Procrastination

Are you a procrastinator? Do you put off things until the very last minute and
then simply shrug your shoulders because you can’t possibly complete a task on time.
If you are a procrastinator, this information may not be of much help to you.

Most of us procrastinate sometimes. For most people it is natural to put some things
off, especially if they are unpleasant or difficult to do. The truth is that about nine out
of ten of us procrastinate to some degree. We tend to postpone certain jobs or tasks
even though we know they won’t go away. If a task is boring, monotonous or simply
involves too much hard work, we may put it off as long as possible. Naturally,
procrastination is detrimental to good time management. You can’t put off important
tasks and expect to manage your time well.

Your Desk - Do you regularly clean up your desk or it is always cluttered and
disorganized with all kinds of paper. This one gives me a hard time. I put things on my
desk until I have finished the work related to it. It doesn’t take long for my desk to
become cluttered. Sooner or later I have to file things to bring my desk back to a good
environment for finding things. Because I put it off so long, it becomes a bigger job, a
much bigger job than it would be if I did it every few days or at least once a week.

Computers - Our servers and computers face the same problem. We have network
folders loaded with old and useless documents and information. We wind up spending
more money on larger hard drives instead of cleaning out the junk?

Whether it is paper or data, junk gets in the way and makes it difficult to find the
documents or files you really need. How many times have you had to search for a
document or file for days because it’s misplaced among junk?

Workstations - As a network administrator for a large hotel, I visit workstations
regularly. The mess that I find at some of them amazes me. I can’t see how anyone
can work around such a mess. Usually this is an indication that their computer files
will also be an absolute mess with hundreds of data files in large unorganized clumps.
Often these users also use their email inbox to file their email messages. I received
calls from users whose email program will no longer work, and it is because they had
thousands of emails in the inbox. The program simply bogs down. Of course, this also
means that it takes a long time to find any email they need for reference.

Other Problems - All of these things cause you to waste time, and managing the
time you have is much more difficult. Completing all your scheduled tasks is
impossible. Here are a few other problems created by procrastination.

Wasting time when there is a lot to do could have a negative effect on your
morale.
Unfinished jobs caused by procrastination tend to leave a lot of clutter
around and will definitely affect your efficiency.
Putting Off - The more you put off things on your to do list, the more jobs will
accumulate until the list becomes overwhelming and you are always behind.
Viewed by Others - Obviously, procrastination will come to the attention of
others that may be your bosses or your clients. They could view it as pure
laziness and lack of interest in the job.
Procrastination creates a cycle of unpleasantness. The more you
procrastinate about a task, the more unpleasant it seems to become. And, the
more unpleasant it becomes, the more you are likely to postpone it.