economist George Akerlof wrote his personal experience in a paper thesis called ''Procrastination and Obedience'' (1991). He writes ''each morning for over eight months I woke up and decided that the next day would be the day I would ship my friend’s box to him....''. He was always about to send the box, but the moment to act never arrived. Akerlof who later became one of the central figures in behavioral economics, came to the realization that procrastination might be more than just a bad habit. Working on procrastination is working on your 'will and mind power' and managing well every single second, minute and hour of your life. There is a popular saying that ''Time waits for no man'' the aging process is continuous, non stop 'tick tack' don't wait till you have no energy left anymore to do anything. Those who get to their full potential are those who manage their time productively.

It is important to start anything you want to accomplish, take the first step. Take a leap of faith don't put it away for another day, start now! These steps will give you momentum and you will gain confidence to move in the direction of your goals and dreams thereby beating procrastination on daily basis. By Hilda Oti