Don't fall into the procrastination trap

Many people have a natural tendency to postpone tasks, thinking they will do it later on. This habit of procrastination has existed and evolved, and there is no doubt that it is now more common than ever, especially among school and college students who rely heavily on their digital devices. This dependence makes it difficult for them to engage in real life and complete their tasks on time. As a result, important tasks are delayed until a later date.

- MARIUM AHMAD

Procrastination can be detrimental to our future. The more we procrastinate, the fewer steps we take toward success. But how do you determine if you are procrastinating?

Most of the time, we don’t even realise we are procrastinating. For instance, in class, you may suddenly realise that you haven't finished an incomplete essay that you thought you would complete once you got home on the day it was given, but it slipped your mind. Or perhaps you forgot to bring an art supply that was required because you assumed you would buy it later — after watching a show, finishing a chat or playing a video game. As a result, when you push it back in your mental ‘to-do list’, it also goes away from your mind.

Moreover, there will be times, especially during exams, when you realise that you haven't completed your lectures or notes, and that you still have unfinished assignments— tasks you intended to do, but never got around to it. These were things you did remember you had to do, but you kept putting it off for random reasons, or basically laziness and irresponsibility.

This leads you to panic and become stressed, making it difficult to complete tasks properly. Eventually, this leads to poor grades. You realise it too late and promise yourself that next time, you will complete your work and study on time. However, you fail to recognise that laziness is the real reason behind your poor performance. Instead, you only see it as a surface-level issue — that you simply didn’t finish your work, which is why you couldn't pass or achieve good grades. But the real problem still lingers.

Procrastination will not hurt you in the beginning but, ultimately, you’ll get used to it and start putting off important tasks and regret it later.