Procrastination is an evil we all succumb to in our lives sometime or other, but it may also be an ingrained habit that becomes a way of life with little regard to the sanctity of time. Why not do tomorrow what needs to be done this minute? Why not do the day after what needs to be done tomorrow? On reflection, procrastination is a sort of escapism until it becomes inescapable—a deferral of issues that need to be resolved within a prescribed time frame.
Postponement results in matters piling up with serious consequences where deadlines and timelines are not negotiable. It is a lack of realisation that time is of the essence, time is money, and time is an ethic that requires a sincere adherence to duty.
Time has a spiritual aspect as the whole of the universe acts on its inexorable laws, and we are a part of that universe. Your time does not belong to you alone but also to others who depend on you with their normal expectations. Undisputedly, this does not mean that everything can be done within a given schedule; there will be legitimate reasons for delay, but these should be pronounced clearly so that the person at the receiving end is left in no doubt. Again, if it is a genuine postponement beyond your control, the work should be completed quickly after that. To those who permanently postpone anything as a matter of nature, it becomes a vice that can harm everyone, including oneself.
At times, postponement is resorted to owing to one’s inability to deliver, which requires courage and honesty to admit.
Procrastinators are everywhere. There are students who study at the last minute instead of the whole academic year, ending up with insufficient preparation and poor results. There are people in service organisations whose primary goal is service, and yet the customer struggles for legitimate services with constant delays. The courts are more than guilty with their continuous adjournments and large pendency of cases. Even at a personal level, families suffer owing to a lack of commitment to time.
As the old adage goes, “Procrastination is the thief of time,” but it steals more than time. It is a forfeit of self-respect and credibility and tantamount to a lack of empathy with fellow humans. Time is there to regulate our actions. Can we honour it?