3 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD STOP PROCRASTINATING
As a Public Relations student, I have often been reminded that in PR, like in any other discipline, the amount of effort, passion and time that you invest in your work determines the end result. Although most students are fully aware of that, there is a plague that has affected many, and it is called procrastination. Being an intern now, I believe that it is crucial for students to be aware of the consequences of procrastination before entering into the professional world:
1.Procrastination is a vicious circle.
It first starts as a naïve habit with a little voice resounding in your head that says “Do it later”, “It’s only due in a week”. As with any habit, it ends up by sticking to you like that piece of chewing gum that has been stuck under your desk for years. The quality of our work diminishes while the risk of failure is increased. Most of the time, you end up submitting poor quality work because of the pressure (it’s true that some people work well under pressure but most of the time there is a clear difference between a well prepared piece of work and one that has been done the night before). Procrastinating can also lead to disasters when faced with unexpected circumstances such as load shedding or a sudden sickness.
2.It reduces your sleeping hours
When you have 7 subjects a year, believe me, your sleeping hours are precious. By constantly avoiding a task that needs to be completed, you end up working on it until very late the day before the submission and so you lose the energy and the focus necessary to accomplish the tasks for the following day. This is echoed in daily work in the PR industry. It’s a fast-paced environment; everything goes very quickly and every day comes with its own challenges. Without good time management and with a constant habit of procrastinating, the workload becomes very difficult to handle and although PR is known for its long working hours, long working hours does necessarily mean “sleepless nights”.
From experience, I can tell you how tricky it is to deal with tight deadlines at work, personal research, group assignments and other commitments at the same time. From this, I am learning that self-discipline is key and unlike before, I now consider every free moment as an occasion to get done with a task. This ensures that I will have enough energy to deal with the following day’s challenge.
3.It is the kind of habit that you cannot easily get rid of, even once working.
Without a doubt, most of the habits that we develop at University end up affecting us when we start working. Just imagine yourself submitting poor quality work to your boss because you started and completed it the night before. That would be quite embarrassing, wouldn’t it? Even with all the good will in the world, if you reveal yourself as someone who is constantly postponing what you have to do, you will end up losing the trust of your employer, team members and clients, which in turn shuts the door to new opportunities.
Although I have to admit that I used to be part of the 85-95% of students who are said to have problems associated with procrastination, my internship experience is kind of awakening and changing me. Through that, I’ve now find ways to overcome procrastination and ensure that none of the above will ever affect me again. Here are some interesting management apps that I have tested recently. Have a look at it and pick one that suits your style:
