Procrastination is the ultimate enemy of effective time management

Effective time management means getting rid of bad habits that kill your time.  Probably the most common of these bad habits is procrastination.  It is the most common and most readily admitted self-inflicted time robber in our lives.  Some men and women experience procrastination as a seldom bother, while others experience procrastination like a never ending headache that just seems to pound them day in and day out. 

There are essentially two types of procrastination:

1. Conscious Procrastination:  Conscious procrastination is definitely the easiest to identify in people as well as the simplest form to offer solutions for.  This is where we are “awake” and aware of what we are doing.

2. Unconscious Procrastination:  Unconscious procrastination is where we are almost totally unaware of our actions and behavior.  This form is a bit more difficult because we must catch ourselves doing it as opposed to being conscious of our behavior.

Either way, the bad habit of procrastination carries with it a huge expense of your opportunity in every area of your life.  “Putting things off” more than likely has caused more failure, heartache, and misery, than all of the other time management problems combined.  Everybody wants more time but wastes away what they do have.  Let it be known that opportunity knocks just as often at the door of the procrastinator as it does at anyone else's door.  The difference is that the procrastinator does not answer and misses out.

How come people procrastinate?  Why do we waste our time and put things off?  Perhaps the most common reason is that the tasks that lay ahead of these items may seem unpleasant or like an inconvenience.  Life is full of tiny little monotonous tasks of which we put off.  For example, most people do not like balancing their checkbooks, filing taxes, meeting new people, or exercising.  By doing these things it is necessary to move out of our comfort zone.  And moving out of our comfort zone day in and day out is the hallmark of high-achieving men and women.

The natural response to unpleasant tasks in life is to block them out and stay within what is more convenient at the time.  But by putting those things off, we then are letting the events control us.  And what happens next?  Our productivity drops and so does our confidence and self esteem.  The only way to escape this time-wasting habit is to put energy into controlling our lives, even if it means being inconvenienced or feeling unpleasant while doing it.  Eventually you can train your mind to perceive getting things done as positive tasks.