How To Procrastinate Less and Do More
A self-tested, beginner’s guide to time management
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According to the English Cambridge Dictionary, procrastination means
“To keep delaying something that must be done, often because it is unpleasant or dull.”
Ah! I have lost count of how many times I have been guilty of this act.
I should be crowned as the ‘Queen of Procrastination’. To add a gem to my crown, I quickly get distracted. Sometimes, I type a paragraph and zone out. I can’t concentrate on any work for more than ten continuous minutes.
A part of me always knew that I could do much better if I don’t rush through the task because of my procrastination.
This has caused me a lot of trouble for a long time — rushing to meet a deadline, submitting forms on the last day, replying to an email after 3–4 days.
Don’t get me wrong.
I completed the tasks on time. But at moments like those, I was unable to give in my best. A part of me always knew that I could do much better if I don't rush through the task because of my procrastination.
I knew I was not lazy because I still sat down three hours before the deadline and completed the assignments each time. I also knew that I had to push myself harder to get started with the task early.
How to Achieve Your Most Ambitious Goals
Three months into graduate school, I stumbled across a video on YouTube, a Ted Talk by Stephen Duneier. He said something that touched a chord in me.
“What stands between us and our most ambitious dreams is not a magical skill or talent. But how we approach problems and make decisions to solve them.
Marginal improvements are the key to be better.
Stop becoming a spectator and become an active participant in your actions and decisions.”
For me, at that moment, the most ambitious goal was that I would be able to procrastinate without any guilt.
And I decided that I would procrastinate — but ‘honestly’.
