Procrastination is the art of avoiding a task that needs to be done or rather postponing it until the next opportune moment, which sadly never seems to arrive.
I call it an art because people can come up with the most creative of excuses and explanations to avoid doing the essential.
An article on CNBC.com by Rory Vaden, estimates that procrastination is the most expensive invisible cost in business today. She lists a recent poll of 10,000 U.S. employees, which revealed that the average worker self-admitted to wasting 2.09 hours each day on non-job-related activities. Considering the average salaried employee makes $39,795, that means procrastination costs employers $10,396 per year – per employee.
In fact the problem of procrastination is so endemic, that it prompted a Yale University economics professor Dean Karlan and two colleagues to set up a site called StickK.com. The site helps people fulfill their goals by allowing them to risk their own money — if they don’t complete their self-described objectives, they lose the money. In an article in CNN.com by Elizabeth Landau, Karlan explains, “It’s a contract to make slothfulness more expensive,”. Karlan has personally put up to $50,000 at stake to help himself lose or maintain his weight.
Hence its not surprising that most people think procrastination is a bad habit and I agree – to an extent!
Let me explain.
Do not procrastinate:
– saying I love you to people you care about – your parents, grandparents, spouse, partner, children, siblings.
– things that bring you joy, peace, happiness
– doing activities that take you closer to meeting your core goals and burning desire
– looking after your health and finances
– spiritual practices including meditation, prayer, forgiveness, charity, gratitude, selflessness
– spending valuable time with loved ones
– proactively inspiring your team
– wowing your clients so they recommend you in a heartbeat
– counting your blessings
– saying thank you to people who help you achieve your goals
In other words do not procrastinate things that matter most in your life.
However, it is fine to procrastinate:
– worrying about things that you have no control over
– carrying baggage of the past and future instead of focusing on the present
– trivial things in your life
– sweating the small stuff that have very little impact on your life
– worrying about petty misunderstandings
– 80 % of activities that only amount to 20 % success (Pareto principle)
– being penny wise pound foolish
In other words it is fine to procrastinate things that matter least in your life.
So procrastination can be a good habit or a bad habit depending on what you procrastinate.
How about you? What do you procrastinate most?