Whenever you try to ask him to do certain task, Ali’s readymade answer is disappointing. He calmly nodes his head in agreement and assures you that he will do it tomorrow. You give yourself the liberty to exclaim why does it have to wait until tomorrow? How come he cannot adopt a do now attitude?
Tomorrow, next week, next month or even next year are nothing but lame excuses for Ali’s inculcated procrastination habit.
Such vice is not limited to Ali. It is a behavior we come across so often in our daily life. How many times did you defer an issue hoping that you will tackle it tomorrow?
How many times did you promise your wife, kids, boss, friends or colleagues that you will do a particular thing for them but you kept putting it in the back burner?
Tomorrow and tomorrow but has your tomorrow become a tangible reality?
You go to the doctor and he or she diagnoses you as a case of procrastination syndrome!
What exactly is procrastination? What causes it? What are the associated problems with procrastination? And how can we overcome it?
The word itself comes from the Latin word procrastinatus: pro- (forward) and crastinus (of tomorrow). It is the deferment or putting-off an action which requires immediate attention, usually by focusing on some other distraction.
As a sign of weakness procrastination could be attributed to various factors such as stress, being overwhelmed, Laziness ,Lack of Motivation ,Lack of Discipline Poor Time Management habits, Lack of Skill as well as Perfectionism .
No matter what the root cause for developing such a bad habit we all need to exhibit a true intention to overcome such a hurdle. Unless we take such an initiative its negative impact on our performance will remain unchanged.
But how can we overcome the tendency for Procrastination? Of course effective Time management will do the trick. As simple as it might sound, this refers to a range of skills, tools, and techniques used to manage time when accomplishing specific tasks, projects and goals. Among these skills that will lead us to master the art of managing our time are the following:
• planning,
• allocating,
• setting goals,
• delegation,
• analysis of time spent,
• monitoring,
• organizing,
• scheduling
• and prioritizing.
Utilizing this prescription will yield the desired result but it will require true intention, discipline and a lot of patience after all Rome was not made in one day. Remember, nurturing the habit of procrastination will not take you forward. It will only add to your frustration and that of the people around you. Please don’t forget procrastination is the thief of time. Don’t let your time get stolen from you. Let us not live in the past but act in the present.
Looking forward for your contribution on shedding lights on the issue of procrastination and how it has affected your life and what initiatives have you taken to overcome the tomorrow syndrome.
They say tomorrow never comes. It is true, we do not know what tomorrow holds for us, so I would partially agree that yes we shouldn't delay our work. As for Ali,we may not know for what reasons he is delaying the job. It might be a genuine reason.
ReplyDeleteWhen a superior designates a duty to a subordinate I think it is equally important for the superior to enquire as to why the task will be done tomorrow. However, I do agree with the multiple reasons given for procrastination. If the reason is genuine I think it should not matter. But, when we are assigned any task, we must consider the significance, priority of the task assigned amongst the multiple tasks we have in hand and execute the following. This will not only help the organistaion as well as Ali in future.
Yes, in doing so, the following skills do apply as mentioned in the article.
Regarding the promises made to family, friends, I believe before making any committments one should think twice, so as to not raise any expectations for the opposite party, and yes make short term plans and execute. That always helps and helps one maintain the promises and boosts your self esteem too!
The post really resonates with the situations we face in our daily activities and in many cases, I too would be diagnosed with the 'procrastination' syndrome. The article got me thinking. What if the syndrome grew into an epidemic? The thought sends shivers down my spine. Everything would come to a grinding halt. Nothing would ever get done, as Anonymous rightly pointed out...'Tomorrow Never Comes'.
ReplyDeleteMore often than not, procrastination results out of lack of self discipline and poor time management. Having diagnosed the illness and suggested the remedy, how about a few tips on how to practice the same. Hmmm....a future blog post maybe ?
Procrastination, one of my favourite vices has been attached to my personal and professional life for a number of years now. I say this with a lot of regret. "Why do something today when you can put it off until tomorrow?", a friend of mine used to say. Every once in a while I strongly resolve to kick this evil habit out of my life with proper time management, task prioritazion and imbibing a strong drive in myself to acheive goals at the times they were meant to be acheived. Alas, I wish I could continue this great ethic for more than just a few days. But predictably a certain Mr. Procastination always catches up with me.....
ReplyDeleteProcrastination falls in different categories, and all are not negative. I can see eyebrows are raising…
ReplyDelete‘Occasional Procrastination’ due to some valid reasons like sudden illness or for not feeling well mentally…can be forgiven if we catch up soon. Human beings are not robots after all! Procrastination can be farsightedness in case it becomes apparent that taking a particular action or finishing a task at a more suitable time in future rather than today, will bring more positive and more successful outcome. We might need to make ‘Calculative Procrastination’ by weighing the pros and cons of such steps.
If we end up paying fines by procrastinating paying the fees on time or renewing the important documents, then that’s absolutely ‘Foolish Procrastination’. The most worrisome is ‘Chronic Procrastination’, which certainly needs immediate attention. This attitude blocks the procrastinator from being successful in life as well as it negatively impacts others who deal with such a person; they literally become victim of this procrastinator. Another one category is a criminal procrastinator, who gives hard time to a colleague out of jealousy in a team work. This can be dubbed as an ‘Intentional Procrastination’.
In general, we can overcome procrastination by ‘Seizing the day’ as tomorrow is always uncertain; at this point I unanimously agree with the anonymous.
IJ has left a new comment on your post "Overcoming The Tomorrow Syndrome":
ReplyDeleteProcrastination falls in different categories, and all are not negative. I can see eyebrows are raising…
‘Occasional Procrastination’ due to some valid reasons like sudden illness or for not feeling well mentally…can be forgiven if we catch up soon. Human beings are not robots after all! Procrastination can be farsightedness in case it becomes apparent that taking a particular action or finishing a task at a more suitable time in future rather than today, will bring more positive and more successful outcome. We might need to make ‘Calculative Procrastination’ by weighing the pros and cons of such steps.
If we end up paying fines by procrastinating paying the fees on time or renewing the important documents, then that’s absolutely ‘Foolish Procrastination’. The most worrisome is ‘Chronic Procrastination’, which certainly needs immediate attention. This attitude blocks the procrastinator from being successful in life as well as it negatively impacts others who deal with such a person; they literally become victim of this procrastinator. Another one category is a criminal procrastinator, who gives hard time to a colleague out of jealousy in a team work. This can be dubbed as an ‘Intentional Procrastination’.
In general, we can overcome procrastination by ‘Seizing the day’ as tomorrow is always uncertain; at this point I unanimously agree with the anonymous.
Hi! Saleh,
ReplyDeleteWent through your piece – interesting ideas.
Managing time is the biggest challenge for everyone. And, sadly while we learned in childhood, that ‘procrastination is the thief of time’, we have allowed this thief to liberally dip into our pockets (however unwittingly)!
More power to your pen!
Cheers!
Jay
Procrastination... As they say in Oman "Seer alYoum ta3al bakir"!! [translation: go today and come back tomorrow]!!
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely a syndrome of our nation!!! Especially endemic in the government sector to be specific the administritive part of the government sector!