Zaid Ayoub, Prefect - Mission
An article on procrastination, inspired by author Keith Abraham.
We are now in the period of the school year in which we as students will face many challenges in regard to academia. In Term 3, Year 12 will face HSC Trials, Years 10 and 11 will face exams and junior years will be dealing with high workloads, completing assignments and exams. In light of this, the key is to focus on what many boys, and even parents, can improve on during this time, in particular, procrastination. Procrastination, if not dealt with, may lead us to building up stress, not meet deadlines and have feelings of overall dissatisfaction with our working lives.
Luckily there are some key strategies that can help beat procrastination, and I say this from my own experience as a ‘professional procrastinator’. The first key mindset to place in your head is that focus is the secret ingredient of achievement. Focus is the commodity that everyone needs if you are going to achieve anything significant in your life. The ability to block out the distractions, silence the noise and to focus on what you need to do to achieve everything you want. Additionally, we must realise that procrastination produces doubt while focus, creates certainty. Imagining the possibilities of what you could achieve if focused, is vital. It could be an ‘A’ on your exam, recognition from your boss, and most importantly, it could be the self-belief that you CAN do anything you want, if you put your mind to it.
To do this, you must implement the four P’s to beat procrastination. Purpose, Planning, Priorities and Proactiveness. To have Purpose is to know WHY you need to complete the task at hand, for Year 12’s it may be the outcome of your ATAR, for parents, it may be to get that promotion you’ve had your eye on this year. Secondly, you must Plan. Without a goal how do you know what to focus on? You must understand and implement the specific steps needed to achieve your goals. Then you must prioritise - should you study instead of going to that party on the weekend? Or Mums, should you finish your report before going to yoga? That one’s up to you. Lastly you have to be Proactive; understand how you are going to achieve your goal and set some time aside in advance to work on it. This will allow you to take control of your time and avoid setbacks. To conclude, you must enjoy your journey. There is not one solution that fixes everything, each of us must become life-long learners and enjoy success, as well as failure, as that is what makes up our lives.
