I, among many people, have a problem that has plagued most people since people have existed: it's the dread of doing things that must be done, so much so that we just don't do what needs to be done. It's called procrastination. Now we're slightly evolved creatures with decent reasoning capabilities, but this behavior yet to cease to exist. Why? Common sense tells us that if we have a task or event before us that we must do it if we do not want problems later; everybody knows that if you don't take advantage of the opportunity to get something done that the results of inaction actually beget the complications we think we're avoiding by not taking care of something. The concept of putting off duties ought to be a "red flag" that says, "This makes no sense. This kind of behavior defies logic, so why I am engaging in it?!".

But if that's not enough to sway you or someone else from kicking the habit, let me just break down the obvious and not-so-obvious reasons why you should. The first and most obvious reason why you shouldn't procrastinate is because you get far behind on other responsibilities to come later. At first, this may not seem like a problem if you have a small to-do list, but it can escalate into a mess if your other projects require much time to be accomplished. The time that you were supposed to use to finish upcoming tasks is being used on a task that should have been tackled a while ago!

Now some of you may say that you don't mind being a little behind. In fact, the being behind is probably more common than we all know. But then again, that's the obvious consequence of procrastinating. What people can't seem to grasp is that the dread we feel at the thought of finishing something is further amplified by the fact that we haven't finished something, and it's multiplied if we have other tasks on which to get started. The cycle of inaction encourages more inaction. I don't even have to explain to you why this makes sense.

Another less obvious reason why you shouldn't procrastinate is because you lose other peoples' trust; I've rarely ever seen this in interpersonal relationships because no one likes the idea of breaking promises, but it does happen. In the eyes of friends and family, a procrastinating loved one can be seen as a liar or what some call a "sorry-ass"; in the eyes of authority figures, such as a supervisors and professors, you can be viewed as irresponsible and lazy. When people see that you haven't properly handled your obligations to yourself or them, they wonder what responsibility can they give to you at all! Not meeting obligations for other people doesn't yield simple consequences as just getting behind or feeling guilty; the consequences can be detrimental to the relationships you've built with the people whom rely on you.

If you don't give in to procrastination in the first place, there's no telling how much trouble you could save yourself. Get up! Get it done, whatever it is! Get help if you need to do so, but just do what you gotta do! You can't fix procastination by thinking about it alone. The only way to defeat it is to do it.

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