Procrastination is probably my worst habit. It's something that I've been working really hard to change for years, but haven't seen much progress with. It's also something that I think a lot of people struggle with. In high school you can usually get away with it, but in college and especially later in adult life, procrastination doesn't fly. If you forget to pay your bills, you're in for it. Or if you put off a big presentation at work, your job could be on the line. That's one reason why college is the perfect time to try and shake the bad habit of procrastination. It starts by taking it one step at a time. With January rapidly approaching, my goal is to put an end to my procrastinating skills once and for all! Here's my plan to stop procrastinating and save the world! (Okay, maybe superhero work will be my goal for next year....)
Take it "Adoraday"
My incredibly wonderful AP English Literature teacher was and is, a self-proclaimed, "procrastination prophet." Her goal is to campaign to stop procrastination. She's quite inspirational, actually. In her classroom, she has a big yellow sticker that says, "A Door a Day Keeps the Procrastinating Monster Away." She promotes "Adoraday," broken down into "A Door A Day." This means that you go through one door each day, you do things in steps. Breaking down big projects like this can help you be more productive and get more stuff done faster. This philosophy really helped, especially with giant reading assignments in her advanced class. Whenever I think about how I'm procrastinating, I'll think of Ms. Thackeray and her lovable, memorable "Procrastinating Monster" sticker. Another thought is, if you take life "A Door A Day," you'll find yourself "Adoring" your days! Life is more enjoyable when you don't have heavy responsibilities looming over your head.
Life Will Fall Into Place
One object lesson that will stay with me forever is when my friend from Young Women's taught us a lesson about prioritizing. She filled a jar with sand and then tried to shove several large rocks into it. There was no way they could possibly fit! Then she put the rocks in first, and dumped the sand in second. The rocks all fit, and the sand filled in the spaces around the rocks. This lesson shows that if you put the important things first, like the gospel and your family, the less important things like school and your social life will fall into place. Balancing everything is hard, and is one of the key background factors behind procrastination. But if you can prioritize and put the gospel first, procrastinating won't be such a big issue. The little things in life will work out, and everything will be balanced.
Just Do It
These wise words of wisdom from the viral internet video of Shia Lebeouf are cheesy but true. Just DO it!!! Don't put stuff off, just get it over with! Rip off the bandaid, write that essay! Don't let your dreams be dreams. If you don't take action, you'll never get anything done. By getting up out of your seat and actually doing something, you are taking the first step in defeating procrastination.
Do Not Procrastinate the Day of Your Repentance
Alma 34 teaches us perhaps the best advice against procrastination. Verse 33 reads, "And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed."
If we don't act while we still can, it will soon be too late. We try our hardest not to procrastinate the day of our repentance. So why do we procrastinate the day of our oral report?? Don't wait until the last minute, whether it is to meet our Savior or to write our blog posts. From the biggest issues to the smallest, we will be happier when we get tasks done sooner rather than later.
Now, clearly I am writing this post very last minute. But I think I've definitely improved on procrastination during this last year, and I intend to improve even more over this next year. You can only do your best every day. I hope that by following these words of advice I can stop procrastinating and change my life.
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