PROCRASTINATION: The Thief of Time!

Hello my fellow Steemians, and everyone in the @africaunchained community, I hope you all had a great weekend! I would really love to believe you did, because I can boldly say mine went quite well!

Today is Monday; and am quite sure you all would have set down goals or laid down plans: things you would love to achieve this week, today or even before afternoon rolls by. Well, it's quite normal to set goals. In fact, I really do believe that everyone has one or two things he or she would love to achieve everyday. Again, I say: "it's quite normal".

A man without a goal is a goat.

I know that quote might sound a little harsh, but, it's true that: only goats have no goals. Since we all have goals, let's consider one powerful opposition that stops us from the attainment of set goals or vision. It's PROCRASTINATION!

In today's lesson, we are going to centre our discussion on the following aspects:

• Understanding what procrastination means.
• Understanding why people procrastinate.
• Understanding how we can stop procrastination.

What is Procrastination?

To procrastinate means to put off what you should, and can do now to a later time. It means to postpone an activity that should be done now to some other time in the future. From the above definition, procrastination, therefore, is the act of postponing, delaying or putting off, especially habitually or intentionally an activity that could be done now rather than later.

Let me make a resounding remark about this evil called: procrastination, it is an habitual action. People can really get addicted to putting off things until later that could as well been done now.

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Procrastination is as bad an addiction as smoking and drinking. Why? Those addictions can destroy a person's life, and procrastination can very much do the same to anyone who dares allow procrastination to take deep root in him. ~ProfLee

Do you doubt that procrastination can destroy a person's life? Then take this example: Mr. Johnson is feeling some pains on his chest. He notices right from the very first time, but just ignored it and continued with his "stuffs". That pain gets intensified after few weeks, yet this procrastinator says: "Well, it's just a minor pain. It would go away by itself - just as it came". But guess what, after about 7 months, the pain is far more intensified. Then, our procrastinator "accidentally" mentions it to his wife who forces him to seek medical attention. But guess what he does this time? He puts that off, too for about another 6 months, until he cannot withstand the pain anymore. The pain forces him to see a doctor who diagnoses him but then, the doctor tells him: Mr. Johnson, am sorry to say there's very little we can do to keep you alive for long "but, had you come earlier, you would have stood a better chance of surviving this ailment"; so, we are sorry to let you know: you have just few days to live". Please, what killed him after his death? I guess you know it's procrastination. So, my fellow Steemians, procrastination kills the procrastinator

Beyond doubt, procrastination kills the procrastinator. ~ProfLee

So much have been said in my attempt to explain the term: procrastination, let's quickly see why people engage in this deadly habit. And yes, I called it: "a deadly habit", because it's truly a deadly habit. I see no milder description for it. It's really deadly!

Why do People Procrastinate?

People procrastinate for any of the following reasons:

• Laziness: many people procrastinate because they are lazy. It's a fact that lazy people are good at putting off things that they are supposed to do now until later.

• Fatigue: really, rushing to keep up with deadlines lead to both physical and mental exhaustion. Sometimes, tiredness forces us to put off some activities.

• Rest: fatigue, unavoidably lead us to this: "the need for rest". Just like food and water, rest is a need of every human. Did you know that people die fast from lack of sleep (which is a form of rest) than for lack of food? That's a huge fact!

• Loe self-esteem: those who don't believe much in themselves find it easy to procrastinate a given task to a later. Why? Because they don't believe they can achieve it themselves in the first place. So, since they don't really believe they can do it, they just keep procrastinating it until finally, they never do it. How sad!

• Multitasking: if you are someone who engages in multitasking, you can see the need to procrastinate. In fact, you can see procrastination as an escape root from the loads of work piled up for you.
  (And so on..............)

Now that we know some of the major causes of procrastination, how can we stop procrastinating and get more valuable things done?

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How we can stop procrastination?

So far, we have come to understand what procrastination is and why people procrastinate - including you and I. Now is the time to consider how we can stop (or minimize) procrastination; here they are:

• Wake up in the morning and go after the most important thing in your day with all intensity. If you can achieve that one, other small stuffs would be a piece of cake.

• Set your goals before the day. If you make your plans prior to the day, you won't be confused on what to do or what not to. John Maxwell once said, "once opportunity comes, it's too late to prepare!"

• Break your goals into pieces, or smaller fractions. If your goals are too large, chances are: you may not achieve them. For instance, don't say: "I want to become the best debater in the world", that's too vague. Why not become the best in your club first! If you can achieve small goals, you can achieve bigger goals as well.

• Make a scheme to reward yourself. When you achieve any goal, reward yourself no matter how small. It would help boost your confidence in achieving further goals, and eliminating that evil called: "Procrastination"!

• Believe you can stop it. This is probably the most important thing I have written today. Why? Except you believe you can, you can't! So, make sure, deep down, you believe you can conquer procrastination and achieve your goals, in life, in steemit, in your academics.

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On a Final Note!

If all the world's inventors engaged in procrastination, nothing existing today that makes life easier would be in existence. If they did not allow procrastination stop them, would you let it stop you?

Thanks for reading this article!

Authored by @murphylee, Arranged and edited by @tezzmax.

Kindly vote @curie, and @surpassinggoogle as a Steemit witness.

And a very big thank you to all the @africaunchained community authors.