This article was last updated on September 5, 2017
Everyone is guilty of this: procrastination. At some point in our lives, we often experience a few episodes of it. Procrastination by definition is knowingly delaying or stopping yourself from doing something productive. Although it is very normal for some of us to experience laziness, some people take it to the extreme. I consider myself to be an extreme procrastinator. I have been bouncing from job to job because of attendance issues. I don’t know what happens, but I just feel tired. No sickness, no inclement weather, no excuse not to go to work. I just felt tired. I feel exhausted even when I had a full night of sleep. It was as if things were pointless.
I would then call up to work and make up some lame excuse on how I’d attend granny’s hospital checkup. The problem is, granny’s been dead for a while now. Ten years to be exact. When I’d get the nod from management about my absence, I’d just stay at home and read books. Sometimes, I just get back to bed and hide under my blanket. Truly, procrastination is a sickness that lured me into self-destruction. Another example of how laziness wrecked my life is when I didn’t even give a thought about the people around me. I forgot about almost everyone. I had a boyfriend of nearly four years. Whenever he’d want to go out, I’d make up excuses for not being able to go. I admit I cheated on him.
I cheated with my pillows, blanket, and bed. I told my boyfriend that we’d have someone over and I couldn’t leave my house. When he asked if he can come over, I told him I was busy with the guests. But the truth is, I was busy hugging my pillows. I lay on the bed staring blankly at the ceiling, without any real motive. I just lay there looking at that blank, white space. This was where I was at that time. I just didn’t feel the need to move.
It’s as if the slightest of movements will cause me tremendous pain. So I just lay there as still as I can. Eventually, my boyfriend and I split because of the many differences we had. I, in particular, believed that the blame was more on me rather than on him. After a few more years of procrastination, I decided that it had to stop. I drank some weird mixtures, meditated, and did some crazy exercises. Those only added fuel to the fire and made me lazier. I can’t really get myself to do anything, let alone be productive. All these were just wishful thinking.
Most of my time in laziness was spent watching movies and reading books. After so many years of wasted opportunities, it dawned upon me to search the web for a cure for procrastination. I gingerly typed in: “How to cure laziness.” The results were in, and it all had the same stuff I did years ago. All these cliches, all these advises that were not that extraordinary or life-changing were presented to me. And they were all useless. The situation I was in hit a nerve on me. I said to myself: “Enough of these games and gimmicks. I’m going to make it out on my own.” Instead of relying on others, I made my situation the impetus to my victory over procrastination.
So I tried to cure my own laziness. Some things worked, some things didn’t. At the end of it all, I did something for myself and just took each day as it came. Here, I’ll share with you the five ways that I used as motivations to inspire me through my battle with laziness.
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Me and my realization
I realized that the first step towards overcoming procrastination had to start with me. I had to accept the fact that I was throwing myself away because of this behavior. I realized how much potential I was wasting and how many opportunities got ignored because I only wanted to be by myself. When we’re younger, we need our parents to take care of us. When we’re older, we also need our children to take care of us. Now, I’m not saying that we need to be taken care of all the time. But here’s one truth. In between those two, we need others as well. No one is an island, right?
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Never go cold turkey
As I mentioned earlier, most of my time spent while procrastinating was reading books and watching movies. Most people would cut off their ties with this, but I didn’t. What I did instead, was limit my time and set schedules for my books and movies. I was careful enough not to exceed any allotted hours for my reading and knack for watching good movies.
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I was never alone
This time, I knew I wasn’t alone. I started to value the people around me, even if they were negative towards me and my past. Parents and friends were so angry towards me because they knew of the potential for me. I used that as fuel to prove them wrong and that I was capable of something more. When it comes to relationships, I found someone who accepted me and my faults. Right now, we’re doing great. My boyfriend has been and will continue to be a big part of me.
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My pillows, blanket, and bed
When I wasn’t reading books or watching movies, I was lying comfortably on my bed, without a care in the world. Nowadays, I still lay in my bed comfortably. Nothing’s changed. I still lay on my bed without a care. The only thing is, I do it when I’m free. I do my assessment while laying on my bed, still finding myself staring at the blank space on the ceiling. A lot of people would consider former stress factors as an enemy or a trigger for their past conditions and avoid them. Not me though. I view them as things that can help me in much better ways instead.
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Wanting more
I consider every small improvement of myself as a victory. Every little detail needs attention, and if there’s a small positive change, then it’s good enough for me. Details like waking up an hour early from your alarm, having a chance to eat breakfast, arriving at work an hour or 30 minutes early are examples of these small victories.
When you add them all up, you get a bigger picture of how others and yourself see your improvement, and that makes you crave for more. It’s not about even the actual development because it’s about satisfying your want to create a more improved version of yourself.
Takeaway
Procrastination is indeed a terrible condition. It disrupts a healthy person’s body and mind. It ruins everything. When an individual procrastinates, he or she forgets or completely disregards his or her potential. People may have different reasons for their laziness, but most of those reasons are uncalled for and baseless. I admit I’ve been one of those who had fierce battles with procrastination. It wasn’t easy, but I was proud that I made it through. Through those conflicts I had with laziness, I saw how my capabilities went down the drain, how I slowly rotted away to nothingness. Luckily, I saw it all before it was too late.
