Procrastination: Ah, the fifteen-letter word that constantly invades our brains, though we never really seem to be able to finish detangling ourselves from it.

You know it’s going to show up eventually. Important errands, exercising, meetings; you name it, they all pile up from the tendency of us humans to push them all aside for later, despite the realization that we could all just get it over and done with.   

In regards to all bad habits, surely they all take time to change. However, the dreadful habit of procrastination is one that people of all ages seem to share. Changing a bad habit such as procrastination needs to be practiced for multiple days before the individual gains more self-control over the things they should and should not be doing.

Laziness has often been thought of as a factor of procrastination, but I learned that it isn’t. As my sociology prof said, “We may procrastinate when it comes to our work because we may not think it’s good enough.”

When I heard the above quote from my professor, it suddenly dawned on me: I realized that I did possess a fear of failure when it came to school, resulting in why I had a difficult time completing certain work. As strange as it sounds, there were countless times I actually failed courses due to the anxiety of failing. I had a tendency to avoid assignments and tests I knew I had to take on, and I thought then that if I didn’t face things at the moment, I would not have to face them again.

Wrong.

I would eventually encounter the same assignments and tests, and would repeatedly end up being angry with myself for not preparing way ahead of time. It occurred to me that whatever it is I avoided would always come back and haunt me for not doing it well. Additionally, not only did procrastinating stress me out, my lack of self-discipline back then had the tendency to irritate the people around me; if you have difficulty handling yourself, how are others supposed to handle you?

Whenever I became overwhelmed with countless tasks, I instantly wanted to run. Eventually, I found that what I needed to be doing all along was to take action little by little.

Nothing is completed in just one step, completing things is a process.

Make progress into your assignments bit by bit so that your brain can reflect on the information and give you whole results afterwards. Take time to prioritize which tasks need to be done first.

You cannot do everything at the same time and you don’t have to.

Whenever you feel as if you are thinking of putting off a task for another day just remember the famous words of Mark Twain: “Never put off till tomorrow what may be done today.”

Surely, procrastination will always be there, but the extent to which it steers your opportunities away can always be changed. It’s never too late to change your ways.

Just think about it. Tomorrow.