Procrastination; a Route to Failure

Hamzat Ameenat

Do you want to be a winner? A champion?The best among the rest?You want to make a difference? Then you have to do all it takes to eliminate any trait of procrastination in you. Being successful is not a day job and I am sure you know Rome wasn’t built in a day. The step to success is not easy but you have to pull through to reap the fruit of your labor. One of the habits you must not exhibit if you want to make it in life is procrastination.

What is procrastination? According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, it defined procrastination as an act of delaying things until a later time because of laziness or reluctance. It is also the avoidance of doing a task that needs to be accomplished by a certain deadline. It could be further stated as a habitual or intentional delay of starting or finishing a task despite knowing it might have negative consequences, according to Wikipedia.

Procrastination is the fine line between success and failure. This habit is so rampant among humans, we postpone things that should be done at a particular period to a later time because of laziness. Most people don’t have genuine reasons for postponing tasks and this always have adverse effects on them.

The fear of failure is one of the reasons people procrastinate. They think taking more time to study will help them succeed. In the course of that, the little time they have they use it in recreational activities waiting for another hour before they start studying. They would have been so distracted till the day is over. Time waits for no one not even for the scientist that invented clock.

When a person doesn’t have a goal, such a person won’t be coordinated. When you don’t know what to do when to do it and what you want to achieve from doing it, you tend to waste time on irrelevant things. Some people don’t even have the knowledge of what they do and they are the types that clamours for promotion and the little time they have to do research they won’t make judicious use of it, that’s when they will remember they have a dinner date or pool party to attend. This is one of the cogent reasons why people procrastinate.

Procrastination walks with bad luck. When you keep delaying relevant tasks, you start losing opportunities, a life-changing opportunity to be precise. You get so disheartening and start asking yourself questions. It is as a result of the postponing habit you posses,you closed the doors that were opened to you with procrastination.

Also, your attitude to studies determines the result you get at the end of the session. You cant keep delaying studies and expect good grades. You might even miss promotions and awards at the end of the year. Procrastination brings nothing but poor academic performance. Had it been you had read at the right time not on examination morning probably tables might have turned.

Procrastination is a cankerworm that ruins reputation in the sense that, a man is known for his words, if you keep telling people you will do it and you are not doing or you did not meet the deadline, they will lose interest in you and abandon you because nobody is interested in empty promises. Besides that, you are damaging your self-confidence and self-esteem because you are used to postponing task. when you are called upon to give an account of the task given to you, you will feel shy and disgraced because you didn’t prepare adequately, you had wasted your time on other irrelevant activities.

Realizing the detriments of procrastination, the solutions are right in front of you. Start eliminating it by doing whatever you want to do bit by bit. Any task given to you, break it down into smaller units and do justice to them one by one, before you know it you are done before the deadline.
Getting yourself prepared is also one of the steps to conquer procrastination. Take your time to make researches and get appropriate Information that will help you in accomplishing your goal. Getting prepared helps to fight fear and you will be able to get your task done easily since you already know what to do, how to do and when to do it.

Dedication and commitment cannot be overlooked. Be focused and give full concentration to whatever you are doing. It’s not easy to get used to doing things at the right time but you have to be ready and committed to face and tackle your challenges. Also, don’t hesitate to give your best as it is a major tool for success. To make a difference you have to be extraordinary.
Planning goes a long way in fighting procrastination. Prioritize your activities and carry them out as at when due. In a few months time, you will see how much you’ve achieved and improved.

To round this up, Alexander Graham Bell once said”the only difference between success and failure is the ability to take action”. The journey of a thousand miles starts with a step. Start your fight against procrastination now and be an achiever You see”things may come to does who wait but only the things left by those who hustle and do things at the right time”, take action now so that you won’t be acting up when your mate is making it.