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Dealing with procrastination
To procrastinate is to put something off
until another time, to dally, prolong, adjourn,
postpone, protract, retard, stall or temporise.
Procrastination is a major disease; a thief that comes
only to steal, kill and destroy your time and your life.
It is also public enemy number 2 time waster. Once the
habit to put things off has set in, it slowly affects
you like a drug, until it becomes a part of your
character.
Are you a procrastinator?
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1. |
Have you ever awakened in the morning and said
to yourself, "just five minutes more", only to
discover to your horror that the five minutes
lasted one hour? |
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2. |
Have you ever set New Year's resolutions and
goals for your life, with a firm belief of
carrying them through, only to discover a few
weeks later that the enthusiasm has died? |
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3. |
Do you consider your A1 priority that will
achieve maximum benefits, then decide to do it
later, only to discover that you are spending
most of your time on lower priority tasks? |
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4. |
Have you ever waited until the very last moment
before you prepared yourself for that very
important meeting, exam, interview, wedding or
party, only to find yourself rushing, panicking
and being aggressive to others and even being
late? |
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5.
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Some years ago I advised a very close friend of
mine to write a book and entitle it, "The Book
Of Excuses". If he had written the book, do you
think you would be a major contributor? |
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6.
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Do you put off doing anything because of fear of
failure, fear of success or lack of self
confidence? |
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7.
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Have you ever prepared yourself for a task, only
to discover that your mind has wandered off onto
other things that you eventually moved on to do
whilst leaving the first undone? |
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8. |
Do you find it hard to discipline yourself to
start and complete one task at a time, only to
find yourself doing many tasks at once?
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9.
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Have you ever taken days to start a difficult,
time-consuming and unpleasant task that was a
priority to you, your family or your boss? |
If you answered yes to any two of the
above you are a procrastinator. Do not feel bad, we all
procrastinate at one point or another. To help you
further with your problem, please study carefully the
following thoughts.
PROCRASTINATORS
Perfectionist
Rebellious
Over Doer
Crisis Management
Low Self Esteem
Anxiety and Depression
Illness
Motivation
Excessive Fear
Dreamer
Perfectionist
A perfectionist sets standards and
targets that are so high that it is almost impossible to
achieve them. They are never satisfied because
information, staff and resources are never good enough.
They believe all the traffic lights must be green before
they start out on their journey. A perfectionist will go
over the same task a hundred times and still not be
happy with it.
Rebellious
The rebellious procrastinator knows
what to do and how to do it, but because of bad
feelings, will not do it. I know a young man who felt
that his job was at risk and sooner or later he would be
unemployed. This young man knew he was the only person
in the company that could do his job. Because of this he
delayed certain aspects of his job and almost brought
the company to its knees. He eventually became known as
the rebellious procrastinator.
Over Doer
The over doer is a classic. This
person takes on every one's job and at the end of the
day gets very little done. They do not like to delegate,
because they do not believe that others can do the task
as well as themselves. Sad to say, this person will
spend lots of time being burnt out. If you arrest the
over doers and question them, you will discover that
they have work with them that should have been done a
year ago.
Crisis Management
The crisis management procrastinators
will always tell you that they work better under
pressure. Because they work better under pressure, they
leave things until the pressure mounts up. They leave
almost everything to the last hour. One of the biggest
crisis managers are college students, who never fail to
leave assignments to the last hour. Planning,
organising, problem solving and decision making are
crisis managers' biggest weaknesses. Crisis management
procrastinators also find it hard to tackle big tasks.
Rather than breaking down the big task into smaller
manageable tasks, they leave it and do other minor
things. Working under pressure has destroyed many strong
men, women and their families. Do not be the next.
Low Self Esteem
Working with a low self esteem
procrastinator can be one of the most frustrating
experiences. This person will not hand in the work even
though it has been finished a long time ago. Fortunately
or unfortunately for me, I had this experience when I
was a training manager of a large organisation. This
employee would not bring the work to me until I asked
for it three or four times. When she eventually brought
it to me, she would nervously explain and explain even
though I did not ask any questions. People with low self
esteem are very passive and unassertive. They feel that
others are always better than themselves, even though
the opposite may be true.
Anxiety and Depression
For me anxiety and depression
represent one of the most dangerous of all the
procrastinators. It is also called worry sickness, which
leads to death. This person spends more time worrying
rather than getting the task done. I know many wonderful
people who worry so much that doctors have to put them
on medication or they will physically die. Their lives
and their families are shattered.
"Do you carry your worries
with you everywhere you go?"
Illness
There are certain illnesses such as
neurosis, a nervous disorder, that leads to
procrastination. Illness must be identified and treated
immediately. If you suspect that you fall within this
area, please seek medical advice, now!
Motivation
A person is motivated to action when
they have a clearly defined vision. Where there is no
vision, the motivation to action will be very low. This
procrastinator, because of lack of motivation affects
not just the task at hand but their whole life and the
lives of others. In SCHOLAR we have trained hundreds of
procrastinators who had no clearly defined vision when
they came to us. The get-up-and-go, the drive, the
enthusiasm, call it what you will, was not there. The
moment we help them to set clearly defined goals and
values for themselves, a miracle takes place before our
very eyes. All of a sudden the light is turned on, the
sun is out and they have won the lottery. Literally,
their lives are transformed.
Excessive Fear
Excessive fear of failure and fear of
success can cause a person to procrastinate. This fear
has a crippling and paralysing effect on its victims and
leads to inactivity. On a SCHOLAR training programme we
had a delegate who was so fearful I had to take her home
after every evening session. If I did not do this she
would not have attended the course. Fear crushes and
torments its victims like a 40-ton lorry travelling at
70 miles per hour and crushing a child's toy on the
motorway. Do not get in the way of excessive fear my
friend because it does not take prisoners.
Dreamer
I used to dream so much I soon forgot
that I lived on planet Earth. Dreamers live in a world
of their own, making promises they do not always keep.
They are a big disappointment to themselves and others.
When they should be working on their values and visions,
they are enjoying a trip to the West Indies in their
mind. When it's time to get up and do, they lie down and
dream, because they live in their head. If you dream and
do nothing, your poverty will creep upon you, like a
thief in the night.
Most of the above, except some
illnesses, come about because of habit. Because of a
consistent negative action over a long period of time
this habit has stuck to you like glue to soft paper. To
some of us, this habit is not just an enemy but a very
close friend or relative. In some cases the amputation
will be extremely painful but the rewards will outweigh
the pain by at least 100 to 1. It is not impossible to
stop procrastinating and at the same time it is not
simple. Here is what you do:
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a |
Accept that
you have a problem and that you need help. |
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b |
Identify the
areas in which you procrastinate, this is
because I do not believe you procrastinate in
everything. |
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c |
Identify the
root cause why you procrastinate. |
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d |
Once you have
identified the problem, design a plan of action
and little by little consistently chip away at
the mountain until it disappears. |
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e |
Set specific
times when you will stop what you are doing and
review your plan of action. |
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f |
If you need
help, do not be afraid to ask for it and call us
today, do not delay. |
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g |
Do one thing
at a time and do it well. |
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h |
Identify
someone who is a procrastinator and help that
person to overcome his/her procrastination. |
Write
down the name of the person you will help:
By studying the whole of this book
and doing what it says, you will never procrastinate
unnecessarily again. "Take a lesson from the ants, you
lazy fellow. Learn from their ways and be wise! For
though they have no king to make them work, yet they
labour hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.
But you, all you do is sleep." 2
How long will you procrastinate? When will you arise out
of your sleep? How long will you waste your time and
your life? Do you not realise that your employer and
your family believe that procrastination is a sign of
incompetence?
When will you be a better manager of
your time and your life? How long will you love the easy
and minor tasks, delaying, putting off and trifling away
your opportunities and your greatness? When will you
stir up your unlimited potential and do what only you
can do best, which if it is not done, will leave you
undone?
"A little sleep, a little slumber, a
little folding of the hands to rest
and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity
like
an armed man", and destroy your time and your life.
Quick! Get out of it! I know you can!
Swallow your pride; do not let embarrassment stand in
the way! Do not put it off! Do it now! Do not rest until
you do! Go! "When you get out of this trap you will have
saved yourself like a deer that escapes from a hunter,
or a bird from the net!" Go!
Go!
Go!
THE PRICE OF
PROCRASTINATION
I was approached by a young man who
explained that he needed to talk to me. My heart pounded
because I thought he wanted to tell me off for something
I did, so I tried to avoid him. Whilst at work I
constantly received telephone messages from him. After
three months of hiding, I finally built up enough
courage and agreed to meet him at my work place.
It was 6pm when my personal assistant
informed me that Kevin had arrived. My heart went crazy.
He was sitting in the reception area as I approached
him. "Good evening Kevin", I said. "I am sorry it took
so long to meet you." "Hello Errol", he replied
passively. His whole body language revealed that he had
not come to tell me off, this young man needed help. I
felt ashamed with myself.
Kevin and I spent approximately three
hours together, after which he left with an action plan
of how to deal with his situation. Two weeks after
meeting Kevin an internal voice in my head said, "How is
Kevin?" I was too busy to find out. Another week later
the same internal voice said again, "How is Kevin?" This
time I remarked, "I will call him next week." Two weeks
later that same internal voice continued, "How is
Kevin?" I never called Kevin.
Five weeks later it was reported that Kevin committed
suicide. I believe that my procrastination contributed
to his death. This will always be with me for the rest
of my life.
"I'll do it tomorrow!"
Do not procrastinate my friend,
it can cost you your life and the life of others.
Listen and watch your children and
break them out of any procrastinating habits that may be
forming. Stop them from forming habits that will be
difficult to get rid of when they get older. In my home
I have banned my girls from using the words, "I can't".
I know they can if they think they can.
May you become all that you can, every
moment, every second, every minute and every hour of
every day. |
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