Procrastination is a silent dream killer. It steals from you, without your notice, your big and most important goals. Don’t let opportunities slip away. Act now and achieve your biggest goals.
Procrastination, if unchecked, turns into “Mamaya na” or Mañana Habit. It will bound you and me to a life of mediocrity, shame, and guilt. If we don’t stop procrastination, we will be sabotaging our success. But if we will act on it, we will be free.
Procrastination is a very misunderstood topic. Very few people who procrastinate think that they are procrastinators, which is not a bad thing.
What is procrastination?
Procrastination is to delay until tomorrow the important things or difficult work we can do today. It is normal for us human beings to avoid what we perceived and felt to be difficult or challenging situations. Our brains make us avoid “danger”, so it finds excuses by making us do things that are easy or pleasurable. We procrastinate to escape or avoid because of fear. It is an instinct that when left unchecked turns into a destructive and unproductive habit.
Based on this simple definition, procrastination is more of a problem with how to manage emotion than how to manage time. It is not the cause of laziness too. I will explore more of these ideas in future articles.
You can replace a bad habit with good. You can turn a good habit into discipline. Good habits and discipline are cures to procrastination.
Filipinos are very much familiar with Mañana or Mamaya Na Habit. The problem with tomorrow is that it never comes. So, we delay our work until it is too late. Learn more about Manana Habit.
When we were children, many of us told our parents that we would do our chores “mamaya na” or later. Procrastination is part of our growing up. Unfortunately, many of us still procrastinate now that we are professionals.
I started my research about procrastination because I procrastinated a lot about things.
For example, it took me 30 years before I started writing my first book. Yet, I finished writing that book in 15 days. Yes, I finished writing a book in 15 days though I failed to begin for 30 years. That experience of writing a book showed me the impact of procrastination on my happiness.
But I still procrastinate. Most people do, occasionally.
I wished I had learned in school how to let go of procrastination.
Very few of us identify ourselves as a procrastinator. But most of us, if not all, are occasional procrastinators. I want to help.
I created courses, workshops, and webinars to serve as valuable resources to leaders.
Filipinos have a way of describing procrastination. We call it “Mamaya Na Habit.” Mamaya na is a Tagalog phrase that means later.
The expressions used are
- mamaya na
- bukas na
- saka na
Procrastination sa Tagalog
Ang mga katagang mamaya na, bukas na, at saka na ay mga nagpapahayag ng pagpapaliban. Ang ibig sabihin ng procrastination ay pagpapaliban.
Karaniwan, kapag inuutusan ang mga anak, ang madalas na sagot ay mamaya na. At walang katapusan ang mamaya na. Mamaya na ang pinakasikat na kasing-kahulugan ng procrastination.
Ang salitang bukas na ang pinakamalapit sa pinanggalingang salita sa Latin. Katulad ng mamaya na, hindi rin nauubos ang bukas na.
May kasabihan sa wikang Filipino na nagsasabing, “wag na ipagpabukas ang maaring gawin ngayon.”
Ang salitang saka na ay hindi mamaya na o bukas na. Wala itong tiyak na oras o araw.
Ang taong mahilig magpaliban ng gawain ay hindi tinatawag na mapagpaliban. Ang karaniwang tawag sa kanila ay tamad.
Gayunpaman, hindi lahat ng procrastinator ay tamad.
Mamaya na, bukas na, and saka na are three phrases used to express the intention to delay actions.
Typically, when parents asked their children to do chores, kids answer mamaya na. This means that they’ll do things later. But later does not become now. Mamaya na is the most popular translation for procrastination.
The phrase bukas na is the closest translation to Latin origin. Bukas na means tomorrow (morning). Bukas na is always the next day.
There is a Filipino saying that goes, “don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”
The phrase saka na has no specific hour or date. It may mean that things might be done some other time.
People who keep putting off things are not called procrastinators in the Philippines. They are considered lazy.
But as you will learn in this guide, not all procrastinators are lazy.
Bad Effects of Procrastination
Most people don’t see the effect of procrastination in their lives. Most of the bad effects we associate with it are emotional and mental.
People don’t see the money they lost because of delayed actions.
People don’t see the opportunities that won’t come back because of their wait-and-see attitude.
Procrastination delays success.
In 2004, I joined a Toastmasters club whose members meet every Monday evening.
It was a common experience for us to delay preparing for the speech until Monday morning. Speakers are assigned their roles right after the meeting. We start thinking about our topics by next Tuesday morning.
Finding a good topic takes time. Most of us cannot start writing a speech if we are not sure of the subject. Yes, we must write the speech and rehearse it. Then, we must perform.
Procrastinating Affects Mental Health
Procrastination reduces mental health, increases our stress, and lowers our well-being. Procrastinating about small things may not have any impact at all. It comes with life.
Catherine
Catherine, for example, was late in the submission of work requirements. Unfortunately, the boss did not accept the requirement for it was 8 minutes late. I know, we can say that the boss is just power-tripping. But the failure to submit on time caused her much stress because it resulted in her disqualification for promotion. She did not receive her bonus too.
Mario the Money Sender
Mario took time before sending the money her mother needed for hospitalization. His excuses were that he had no time yet to send the money for he was very busy. He did not know that it was very urgent. Her mother died and he blamed himself for it. His guilt was too strong that he started isolating himself from others, and got depressed. There are many reasons why her mother died, but he blamed his procrastination for her death.
Divine the student.
Divine is a high school student. Her teacher gave the class two weeks to work on a project. Her stress level grew as she thought about the project. She said that the project was difficult and she did not know how to start. So, she did other things instead. But each day, she got more afraid of the possibility of failing.
Two days before the submission of the project, she did not attend all her classes, stayed in her room, and work on the project. She blamed herself and those who made her procrastinate. She cried bucketfuls of tears. She got no sleep. She finished the project.
When asked about the experience, she said that she hated her teacher for it.
Delayed actions may have different results. The same results may have different impacts on the individual. How we see the impact of our actions is what affects our mental health.
How to Stop Procrastinating
I tried to stop procrastinating a thousand times. A thousand times I failed. So, I started picturing it in my mind.
I imagined myself being chased by the mighty procrastination. It was tiring because it chased me as if it is my sticky shadow.
So, I thought I can be friendly to it. I started to call it by different names.
- Planning herbs and vegetables
- Walking in the UPLB Park
- Watching Netflix
- Reading books
- Jogging around Jamboree Road
- Road Trip
- Writing Articles
- Chatting with friends
- Commenting on Facebook
- Walking the dog
Each of these is a different shade of procrastination. I want them, but not too many of them.
And then, I imagined that instead of me avoiding procrastination, I could instead do First Things First. I will execute what I need to execute first, so I won’t be guilty when I enjoy time with my procrastination friends.
Words Associated with Procrastination
The following words are often associated with procrastination. I included it here because I heard them often, but people understood them differently. For example, the word cramming is often understood as doing things at the last minute.
Do we can do things at the last minute, that is not necessarily cramming.
There is the same misunderstanding with the phrase Ningas Kugon. It is often associated with procrastination, but these two terms are worlds apart.
Mañana Habit
Mamaya Na Habit is Mañana Habit. Mañana is a Spanish word that means tomorrow or later. Many people get used to putting off until later what can be done now.
That’s because whatever they are doing is less challenging or more desirable. So, for example, no one will watch them washing dishes, but friends will love to see their Tiktok videos.
Mañana habit steals the chances to live a better life. It is a bad habit. It does not help us grow and make the most of our time.
When one looks into Filipino values, we do not encourage Mamaya Na Habit. Early in life, I learned that “Daig ng maagap ang masipag”.
We encourage early risers. We tell our people that we should fix the roof before the storm comes. We admire those with kusang-palo (initiative).
Procrastination, like all bad habits, can be replaced with good habits. We only need to replace Mamaya Na (later) with Ngayon Na (do it now).
Ningas Kugon
Procrastination and Ningas Kugon are not exactly the opposite of each other, but many Filipinos think so.
Most procrastinators finish their work – at the last minute. They do so by cramming. Then, a day before the day of submission, they summon all their energy to finishing everything. You cram when you are afraid.
Often, we refer to how our government officials work as ningas cogon. They promote a project with full enthusiasm, only to stop working on it very soon. They don’t finish anything.
Is Ningas Cogon bad?
Not entirely. We need enthusiasm when starting a project. You will find this enthusiasm among entrepreneurs. They are sold to their ideas until they face an unbreakable wall.
Entrepreneurs move from one business idea to another. You may call that Ningas Cogon. Or you may call it pivoting.
Cramming is based on fear. Ningas Cogon is on dreams. Those who cram lack motivation. Those who show ningas-cogon lacks mental toughness and ability.
You can learn how to stop procrastination, and you can sustain the enthusiasm of Ningas Cogon.
Perfectionism
When I was in high school, I learned about the perils of perfectionism. In Florante and Laura, Francisco Balagtas described a character who kept on redoing his work to make it perfect. As a result, he never finished the work.
It made a vivid impression on me.
When I was in grade school, I spent days working on school projects that I could do in an hour. There are times that I won’t start working until I got a perfect idea. It was not laziness.
But I did not learn the lesson.
When I entered the seminary, there were times that I failed to submit school requirements on time. It was not for the lack of effort. It was because I wanted things to be perfect.
But later, I realized perfectionism isn’t helping me at all. My obsession for perfection was misplaced. Instead, I wanted people to recognize what I am capable of doing. In the process, I neglected more essential areas in my life.
Awareness is important.
If one understands the purpose of a project or activity, it becomes easier to do. So, instead of trying to achieve perfection, I paid attention to results.
Is it wrong to aim for perfection?
It is great to aim for perfection. But we have to understand that perfection means many things to many people. Our dictionaries define perfection to be without faults or defects.
I aim for excellence and mastery. But even excellence is vague. So, I decided I do not have to wait until everything is ready. I set goals and take action.
What works for me is to start something at once. So I aim to learn or make something better. Either way, I won’t have to wait until I become perfect, for I do not know how it looks.
Cramming
Cramming is the product of procrastination. Cramming is what we do at the 11th hour because we avoided doing what we ought to do during the first hour.
Instead of First Things First, cramming is First Things Last.
Cramming in Tagalog is pagdagsa. This means that we are trying to do what we could have done easily in 20 days – and cram them all in one day. You are trying to eat an elephant in a few bites. Cramming is more about volume, not acceleration. When you cram you put all your energies into finishing a large amount of work as fast as you can, but you aren’t superman. Therefore, there is no room for creativity and innovation. Often, what we get is a mediocre result.
Many people claim that they can work better when cramming. They found themselves focus on the very thing they do because not doing it is may cause harm or damage to them.
In this sense, procrastination and cramming are cousins. Both exist because of fear.
Procrastination happens because we fear that the project is difficult or challenging. You don’t really have to “feel” the fear. Our lizard brains make us avoid difficult performance.
Cramming happens because we fear that the consequences of not finishing a project will cause us harm. Our greater fear of losing something makes us cure the fear of doing something.
Does this explanation make sense to you?
Never allow fear to govern your life.
I will talk about cramming later. But for now, allow me to tell you that you can turn the act of cramming into positive behavior when you cram early.
Laziness
I know of many procrastinators who are hardworking individuals. These are people who after learning new strategies that will 10x their results will choose to do the dirty works that produce 1x results. They work twice harder as strategic workers. They are not lazy. They are not idle. They are not unwilling to work.
The last three sentences defined laziness.
Laziness is the quality of a person who is idle and unwilling to work.
The lazy person is the husband who would rather be drinking with unemployed friends than find work. Anyway, his wife is feeding their children. This person has no vision, no passion, no commitment. This person felt helpless and hopeless. This person is lazy.
I think that more people feel guilty about being a procrastinator than being lazy. A procrastinator knows that he is missing an opportunity by delaying action. A lazy person does not see opportunity.
Laziness (Tagalog: katamaran) is a puzzle to me. I am looking for a psychological explanation. When there is a challenge, we do three things: fight, fly away, or freeze.
The first action is to win, the second to survive, and the third to die. I am not sure if laziness is death-in-waiting, but it is not good.
Fixed Mindset
How you see the world affects your action.
Malou Ge thinks that she is not intelligent enough, not persistent enough, not lucky enough, and not good enough, so she tends to delay action.
She has a fixed mindset. A person with a fixed mindset about things will give you excuses for delaying action.
- I will do it when I am ready.
- I will write the book when I am already an expert.
- I will do the business when I already have the capital.
- I will study when I am already free from work.
Even when these conditions are met, a person with a fixed mindset will still believe that the conditions are not good enough.
Someone with a fixed mindset almost always sets himself up for failure. And because Malou has “reasons”, she will have a thousand excuses for putting off what needs to be done.
We also need to see how someone with a fixed mindset handles failure.
Failure
Understanding this will help us also understand why we procrastinate.
A person with a fixed mindset cannot easily accept failure. If he tries something and fails, he will try to avoid doing it again.
If, by failing, people say that he is bound to fail, he will avoid doing it again, for he does not want to embarrass himself.
Therefore, procrastination isn’t just trying to delay action for a person with a fixed mindset. For this person, procrastination may mean the attempt to avoid failing again.
Can you see how our brains play tricks on us?
I started by explaining the many sides and shades of the sticky shadow we call procrastination so we can have a clear mind when finding solutions.
Questions About Procrastination
I may devote a page to questions about procrastination later. But allow me to address some questions this early. I went to Ubersuggest to find out what most people ask about procrastination.
Is procrastination bad?
Not all delay is bad. Sometimes a delay is good for execution.
It is all too common to hear about people who act without thinking. They burst into action (like Ningas Kugon) without clear goals. Instead of thinking about the best strategies and techniques, they start with full enthusiasm hoping that they’ll know their next steps soon.
Successful people do profitable procrastination. And obviously, that’s good. Right?
When I was beginning this article, my aim is to help you end procrastination. But as I start thinking more deeply about it, we also need a big dose of profitable procrastination. Of course, successful people call it by different names: thinking strategically, meditation, and mindfulness.
Is procrastination a sin?
There is a sin of omission. You must have heard of it too. We ought to consider the intention of the person for delaying action. So, I won’t say it is a sin. As I have said above, there are good benefits.
It is an umbrella term.
Instead, call the specific action based on intention.
Often, the reason is a limiting mindset. But most times, it is the lack of skill that makes us delay what we ought to do.
Why procrastination is about managing emotions?
As I have mentioned in the definition of procrastination, we avoid what we perceived to be difficult or challenging to do. Because of this, we tend to replace a difficult and painful activity with a less important but easier and more pleasurable activity.
This reaction we call procrastination. But we can also call this our “flight mode”. We do this to survive. This is based on how we feel about what we see.
You can contrast this with another emotion which we call pro-action. Same situation, but this time your emotion is different. You are eager to fight because the prize is greater than your fear. Yes, you are in a fight mode. We call this courage. We do this to thrive. We have courage because what we desire is greater than the danger we want to avoid.[mfn] We call courage in Filipino tapang, but many of us call this puso. Both courage and puso mean “from the heart.“[/mfn]
Though I said that procrastination is normal for us human beings, I do not mean that we are destined to put off important things until the next hour, day, week, or month. We are not helpless. It is a choice. You can be in flight or fight mode. You can run away or take on the challenge.
When is procrastination good for you?
I mentioned in #13 How to Avoid Procrastination that avoiding procrastination is tiring. Instead, what we can do is to pay attention to doing First Things First so we can spend a good time with other things, which if we going to do first we will call procrastination.
In short, procrastination is when you choose to do the less important over the most important. And the less important things are not necessarily bad. Read again my list, which are the names I have given to procrastination. They are good things too.
Somebody offers you life insurance. You know it is a good thing. But when your wife says that you ought to give it some thought, she’s not discounting its importance. She wants to be more prudent about where to spend money.
Putting off something is not always bad. At times, it is good.
I put off action until I have a workable plan.
I put off action to meditate.
I put off an action when I am angry.
I put off action to plant vegetables and herbs – which are also meditative for me.
In fact, I schedule a procrastination time, so will be able to rest and think.
Because our flight mode isn’t only a way to escape. It is also a way to preserve us.
I want you to understand this to help you get a healthy mindset about procrastination.
How many students procrastinate?
Based on the definition I gave above, It is likely that everyone procrastinates but on a different level. Even a very proactive student sometimes hesitates, and delays doing what is most important.
A boy has an opportunity to tell his crush about his feelings for her, but he cannot call his throbbing heart. He is afraid. He hesitated. And missed the opportunity. This happens almost every day. And some of us, who are not old, still wonder what would have happened if we had the courage.
We make choices in any aspect of our lives.
Am I going to do the project or watch Netflix or watch the stars?
Am I going to play basketball or play Mobile Legend?
Am going to read the three-paged report, or see a movie with friends?
Every time we say YES or anything, we are saying NO to all other things. It takes courage for what you deem to be most important.
Some of us will choose the more important 90 percent of the time, and they procrastinate 10 percent of the time. Others are 75-25, a few are fifty-fifty, and there are those who are totally defeated.
You can choose to be proactive or to procrastinate each day. Choose wisely.
Resources
After a long read, you may still need to learn more about how to make small changes in your life so you can achieve greater things. Please find below all the other resources available to you for free.
Watch
Watch the following videos. You may find stories that resonate with yours.
Inside the Mind of Master Procrastinator. If procrastination does not make sense to you, you are with the same mind as Tim Urban. This is a witty presentation of the topic.
How to Stop Procrastinating. Here is an excellent explainer on procrastination. You will also discover three steps that you can start with.
Read
Explore the following articles and posts. I am sure you will get clues on how to stop procrastination. There is no one formula for everything procrastination as you are unique. But you’ll surely get something from others.
More Articles…
How to Break the Manana Habit. Pia Bernaldo shared some techniques on how to handle procrastination. You may find some of her ideas useful. I tried Pomodoro ten years ago. I could not maintain it. But I think it is worth trying.