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Procrastination
Top Five Things People Put Off Until the Last Minute
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1. House chores/yard work: |
47 |
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1. Holiday gift shopping: |
43 |
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2. Making doctor/dentist appointments: |
35 |
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3. Calling relatives: |
31 |
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4. Changing oil in the car: |
29 |
U.S.A. Today
Procrastination
In his book Being the Best (Thomas Nelson Publishers), Denis Waitley has some interesting observations about procrastination.
“When you stop to think about it,” he says, “there is no such thing as a future decision. You face only present decisions that will affect what will happen in the future. Procrastinators wait for just the right moment to decide. If you wait for the perfect moment, you become a security seeker who is running in place, going through the motions, and getting deeper in a rut.
“If I wait for every objection to be overcome, I will attempt nothing. My personal motto is, Stop Stewing and Start Doing. I can’t be depressed and active at the same time. I like changing the word motivation slightly to reflect a personal commitment to take charge of today and make it the best day I can—motive plus action equals motive-action.
“Everybody is looking for new ways to get motivated. Companies and corporations pay sizable fees to consultants who try to make their personnel more productive and fire up their salespeople. A motivated person things, I’m going to try it. But motivation must turn into motive-action, or nothing will happen.’
“That is the quandary of the unknown poet who wrote:
I spent a fortune
On a trampoline,
A stationary bike
And a rowing machine
Complete with gadgets
To read my pulse,
And gadgets to prove
My progress results,
And others to show
The miles I’ve charted—
But they left off the gadget
To get me started!
“The gadget that can get you started is motive-action.
“Try it and see!”
Bits & Pieces, June 22, 1995, pp. 6-7.
Too Many Tomorrows
I once asked my daughter Jennifer what she thought were the biggest problems fathers have with kids. She said, “Dads have too many “tomorrows.” You know, “I’ll play with you tomorrow, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” She was right. Dad, be there now for your children, building quality and quantity benchmarks of trust. Don’t wait until tomorrow—or you’ll end up wasting too many todays.
Gary Ezzo, Men of Action, Summer, 1996, p. 11
George Burns Wanted To Insure His Voice
Friends of George Burns have always kidded him about his singing. Burns, a master of self-deprecating humor, decided to take advantage of this and insure his voice for a million dollars. He thought it would be a wonderful publicity stunt.
“I was so excited,” said Burns, “I couldn’t wait to rush down to the insurance company. I took a cassette and a tape recorder with me so the insurance man could hear my voice. It was one of my best numbers—a syncopated version of Yankee Doodle Blues with a yodeling finish. The insurance man listened patiently to the whole thing, then he just looked at me and said, ‘Mr. Burns, you should have come to us before you had the accident.’”
Bits & Pieces, March 3, 1994, p. 7
Quotes
- Hard work is often the easy work you do not do at the proper time. - Campus Life, May, 1980, page 18.
- The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it. - Richard L. Evans, Bits & Pieces, March 4, 1993, p. 2
- It’s always easy the night before to get up early the next morning. - Anon
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Put Off Until Tomorrow
An incident from the American Revolution illustrates what tragedy can result from procrastination. It is reported that Colonel Rahl, commander of the British troops in Trenton, New Jersey, was playing cards when a courier brought an urgent message stating that General George Washington was crossing the Delaware River. Rahl put the letter in his pocket and didn’t bother to read it until the game was finished. Then, realizing the seriousness of the situation, he hurriedly tried to rally his men to meet the coming attack, but his procrastination was his undoing. He and many of his men were killed and the rest of the regiment were captured.
Nolbert Quayle said, “Only a few minutes’ delay cost him his life, his honor, and the liberty of his soldiers. Earth’s history is strewn with the wrecks of half-finished plans and unexecuted resolutions. ‘Tomorrow’ is the excuse of the lazy and refuge of the incompetent.”
Our Daily Bread, February 15
You Don’t Have To Know Everything To Do Something Positive
One day a young man moved into a cave to study with a wise man. He hoped to learn everything there was to know. After giving his student a stack of books, the wise man sprinkled itching powder on his student’s hand and left. Every morning the wise man returned to the cave to monitor his student’s progress. “Have you learned everything there is to know yet?” the wise man asked.
And every morning his student said, “No, I haven’t.” Then the wise man would sprinkle itching powder on the student’s hand and leave. This was repeated for months. But one day, as the wise man entered the cave the student took the bag of itching powder and tossed it into the fire.
“Congratulations!” said the wise man. “You’ve graduated. You’ve learned you don’ t have to know everything to so something positive. And you’ve learned how to take control over your life and stop the itching.”
Today in the Word, May 1, 1992
We often fail to consider the gradual, cumulative effect of sin in our lives.
In Saint Louis in 1984, an unemployed cleaning woman noticed a few bees buzzing around the attic of her home. Since there were only a few, she made no effort to deal with them. Over the summer the bees continued to fly in and out the attic vent while the woman remained unconcerned, unaware of the growing city of bees.
The whole attic became a hive, and the ceiling of the second-floor bedroom finally caved in under the weight of hundreds of pounds of honey and thousands of angry bees. While the woman escaped serious injury, she was unable to repair the damage of her accumulated neglect.
Robert T. Wenz
Under The Wagon
A farm boy accidentally overturned his wagonload of corn in the road. The former who lived nearby came to investigate. “Hey, Willis,” he called out, “forget your troubles for a spell and come on in and have dinner with us. Then I’ll help you get the wagon up.” “That’s mighty nice of you,” Willis answered, “But I don’t think Pa would like me to.” “Aw, come on, son!” the farmer insisted. “Well, okay,” the boy finally agreed. “But Pa won’t like it.” After a hearty dinner, Willis thanked his host. “I feel a lot better now, but I just know Pa is going to be real upset.” “Don’t be foolish!” exclaimed the neighbor. “By the way, where is he?” “Under the wagon.”
Source Unknown
Procrastination is…
Gloria Pitzer has written this clever little poem:
Procrastination is my sin
It brings me naught but sorrow.
I know that I should stop it
In fact, I will…tomorrow.
Today in the Word, MBI, April, 1990, p. 41
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