by: Greg Frost
It has often been said the procrastination is the grave of opportunity. Indeed, procrastinate today and you lose countless opportunities that could have blossomed had you not procrastinated. Procrastination is a bad habit, with many negative effects on your job, relationships and mental health.
However, with enough perseverance and determination, you can kick the bad habit of procrastination. Not only will this leave you a happier and more responsible individual, you will find yourself healthier and wealthier for it. Here are some harmful effects that procrastination can have on your life, so don’t become a victim of procrastination!
Harmful Effect #1: Lost Opportunities
Whether at work or in school, by pushing off the work that should have been done today you are losing out on opportunities that could get you ahead in life. A piece of work consistently well done, and a reputation for being stable and dependable could well get you the promotion that you have been eyeing but were procrastinating too much to actually achieve. Likewise, an individual who always hands in work late or incomplete and below the expected standards will not get far ahead in life, assuming he doest not lose his job.
Harmful Effect #2: Your Health
You promised yourself to visit the gym faithfully when you signed up for membership, but all that you’ve seen of exercise is standing up to walk to the pantry. By procrastinating and delaying what you’ve promised yourself to achieve, you are compromising on your own health. Needless to say, your mental health is not free from the adverse effects of procrastination either. The amount of negative emotion and thoughts regarding your inadequacies that you are harbouring will eventually cause you to sink into depression and guilt. Worse yet, the work that is still piled on your desk marked urgent will cause your stress levels to spiral out of control.
Harmful Effect #3: Your Relationships
A chronic procrastinator soon finds himself procrastinating even the simplest things that he has promised, simply because he did not mean to or sincerely want to finish the task. You find yourself promising your wife to fix up the shelves that she needs in the pantry, or to do your share of household chores. And yet you procrastinate till she has to call someone in to fix it, or do it herself. She nags, and you’re irritated. She gets upset, and so do you. Procrastination can wreck havoc on your relationships. Not just your wife, but your children and your friends. Promised your kids you will teach them to play baseball? Or your friends that contact for a job interview, and never got round to doing it? You will soon find yourself earning the distaste of the people around you.
Don’t let procrastination ruin your life! Above are just 3 out of the many other harmful and negative effects that it can have. Take action today and work towards becoming procrastination-free.
