If I had fought procrastination early enough in my life, I wouldn't have missed some opportunities in the past. I was that person who lacked planning and managed my time poorly, allowing procrastination to rub off good tidings. It was always, I will get it done later, I will, I will without taking action immediately, forgetting that time waits for no one. While procrastination has helped me to work at my pace without so much pressure, it has also made me lose valuable things.
One such situation was when I shared my business with my former boss. I took my time to explain to him one-on-one about a particular real estate investment, which I believe will be great for him considering the location and how he can utilize the property very well. He picked interest and told me to visit back at the end of the next month, when the money will be available for the investment, so he can fill out all the necessary forms and proceed with payment. I was excited about the deal and couldn't wait to close it and earn a handsome commission from it.
The end of the month was approaching, and I reminded him; he told me that he would give me a call, which he did in the next 3 days. I really don't know if it's laziness that overshadowed me or if I felt so overwhelmed with work left and right, but all I know is that procrastination set in. I will think about the traffic on the road and tell him that I will come the next day. The next day, I will call him to bear with me for one silly reason or another. To my greatest chagrin, two weeks passed and I was still procrastinating and didn't visit his office for the deal. Finally, I did it when I felt I was a bit free from other work, and as I was approaching the office gate, I saw two of my real estate colleagues coming out of his office with our land deal fliers. You needed to see how tensed I was. I sensed that my colleagues must have convinced my boss to buy from them, and that was exactly what happened. Immediately after my boss saw me, he said, Awwwww, Nkem, I waited for you and you didn't show up, and you know, money is a spirit. I didn't want to use the money for something else but for investment. Unfortunately, the female and the male realtor you saw there at the reception already got the deal!
I felt like rewinding the time so I could do things right, but it was quite unfortunate for me. I was so hard on myself and vowed to always lay aside both laziness, procrastination, and lack of planning in my life if I really wanted to grow.
I was a procrastinator but am now a 5 a.m. club member, all thanks to my motherhood duties. Nowadays, I no longer go with the flow; going with the flow made me so lazy back then. I wouldn't know how much I have achieved in a day because I wouldn't even set a goal or remain focused on my daily activities, but ever since my kids kept growing with their time demands, I embraced the 5 a.m. club. Planning ahead is a must, and I hardly miss writing down my daily tasks in my diary and ticking off the completed tasks. This habit helps me keep track of my activities and helps reduce procrastination.
I will do that later or sooner is a common language for procrastinators and seems like an easy way out to dodge tasks and feel relieved with it's negative effect over time. Without planning ahead, it's easier to be distracted, and you may find yourself doing irrelevant things.
Planning ahead, starting off my duties early enough, setting reminders for a specific task, and not postponing tasks to later when I can actually do them immediately are some strategies I have embraced in confronting procrastination.
So far, I wouldn't say that I have totally overcome procrastination, but I am far better than the way I was in the past.
This post was inspired by the #inleo community and my entry to the #mayinleo monthly topic Day 19.Please check out the announcement post to get involved.
Thanks for reading ❤️❤️❤️
All images were taken from canva
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
