Don’t Procrastinate!
Hello friends! In my constant quest for self improvement I’ve really tried lately to pin down things that cause me anxiety. One of the things I keep coming back to is when I (or others,) do things last second and am not prepared. Yes, spontaneity is a good trait as well and you’ve got to be able to, “go with the flow,” especially since working with others they might not have it together when it’s game time. But I’d like to give an example of when procrastinating has done me a real disservice,
Remember back in school when you were given an assignment that wasn’t due for a few weeks or over the summer etc? I’m sure some of you may have knocked it out right away but I was one of those kids that never gave it a thought until the night before. At that point the anxiety would overwhelm me and I would either A. turn in some last second piece of unimaginative garbage or B. provide some excuse for not having it and taking the 0. Either way it brought my grades down which put me in hot water with my parents and also played a huge part of self doubt and lack of confidence in my ability to perform in school. Eventually I hated school and several subjects until I was fortunate enough towards the end of high school to have some really great teachers who improved my attitude. Hindsight is of course 20/20 but looking back my laziness of putting things off really shaped some bad habits and definitely cause anxiety.
I’m sure we can all find examples where not meeting things head on has not served us well. Since I normally keep my article landscape based, and since some family members have asked me, “what does this have to do with gardening?” I’ll give you a scenario. A person hasn’t mowed or done yard work because, “It’s too hot out and buggy,” etc. The yard eventually becomes overgrown with all kinds of critters moving in and snakes. Wild vines and weeds have grown through the shrubs and trees and blocked out all the sunlight eventually killing the host. They finally realize they’ve got to do something so they get out and give it a go, having to work way harder and probably breaking their mower and gear because it can’t handle the huge clean up project. All of this frustration leads to the thought process of, “I hate yard work!” and the cycle continues. Just like way back in the day for me, “I hate homework!” Such a shame, it could have saved me a lot of anxiety.
I’d like to leave you with some Wisdom that I’m currently practicing because dealing with anxiety is like working out, you’re not going to be all buff and athletic from one or 2 workouts, you’ve got to do a little every day. So, without overwhelming yourself, start chipping away gradually at those long term goals and do your utmost to meet things head on. Your future self will thank you and so will those co-workers. I hope everyone has a great holiday and see ya next month! Aloha!
Charlie Stonecypher is the owner of Suncoast Irrigation and Landscaping. They specialize in products that work smart without wasting resources. Contact him at (843) 327-8642 or email suncoastirrigation@gmail.com.
