Procrastination

You may think I’m getting a jump on 2018 writing early on this subject and as a result, find yourself impressed. Before you get too excited however, it is a greater likelihood my intention was to write this eleven months ago and am late, rather than early.

Jackson Brown said, “The biggest gap in the world is between ‘I should’ and ‘I did’. While there are some whose thought process says, “Why put off till tomorrow what you can do today?” there are others whose mode of operation is, “Why do today what you can put off till tomorrow?”

If the latter doesn’t describe you, it is likely you know someone it does. In fact, their name has already come to your mind. Procrastinators are frustrating to those that rely of them for whatever reason.

When it comes to temperament, there is one type that is more prone to seemingly procrastinate than any other: the Melancholy. What is interesting is this individual is also the best when it comes to being self-motivated.

This is a paradox. How is it someone can be self-motivated, yet appear to be a procrastinator? The key word is “appear.” In truth, they are procrastinating but not because they want to. This individual is dragging their feet because they are perfectionistic and are not comfortable with their ability to accomplish the task at hand to the high standard they have imposed on themselves within the time limitation imposed on them.

What drives this is their fear of rejection. If they turn in an imperfect project on time, they run the risk of negative comments being made. Should this happen, those comments are taken personal and become daggers to the soul. Even though rejection of this person is not the intent, rejection is what the individual thinks and feels.

So, what is the solution? If this person is your spouse, is someone you work with on the job or is somebody involved in church work, ask him or her how long he or she needs to complete the task you are giving him or her. Whatever time frame they give you, smile and add some additional time.

This will likely not get the project completed in the time frame you desired. What it will do though is remove much of the stress and tension in the individual, especially if the task is new to them. It will also almost insure the task being completed to a level of perfection greater than you expected. On top of that you will have somebody that appreciates you giving the time they needed to accomplish the task and next time it won’t take as long.

It is better to have a quality job completed later than you desired rather than having several people assure you they will do what you want and you end up having to do it yourself because somebody wanted to make you happy in the moment.

Let me bring this closer to home. Is there something you need to accomplish in your life? Don’t procrastinate and wait till next year. Get a jump on the future and start today.

Ready? Set. Go!