PROCRASTINATION

Timeliness in all our actions, whether in our personal matters or in official decisions, will yield the best results. In other words, timely actions and decisions executed promptly can result in the desired changes. Delays in making the right decisions, and actions not taken on time on any critical issue will be counterproductive. Some people may always defer actions or decisions or tasks without attending to them on time, having the habit of postponing matters to attend later. Such practice of deferment of important actions is known as procrastination. Trivial matters and issues of no great significance, if not attended to, may not have any significant impact on outcomes and such delays are not considered to be procrastination – say, for instance delaying one’s face make-over by a few days when one is at work continuously is a matter of postponement and not procrastination unlike a delay in paying the monthly instalment of a bank loan, which can have serious repercussions. So goes the saying: A stitch in time saves nine.

Kumar was cleaning the attic in his childhood home when he came across a claim ticket from the local shoe repair shop. The date stamped on the ticket showed it was over eleven years old. He asked his wife, "Do you think the shoes will still be in the shop?" "Not likely," his wife said. “But it's worth a try." They drove to the shoe repair shop and, with a straight face, handed the ticket to the man behind the counter. The man looked at the ticket and said, “Just a minute. I'll have to look for these." He disappeared to the back of the shop.Two minutes later, the man called out, "They will be ready on Thursday!"

Delayed responses to our customers may not bring them back to us and that is the bad result of procrastination. Among the many business transactions we do, at times there may be unavoidable delays in delivering a few of our customer orders, but it is our responsibility to call them over phone and inform them in advance so that they are not disappointed when they come to our store with the hope of getting delivery. Let’s not procrastinate but act on time, for procrastination is an act of intentional delay, which shows lack of caring causing serious damages to business relationships.

- Dr. Gibson G. Vedamani