We are all guilty of procrastinating at some point or other; no one is a stranger to it, right? Some of us might be lucky enough to identify it in time and still do something about it.
Unfortunately for others, it steals dreams and can even destroy lives.
The reason we procrastinate varies from person to person and is not always obvious. Sometimes it is a hidden fear that we don’t want to acknowledge, or it could even be as simple as not wanting to do something because it just doesn’t motivate us.
Whatever the reason may be, if you know you are a procrastinator, be careful: it has far more damaging effects than you may realize.
Here are the 7 most common effects of procrastination that can destroy not only your productivity, but your life:
You could ruin your career.
The way you work directly affects your results, how much you achieve and how well you perform. Perhaps, procrastination prevents you from meeting deadlines or achieving your monthly targets. You might miss out on promotions or worse; you might even be at risk of losing your job.
You will damage your reputation.
When you keep saying you will do something and you don’t, your reputation inevitably gets tarnished. Nobody wants empty promises. Besides damaging your own reputation, you are damaging your self-esteem and self-confidence. You will find that it gets easier to procrastinate each time because you are not surprising yourself anymore.
You will risk your health.
Procrastination is linked to mental health problems like stress and anxiety, and these in turn are linked to health issues. If your procrastination leads to feelings of depression, over time this depression will start to affect other areas of your life.
You will make poor decisions.
When you procrastinate and make decisions from this standpoint, they are almost always going to be poor decisions because of the place you are coming from. When you procrastinate, you make decisions based on criteria that most likely wouldn’t be there if you didn’t procrastinate, like pressure to finally make a decision because time is running out.
You will lower your self-esteem.
This is one of the vicious circles you might find yourself in. We tend to procrastinate sometimes because of a low self-esteem, but procrastinating doesn’t only reinforce this, it makes it even lower. You start to doubt and question what is wrong with you. You might desperately ask yourself, “Why can’t I just do it?”
You will blow opportunities.
What you don’t realize is that the opportunity could have been life changing but you missed out on it. Most opportunities only come around once; you are never guaranteed a second chance.
Opportunities are the world’s way of giving you more, do yourself a favor and grab them with both hands!
