I often take walks throughout my neighborhood, and as garage doors are open more times than not, I see stacks and stacks full of stuff jammed into the space where their car should be. It’s a picture of our lives. We know that there are things that we need to do, but we feel overwhelmed. Our solution is, we put it off until tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes.
In our bathroom we have two sinks, one is my wife’s and one is mine. For some reason, my sink is not draining, and hers seems to have no problem at all. I know that I need to do something about it because it’s not getting better. Each day I turn the water on the movement is getting slower and slower. That was a couple of months ago. Why haven’t I done anything?
Statistics show that 25% of people recognize that they procrastinate. That means that the other 75% don’t recognize it, or they are in denial. That’s why we use excuses like I’ll get to it later, or I’ll take care of it when I feel like it. There will always be a cost to procrastination, and many times it affects our self-worth. We feel like a failure, or we feel ashamed.
I believe that procrastination comes from either fear or laziness. Let’s look at fear first. If I have a conflict with my spouse, my mind tells me that if I say the wrong thing, things will only get worse, so I say nothing. If I reach out for help for my struggle or addiction, people may reject me, or I may not follow through, so I put it off. Fear can stop or paralyze us from trying. Now let’s look at laziness. It can also prevent us from doing what we know we need to do. We are tired, or we don’t feel like it today. In the book of Proverbs, it talks about laziness. Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty. (Proverbs 14:23) When we talk about something without any action, we are the one that loses. So what can we do about procrastination, and what steps can we take?
First of all, we need to write out our priorities. What do you need to get done that you have put off? Many times it’s helpful to split the big projects into smaller pieces. If you need to clean out your garage, it could be overwhelming to tackle it all at once. Take one part of your garage at a time and then move on from there.
Next, we need to start today. Our greatest asset that we have is time. Proverbs 27:1 says, Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring. We have today; there are no guarantees about tomorrow.
Finally, we need accountability. If left to ourselves, we will probably get the same results that we have obtained in the past. We need others to help us follow through. Accountability doesn’t mean that the other person is going to make sure that we do our tasks; they are just going to ask us if we have done our tasks. Knowing that someone is checking up on me and encouraging me, helps me stay on the right track. Proverbs 27:17 says As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.
What difference would it make in your life if you had someone encouraging you to do the right things?
When we take those steps, we will see positive things happening in our lives, which in turn will make us feel better about ourselves. We don’t have to be stuck any longer. Start today.
Have a blessed day.
Rick