Putting things off from time to time may not cause too many problems in your life. On the other hand, chronic procrastination can consistently jack up your stress levels. It lowers your self-esteem and can cause severe mental and physical health problems.
The negative effects of procrastination can range from something as simple as missing a deadline on an important task, or it can be something more long-term, such as a missed opportunity that kills a dream.
For others, it can have long-lasting effects that resonate throughout their lives.
The reasons that people procrastinate can be incredibly varied and they may not always obvious. Sometimes, it is a hidden fear that we don’t want to acknowledge, or it could be simply not wanting to do something because it just doesn’t motivate us.
Here are 7 life-wrecking dangers of procrastinating you should remember the next time you are thinking about delaying some action or task you know you need to be doing today.
Odds are you already feel like you don’t have enough hours in the day. Why procrastinate and make the situation even worse? The most fleeting and valuable commodity you have is time. It can’t be replaced.
Procrastinators often look up with deadlines staring them in the face at the last minute and think, “Where did all the time go?”
When you have to fly around at the last minute trying to cram a few days’ worth of work into a few hours because you’ve been procrastinating, you realize that you’ve wasted precious time that you can’t get back.
Any time you do one thing, you are costing yourself the opportunity to do something else. Putting things off until later, when later finally arrives and you absolutely must take action, doesn’t allow you to be free in case a wonderful opportunity arises.
Procrastination doesn’t allow you to answer when opportunity knocks.
Studies show that if you procrastinate once, you’ll do it twice. Procrastinate a couple of times, and you begin to plan procrastination into your regular routine.
The people who create their dream realities make effective use of their time.
When you waste time and put things off, the results you finally achieve are watered down and rushed.
This means you rob yourself of living the greatest and most fulfilled life that you possibly can.
Procrastination is the enemy of efficiency and productivity. When you put things off in the workplace, you kill your chances of advancement. You might even get fired.
When you consistently procrastinate in a relationship, you’re telling the important people in your life that you simply don’t care. This means you run the risk of damaging, or even permanently ruining, relationships that are important to you.
Low self-esteem and procrastination are comfortable bedfellows. When you put things off and put things off until you have to rush around at the end and get them done, you feel bad about yourself.
You wonder, “Why can’t I just do what I need to do?” You ask yourself, “Why can’t I take action in the pursuit of things that are so important to me?”
Negative emotions like self-hatred and self-doubt create stress, and stress is at the cornerstone of all chronic disease. It is in this way that …
Procrastination seems to become a major issue when we start to think about setting goals or wanting to achieve or change something.
Don’t get me wrong; you really may have a strong desire to change, but you just find it impossible to take that vital first step.
This can be incredibly confusing and frustrating; you might find yourself thinking, “Why is it so difficult to go for something that I know I want so badly?” Only you can answer that; you’ll have to explore a little deeper to try to find out why you are resisting and effectively sabotaging your own personal growth.
You need to find what the root cause is behind your procrastination, especially if it’s preventing you from achieving your goals, or you may never attain them and you may be losing out on some of what life has to offer you.
You may think that statement is a little harsh or “over-the-top”. Actually, it isn’t. People who procrastinate constantly make poor decisions. You put off going to that doctor’s appointment, justifying your decision by saying that you probably won’t be able to afford his bill.
You find excuses for putting off exercising all the time. You know you should eat better, but you can always start your new diet tomorrow.
Stress is related to the top preventable causes of death. Procrastination is a powerful stress booster. Put off taking care of your physical health for years, and you increase the odds that you’ll die from a serious illness or disease.
Stop procrastinating. It’s a killer, a job and relationship wrecker. Putting off important tasks and responsibilities leads to so many negative results. Chronic procrastination can make it virtually impossible to live a life of fulfillment and success.
And remember, one way to beat procrastination is to stay focused and many people struggle with this. If you want to learn more about staying focused, check out the featured resource below for a free detailed report; download, read it and take action 😊
Do you often find yourself putting off things you know you need to do? Even things that are in your own best interest?
Are you late for appointments? Do you miss deadlines? Ignore tasks, even important ones?
Not a good feeling, right? You’re frustrated and angry with yourself, and the worst part of it all is that you don’t understand why it’s happening. You’re falling behind on the job and frustrated at home, and it just seems to be getting worse. You want to achieve more. You see other people making progress.
Whatever it is that you want to accomplish, there is a way for you to accomplish it. By the end of this series of articles, you’ll understand what’s holding you back, and you’ll be able to make a practical plan you can count on to help you achieve the things you want.
Increased understanding of the primary causes of procrastination and the most effective techniques for dealing with it will give you emotional freedom and a secure, positive self-image. You will be on your way to creating your optimum life.
In this article let’s take a look at what procrastination actually is; defining this can really help to overcome it, so even though it may appear a little silly, bear with me.
Whether it’s a discussion of setting goals, time management, or procrastination, they all begin with a discussion of attitude. That might seem strange, but there are very good reasons for it. We all have strengths and weaknesses, and some of those weaknesses are very likely at the root of our procrastination.
Some of us think we lack willpower, and some of us think we just don’t have the determination to follow through, no matter how much we want something.
Some of us really don’t know what we want for ourselves. You see people all around you achieving things, but sometimes it can be difficult to know what you want, what your own special priorities should be, and the things unique to your own life that would make you happy.
Some of us enjoy being carefree and living for today. We have an actual resistance to setting goals, but goal setting is crucial to achieving the life we want to live.
Sometimes, we do the opposite and set goals that are so daunting that we think we can never achieve them. We can become overwhelmed, and not realize we can accomplish our goals one step at a time, one part at a time.
A little organizational skill can help us break those goals down, make them manageable, and help us sustain our motivation while reaching those goals. If you want to know more about productivity, you should check out this post here.
Some of us are perfectionists and are afraid that any failure means that we as human beings are failures. This can be a paralyzing idea, and it’s just wrong.
Most of us learn best from the things that do go wrong in our lives. You may have heard this before, but it’s true. We enjoy the good times, but we learn from the bad times. Obstacles and failures can be a great opportunity for personal growth if we allow them to be, and don’t let them overwhelm us!
Here’s a great saying for your arsenal: “The greatest failure is not having tried.”
Comparing ourselves with others is another bad habit that can be paralyzing. Often, we endure self-inflicted blows to our self-esteem when we think that others are smarter, better educated, more attractive, or nicer than we are. Again, this kind of thinking is wrong. We all have the strengths and skills that we need to achieve the goals that are right for us.
Some of us are loners who just can’t stand to ask for help. But obviously, large projects need to be done with the assistance of others. And most of us need cooperation and support in one way or another in our lives.
Others of us have real difficulty in prioritizing and managing our time. This can be difficult since life has a way of intervening to upset our plans. Luckily, setting priorities and managing time are skills that can be learned when you have the right attitude.
If you’re one of those people who think you have no willpower, you might be right. That’s a big club! But the secret here is that developing willpower comes from a combination of using self-discipline and managing the fears that are holding you back. Once again, we’re in luck: both of those skills can be learned.
You might have a few ideas of your own about why you procrastinate. Add those to this list. When you know a few key things about yourself — your strengths and weaknesses, you skills, and your patterns of behavior — you’ll be able to develop some key skills to help you stop procrastinating and achieve your goals.
So, in the next article in this series, we’ll look at how to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses.
One way to beat procrastination is to stay focused and many people struggle with this. If you want to learn more about staying focused, check out the featured resource below for a free report; download, read it and take action 😊
