Recently I have been shocked at the amount of procrastination amongst my fellow “man.” You would think that most people are walking around thinking themselves immortal. I too can have quite the penchant for delaying miscellaneous projects or duties myself from time to time. I feel like it is this assumption that everything will be waiting for us when we get around to it. Well, I hate to break this very disappointing news, but none of us are immortal within this human body we reside. Time is of the essence, and it is running out for everyone.
I want to start out by saying there is nothing wrong with long-term planning at all. My personality type for example tends to plan things out well into the future at times. As an example, I will look at an investment and immediately be looking 6 months down the road and what the implications of that time passing will bring in terms of a rise or fall in the value of that investment! This is a good example of “flipping” short-term investments for what is hopefully a profit in the end. This type of future sight is not at all what I want to focus on quashing today, no. It is the avoiding of long-term “groundhog-day” type of cyclical habits that let precious time pass without focusing on yourself and what is important before it is too late. Let me explain.
I want to start out with the beloved religion of “Workism” and all of its pitfalls pertaining to time “suck.” I have covered this in other posts but again working just full time can be a good “years” killer for not just the single person but an entire family. One thing that was almost a given back when I was a youngster was the annual family vacation. More and more I hear about singles and families having what is called the “stay-cation.” Working all year only to stay at home for an entire week or two to get things done around the home because the rest of the year doesn’t allow the time or energy to do such tasks! This is insane. I know of many who won’t even leave to “recharge” their “batteries” due to such obligatory thoughts. If life is only about work and no play is this not an existence akin to the prisoners in a penitentiary? I mean you don’t have much free travel; you are going to the same place day after day performing labor, then you go home (cell) to rest and do it all over again, rinse and repeat! I say nonsense. This is beyond unhealthy. It is so important to plan a vacation because it is that experience that will be remembered by all, unlike the mind-numbing days of going to work where everything is mostly the same without so much as a remembrance of what even happened throughout that day!
The religion of “Workism” brings so much procrastination to life that it is hard to cover all the bases in such a short post, but I would like to cover another vital obstacle of this serf imposing religion here. Many people dream of owning their own business I would say at various points in their lives. What keeps most of these people from putting this plan in motion is of course their current work situation! This is so sad because again, the individual will keep thinking there is so much time left to “tackle” such a task. Before they know it, a decade or more has passed of tireless consumption and living mostly above their means continuing the endless cycle of working for others while having no time to concentrate on much else. I can’t stress how important it is to live more minimally so one can work less while focusing on building their own business if that is what they desire. There is no time like the present to start regardless of age, but you can’t keep thinking that tomorrow is guaranteed!
Of course, you knew that I was going to beat the “dead horse” of health and fitness, didn’t you? I won’t spend much time here, but you can imagine the procrastination of others I have seen with starting some type of fitness program. This is a real “killer” because once out of their teen years most people just fall off of the proverbial “wagon” when it comes to health and fitness. Again, as with the above-mentioned plans, the time to start a fitness program is now! This can be the worse type of procrastination because once it is thought about and implemented it may be so late that one is now climbing Mount Everest instead of the hill in the backyard! We only have so many really good “active” years of our lives overall. Time is the one thing we can’t get back in life but through a proper health and fitness program, you can indeed create a type of “fountain of youth,” cheating time if you will. Really this is the only way to buy back time if there ever was a way to do so.
In closing, procrastination is quite a “killer.” Whether it is avoiding making the house tidier by not doing some cleaning or working your life away without plans for much else other than participating in a “groundhog-day” like existence. Tomorrow is never guaranteed. Been thinking of going to that sporting event? Buy the tickets and skip work! Been wanting to go to the amusement park? Do the same! It is these experiences that will be remembered, not another shit workday that you probably can call off with that personal or vacation day in your “pocket” anyways. Never avoid making plans as this would be contradictory to the implementation of such proposed action but simply remember the phrase “Memento Mori.” This is a reminder that we are all mortal and will die at some point. Putting some urgency into having more fun will pay off with more serenity for everyone. Time is precious, never assume you will always have more of it to do anything!