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Decide and Defend the Beauty of Time
Virtually everyone would agree that there are seven days in a week and twenty-four hours in a day. The days and the hours in those days are constant. When we go to sleep on Wednesday, for example, we know that tomorrow morning will be Thursday and the same twenty-four hours will be there. Therefore we can conclude that time has been constant and will remain constant.
When we discuss the subject of procrastination I feel in one way or another the issue of time comes up. Procrastination happens because people do not put the time they have to good use. More often than not, people complain that they do not have enough time. Sometimes this is true, however, what I find to be more common is that people do make good use of time they have.
Therefore, when talking about procrastination the first item is priorities. Decide what you want. So much of procrastination comes back to what you do. Decide what you need and want. This is a very personal decision. No one else can make this decision for you.
The following are some basic things to consider when deciding what you want.
1. Make a list of responsibilities. Every adult has these work, family, and friends. Think about what things have to be done on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Most of the things in this category cannot be eliminated so it is important to begin here.
2. Make a list of wants. It could also include things or activities you want to do. One thing to keep in mind with this category is how many activities do you want to do and how much time will it take? Remember this comes after all of your responsibilities.
3. Make a list of your desires. I’m sure you might be thinking of how this category differs from the last. There is some overlap, but in my mind this is a category for the future. Where do you want to be? What are your plans for the future? Is there anything you want to do now regarding your future?
When we think about priorities it normally has a somewhat negative connotation. This is mainly because we all enjoy the things we want to do, but we do not always have contentment to do the tasks we have to do.
The reality of it is sometimes priorities make us do things we do not want or need to do. This is when procrastination really becomes an issue. Procrastination consists of either putting things off and/or dragging things out. We all know that there is a range of how quickly a task can be completed.Having as much control as you can over your priorities will help you fend off procrastination. The second step is simple, yet there seems to be difficulties with the implementation. Basically it is time to defend how you will spend your time. Defending is an opportunity to decide what is really important. Scheduling is needed if procrastination is going to become a thing of the past.
Here are some tips to consider when trying to schedule.
1. Avoid over scheduling. Scheduling is helpful, but it is not the only thing. Give yourself some flexibility and remember there is only 24 hours in a day. Make sure you can accomplish most of the tasks in a given day.
2. Do what you can to simplify your life. This one goes back to what is really important. Sometimes we have to take things out of our schedule to make sure that we have more success.
3. Decide if there are things that must be done every day. Make sure those items get covered first. This will hopefully give you some peace and then you will see how much more time you have to make the best decision for you.
4. Defend only to yourself what you are doing. Don’t make your schedule based on what others think and feel about you. The only exception is when your schedule affects your family. Here there might have to be some negotiation. However, never allow others outside your family to decide what is best.
5. Embrace the time you have. Enjoy life and recognize you are going to have ups and downs. If something comes up and one or two things don’t get done realize that tomorrow is a new day. Everything that happens is not going to be scheduled.
Procrastination is something that everyone does from time to time. Some probably handle it better than others. Putting things off actually causes more stress than eliminating it. Planning and scheduling can get annoying but it gives us enough time to get things done. When time is used productively every minute counts!
