Procrastination

What is this word? Why do we procrastinate so often?

In simple terms, procrastination is the delayment of doing a task till a later time. We delay or postpone and sometimes even totally avoid doing something. Most people would simply cover their guilt by saying they have no time. In our busy and hectic life, especially for working people, this may sound reason enough to get by but repeated acts of this nature may cause unpleasant consequences.

I have had the unpleasant experience of losing a molar tooth to procrastination. From a small cavity, I delayed seeing a dentist. It developed to form bigger cavities and yet I postponed treatment. It gave occasional pain, yet again I endured and procrastinated. It was only after the pain became unbearable that I sought treatment from a dentist. But treatment wasn't necessary any more. After the extraction the molar was lost, thanks to procrastination

Procrastination is a social ill and many do it for various reasons. People having a health- threatening condition may procrastinate getting treatment for fear of going through a surgery. Someone may procrastinate to visit the dentist for fear of a tooth extraction. Housewives may procrastinate doing the laundry and ironing when a good tv program is on. Students may procrastinate to study for exam because it is tough to remember information. We want to have things our way, the easy comfortable way so we resort to procrastination to avoid doing the uncomfortable and to remain in our state of comfort.

In most cases, procrastination isn't healthy and can lead to undesirable consequences like losing a tooth or failing an exam. In serious cases, lives may be lost. In some others, watching an exciting tv show first may only necessitate that you complete your laundry and ironing till past midnight.

Wherever possible, let us use the knowledge of our mind to decide when to conquer the reluctant state of our body to move. Or may we be so guided by the living words:

"If you wait until the wind and the weather are just right, you will never plant anything and never harvest anything" - Ecclesiastes 11.4, The Bible.