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Wellness by Luke Coutinho: Don’t do it tomorrow. Do it today!
Procrastination
Procrastination. So many of us are plagued with this, knowingly or unknowingly. It is the tendency to intentionally put off tasks to the last minute, and then burn the midnight oil.
This may sound harsh, but procrastination is a form of self-sabotage. Chronic procrastination can cause immense stress, anxiety, restlessness, and sleep disturbances. And when sleep and emotional health are affected, it can have a rippling effect on every single aspect of your life and health—including eating habits, digestion, relationships, and workout motivation. Research has already established that procrastination is consistently associated with higher stress, more depression, anxiety, fatigue, and reduced satisfaction across life domains.
Procrastination may not be directly connected with diabetes, high blood pressure, or hormonal imbalances, but it’s correlated with other aspects of your lifestyle that can have an impact on your health in the long run. So, before you put off another task for a later date, here are some astonishing links between procrastination and your health.
• Poor sleep quality
Timelines can sometimes haunt us, especially when putting things off for the eleventh hour. This can cause immense disturbances in sleep patterns, depth of sleep, and how quickly we drift off to sleep. A silent mind is a prerequisite for a sound sleep.
• Chronic stress
A habit of delaying the completion of tasks is bound to cause stress because you are constantly chasing timelines. It leads to your mind and body being in complete unrest at all times. And we all know what happens when our bodies are in a state of distress. There is disharmony, which in turn can pave paths for almost every single disease we know.
• Feeling unfulfilled
It isn’t just about feeling happy. It is about feeling fulfilled and that is what every human being seeks—to feel fulfilled by the end of the day. How does it feel when you realise that the tasks you have been putting off are piling up to the extent that you can no longer procrastinate?
5 practical tips to beat procrastination
√ Just do it
Like the leading sports brand says: Just do it. No drama. No excuses. Have a task at hand? Move to action. Do not wait for the perfect moment, day or hour. Get up and do it right then. I call it the two-minute rule. Any task that takes two minutes of your time, accomplish it right then. It could be making a phone call, a payment, drafting an email, or approving a task. Even a big chunk of a task can be broken down into two-minute pieces of work. For example: Got to prepare a resume? Break it down into smaller chunks; the first one is opening a document and noting down the pointers you want to elaborate on. Once you accomplish this, moving on to the next steps becomes easier, because you have already initiated the task.
√ Respect time
Whether we are Indian or American, man or woman, white or brown, everyone is given the exact amount of time in a day. The difference is how you use it and what you do with it. We can go on wishing for more than 24 hours a day, but none of that is ever going to change. Less procrastination, fewer excuses, talk and blame, and more action. Use your time and energy wisely and make your dreams reality, or they just stay dreams.
√ Make a timetable
Go old-school, make a timetable and slot your tasks on the calendar. Slot and set timelines to get work done faster. Self-imposed timelines may not work, so hold yourself accountable to a friend, family member, or co-worker.
√ Find out what you are avoiding
Procrastination doesn’t always mean you are lazy. Often it could be a way to avoid something, whether it’s the pain of moving out of your comfort zone, or the fear of failure or success. Find out what you are avoiding. Recognising this can help you make better decisions.
Luke Coutinho practices in the space of Holistic Nutrition—Integrative & Lifestyle
Medicine and is the founder of You Care-All about You by Luke Coutinho
From HT Brunch, December 3, 2022
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