Procrastination: Manage Your Tasks, Not Time, Wisely

There are just nights when I can't stop being productive. I get to finish exactly what I planned to do and I end up sleeping happily at night knowing that there's something I've done today.

This is me being productive:

But then, most nights are like tonight; not feeling anything, not wanting to do anything but sleeping soundly at night, anyway. Thinking that "I can still do this later", "I still have time tomorrow", I suffer from a dreadful disease called "Procrastination".

(Photo source: Bruno Cervera, https://unsplash.com)

To procrastinate, as defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary, is to put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done. I believe that everyone has suffered from this at some point in their life and this is mostly diagnosed in students, like me.

Sometimes, when there are just a lot of things to do, I jot down in my planner the things that I must do and finish that day but as I finish writing them down, I realize that there are just really, really a lot of things to take care of and my brain is overwhelmed and just betrays me by not functioning properly because there are just so many things that needs to be done. How ironic! So, I put things to bed and decides to do it when there's no more time to slack off.

This is me being unproductive:

I really admire people who can manage their tasks wisely.

It is a common saying to "manage your time wisely", but my professor once said that you cannot really manage time because you hold no control of time but you can manage your tasks, instead. I thought about it and he's right.

It is your tasks that you manage, not the time.

Symptoms of procrastination does not only include doing things later when you can do it now. Sometimes, procrastination is when you do other things instead of doing what is most urgent.

I have diagnosed myself with this symptom.

Days before an exam, when I should be glued on my chair and study table, I find myself cleaning my entire room. I keep on telling myself that "I will study today", but as soon as I open my book, I cannot understand anything. So I stare blankly at it and notice other small things aside from what's on the book. I notice how unorganized the room is so I stand up from my chair, sweep the room and organize everything, thinking that after I clean, maybe I would be able to concentrate better on my studies. I also get to organize my closet. Every time I need to study, the room just gets cleaned and organized! But after doing these things, I get tired and decides to take a break first before studying and that's when everything falls off; no studying done.

There are other things that I do as well instead of cleaning: I clean my laptop, wash my shoes, edit my facebook profile, organize my files on the laptop and on the phone. There's just so many things to do aside from studying!

And as this goes on, I get frustrated with myself. Procrastination can really be a disease if you do not manage your tasks well. But it is never too late to deal with it. After all, it is curable. I just need to learn the art of self-discipline, we all do.

When we procrastinate, we depend on the hope that we can still do it later or even tomorrow. However, I like to think sometimes that "What if there is no time tomorrow?". So, we should do what we can.

However, we must also practice self-love and self-care. We should not punish ourselves for procrastinating but we must acknowledge this weakness and learn to change it, to heal it. Self-discipline is also a form of self-love.

Let us manage our tasks wisely, then, my dear friends!

(Photo source: Sydney Rae, https://unsplash.com)