Procrastination: we’re all guilty of it every once in a while and, when only done occasionally, it’s no big deal. The problem lies, however, in the tendency to turn the occasional procrastination into a habit.
Unfortunately, once you’ve put it off once, it becomes incredibly easy to put it off again. But, once this becomes a habit, major pitfalls can ensue. Below we’ve listed all the pitfalls that can occur from making a habit out of procrastination.
1) Health Issues
Now, of course, if you procrastinate going to the doctor when you know something’s off, it will likely lead to worsened health issues, but that’s not really what we’re talking about here.
Procrastination leads to major stress in your life. You’re stressed to get whatever you put off done in a much shorter timespan; you’re stressed during the time you’re putting it off, thinking about how you put it off instead of taking a much-needed break as you complete tasks.
The more stressed you are, the more chances you have of developing worsening health risks. Stress can be a killer, leading to strokes, heart attacks, and more worsened health conditions. It can also damage your mental health.
Start taking care of yourself and don’t let procrastination become a major habit in your life.
2) Losing Your Job
Procrastination, as you probably well-know, means putting off something you need to do which tends to be something fairly important. The most common areas in which people tend to procrastinate are chores and work.
These tasks are ordinarily tedious and often seem neverending, so we’re inclined to want to put off doing them until it’s absolutely necessary. However, if this becomes a habit, it can have some pretty nasty repercussions.
When you put off your work until the last minute, you’re rushing through it rather than giving it your best effort. This leads to lesser quality work and a lesser product to show for it. You also run the risk of missing a deadline, even if by just a few minutes.
The more you turn in lesser-quality work and/or miss deadlines, the more frustrated your employers will become. This could lead to termination, leaving you without a job or means of an income.
3) Risking Friendships
Procrastination can also creep into the way you treat your friends. If you’re prone to procrastination, you also are likely prone to breaking plans last minute, so you don’t have to go.
You may excuse it as being the fault of bad weather or poor mood, but if you make a habit of this, your friends will stop trying to spend time with you and you may even lose touch altogether.
You may think it’s no big deal to procrastinate seeing them every once in a while, but the more it becomes a habit, the greater the risk of you’re putting your friendship in jeopardy.
4) Missing Out On Important Opportunities
You never know when an opportunity is going to come your way in life, be it romantic or professional, so you always want to be ready to seize them when they present themselves. If you’re prone to procrastination, however, chances are you aren’t ready.
If you procrastinate your work, fixing your resume, or other important things, you won’t be ready to seize any opportunity the moment it presents itself.
Procrastination can also lead to missing important chances to impress others or meet new people, which can cause you to miss out on any potential opportunity that could have come your way during that time.
5) Lower Self-Confidence and Life-Satisfaction
As you can see from the pitfalls listed above, procrastination can cause you to miss out or lose a lot of things. The more you lose or miss out on because of your procrastination, the less happy you will be. This leads to lower self-confidence and overall worse quality of and satisfaction with life.
The more of habit procrastination becomes, the more you’ll start to feel like you’re incapable of getting things done. This can lead to confidence issues and even depression.
Procrastination is a pretty common habit we’re all guilty of every once in a while. While procrastinating in moderation is normal and no big deal, making a regular habit of it can lead to some pretty huge pitfalls if you’re not careful.
We hope this article has helped to inspire you to make a diligent and noble effort of trying to minimize your procrastination.
– Scott Blessing