Last week, I made a big mistake and it became very obvious when Sunday morning rolled around.
Here's what happened. I was responsible for putting together the pro presenter (video / graphic slides). Normally when I am assigned this task, I take care of it on Thursday. I make sure it is prepared and ready to go.
Last week, I made the mistake of procrastinating on this. I told myself I would take care of it on Friday. I then put it off to Saturday.
Saturday I got busy and here's the mistake I made. I told myself that I would go to church early on Sunday and take care of it.
Sunday morning rolled around I got to the church early to take care of what I should have taken care of on Thursday.
But then something happened. The file I was preparing started acting wacky. I couldn't get it to load. I keep getting error messages. I called in a tech guy and he couldn't figure it out either.
Remember when Jesus cast the demons out of the man and then they entered the pigs and ran off a cliff? The demons ended up leaving the pigs and I believe they entered churches' audio and video systems, where today they cause havoc at the worst possible times (that's a joke).
As the class start time inched close and closer, a feeling of disappointment engulfed me. Disappointment in myself for making the big mistake of procrastination. I should have never depended on doing something last minute. I had left myself no margin for fixing the problem.
Normally, I make sure the presentation is ready to go before I leave on Thursday. This gives me the margin I need to fix any problems that might arise before the weekend arrives.
Think about this.
Preparation or perplexity. Those are your options.
Because of my mistake, we had to adjust the schedule and teaching plan for several grades. It was definitely a sub par kid's service that day. All because of my procrastination.
Do you procrastinate at times? It normally comes back to bite you, doesn't it?
Here are a few tips that can help you beat procrastination and not make the mistake I did.
Admit that you are procrastinating.
Put a specific date and time you will complete the task. Don't let anything deter you from finishing by that date and time.
Make sure the date you schedule has a time margin built in to fix any hiccups that may occur.
Be ready to go before you go.
Lists....lists...lists...live by them.
If you are not able to finish a task due to the fact you have too much on your plate, prioritize your do list so time sensitive tasks are at the top of your list.
Develop a rhythm and work schedule that you can sustain. If having too many tasks to complete in the amount of time you have, you may need to take some things off your plate. Better to do a few tasks that you can accomplish on time than a bunch of tasks that you can't complete due to your work load. Less is more for sure.
Do you have trouble with procrastination? What are some tips or insight you have to help overcome this? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.
