fruitful vine

HOW TO STOP PROCRASTINATION

Proverbs 27:1 “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”

Are you a procrastinator? I have to admit that at times am really I a procrastinator. I thought of doing things but when the time comes I put it aside for some reasons. More often than not I just don’t have the rush to do it. Maybe you can count me in that group of “adrenaline people”. I do not know; but I can put more focus and words just pour in when I am betting the deadline. I know this is not healthy and it can affect my life in the long run. And as a Christian this should not be the case.

I made this article as a sample for an online writing job I applied before and was gladly take in by the admin of the site. Ever since I always use this article everytime a client ask for a work sample before awarding a writing project. And I want to post this now here in my blog because I have been procrastinating too long… procrastinating in posting some articles. I have been meaning to update my blog but I just cannot do it for so many reasons. Now that at least I found some time to really update this, I am hoping that I can do it regularly. Many things happened to me and my family these past months that I believe is worth sharing for to my readers and followers. Many things I have learned and want to share it with you my dear readers. But I will do it one at a time. For now, I want to post this article which I wanted to do so for some time now. I hope you can learn from it and may even have some insights on how to stop procrastinating. Here we go: =)

"People have their own reasons why they usually put things off. To some, it is because they have many things on their hands, to some just the plain reason of “they don’t want to do them for now”, to some because they are afraid to do things, the task is boring, difficult and to most because it became a habit and it works for them. They love the adrenaline of doing things in haste and with the clock ticking. (that last one works for me)

Procrastination has been around for a long time and the truth is everyone does it. But it became a bad habit. (which I want to change) Procrastination might stop us from achieving the goals we have set for ourselves. (true) Getting better with your goals means you should stop procrastinating now. It can be a reason for our failures. Time is a very costly resource since we are only allocated limited fraction of it. We are not going to live forever and as the verse says above we do not know what tomorrow will bring, we do not even know if we are still alive comes morning. So what better things to do than doing it now and doing it well? Once time has passed we can never get it back.  That’s the danger of procrastination.

Unrewarding lifestyle is one result of delaying things needlessly. It also shows that we do not have discipline and are poor time managers and sometimes shows our disobedience. (ouch! This one hurts) So how can we prevail over it?

Later is not always better so let us take a few steps each day that will help us stop procrastination. We have many excuses when it comes to putting things off but we can overcome it if we really want to. We should take a few small steps each day to becoming more diligent in our tasks. When setting goals, make sure it is realistic and attainable. Make sure to follow the steps you set for your goals and as you work ahead that goal avoid making excuses along the way. Finally pray for strength and persistence for we can not do things apart from the grace of God.

Let us take every minute counts by changing the way we think. Let us enjoy and love the things we do. Make certain to lessen interruption when you are set to doing a task at hand. Time Management is very important when it comes to working toward stopping procrastination. Make sure to prepare a to-do-list and prioritize your duties by ranking them accordingly. Put on top the task that needs to be done right away, then the once that require to be done soon and so on and so forth.  

Time is moving fast so let us not waste our lives and instead use the short time lent to us to make ourselves useful for today. Never let yourself fall into the trap of putting off things tomorrow what can be done today. By changing our attitude towards our duties and responsibilities we will find joy in seeing our tasks get accomplished. For one day we may find that tomorrow may not come."

Indeed, I want to reiterate that last line, One day we may find that tomorrow may not come at all. This life has been given to us by Almighty God. Only one life and soon it will pass. I want to make the most of it. I want to live a life pleasing to God, a life that will give glory to His name. I am praying that as I live my life people will see Jesus Christ in me.