Hello everyone, this is Helen Huang @ Organizing, based in Beijing, China.In order to better learn and practice the YiXiaoNeng Time Management System, after finished publishing 100 Chinese articles, I decided to continue writing and publishing a daily English article in another 100 days based on the "YeWuBin Time Management 100 Episodes" audio program. Today is the 126th day.

Today's topic is: The Tomorrow Song

Today we're going to talk about something new - procrastination.You cannot manage your time without also understanding and overcoming procrastination.

When many of us delay a task, we often say we are procrastinating.However, "delay" and "procrastination" are actually very different concepts that can be either good or bad depending on how you do it.

Delaying can be valuable if it's properly used to maximize our efficiency. If you delay a task because it is not as important as another task, or you are in the 5 minutes segment of the Pomodoro technique, then delay can be a good thing.  In these instances, delay is a means of self-regulation, and it is valuable.

However, delays can be harmful if it is not used to regulate our energy or prioritize our tasks. Then it becomes procrastination.  Procrastination is the act of postponing tasks that are properly planned or replaced with less important tasks.  Procrastination is always detrimental to your productivity.

Everyone delays task.  75% of people believe they delay consistently, while only 50% believe they actively procrastinate.  So more people think they are productively delaying tasks when in fact that reverse is actually true.

Persistent procrastination is detrimental.  If continued, it will have a very negative impact on your health, and eventually you will blame yourself for being unable to get things done, and you will be filled with guilt.People with severe procrastination will continue to restrict and belittle themselves for failing to complete necessary tasks.  They will feel intense anxiety and depression, and they will be much more inefficient in their work.

If you begin to observe the behavioral traits of those with persistent procrastination, you will begin to see these negative feelings emerge.Procrastination begins with delaying only a few things. But over time these tasks accumulate and begin to slow you down with anxiety and stress as they are accumulated,  it will begin to hinder your personal development. The harm can do to one's psychological well-being and physical health is so damaging that managers and psychologists have studied this phenomenon in detail.

Did you know that the word "procrastination" first appeared more than 500 years ago?Tales and recordings of the stress and anxiety associated with procrastination can be found in writings from ancient times.

Scholar Qian Fu in the Ming Dynasty wrote a poem, called "The Tomorrow Song".  It goes like this…

Tomorrow after tomorrow, so many tomorrows.

If I was born to wait until tomorrow, then everything will be wasted.

If people grow tired on each tomorrow, they will be old soon after so many years.

See the water flow toward the east in the morning, and see the sun fall in the west at dusk.

How many tomorrows do one hundred years have? Please listen to my tomorrow song.

Tomorrow after tomorrow, so many tomorrows!

If I wait for tomorrow day by day, then everything will be wasted.

People are all tired by tomorrow, and they will be old soon regardless of the endless tomorrows.

Mornings roll into nights and water flows to the east, and the sun falls in the west leisurely for all time.

How many tomorrows do one hundred years have? Please listen to my tomorrow song.

In fact, the concept of delays is in the most famous book in the world, the Bible.  When scholars translated the Bible from Greek into English, the Greek word for delays was translated into the word "sins".  In other words to delay was to sin!

So, procrastination has existed since ancient times. So don't blame yourself, and don't fill yourself with guilt when you procrastinate.

Let's move on from the historical concept of procrastination towards something a little more practical.  Let me tell you a little story to describe the concept of "procrastination":

Imagine that you've planned to write something tonight.In the evening, you begin to think about what you're going to write. As you continue to think, you decide to eat a delicious bowl of dish of melon seeds and then some tasty chicken feet, and then three chocolate pies, and two cups of yogurt.

Suddenly, after eating all of that food, you feel your energy draining and your desire to write things gradually disappears, so you go back to the room: have a bath, change your clothes, and clean up your room.Then you make yourself a pot of rose tea, and slowly sip it for 10 minutes.

Finally, after this long delay, you open the computer, and then staring deeply into a blank screen for the next 10 minutes.Then, you close your eyes, take a deep breath, and feel relaxed and calm. And then… you fall asleep.

The reason why procrastination becomes to harmful, is that it has a progressive effect.  The more you delay the more it builds.  The things that should be done have not be done, little by little each day they accumulate.  And while they are accumulating, your deadlines are approaching.  You have less and less time as morning becomes afternoon and afternoon becomes evening.  The pressure grows and grows, until finally, you are forced to complete your task at the last possible moment with a tremendous amount of stress and build-up physical anxiety.

What is the most common excuse for our delays?Well, have you ever heard ... I will just play this game for 5 minutes! I will just eat one more snack. I drink one cup of coffee, and use the bathroom for 5 minutes!

Well, many studies and researches intensely looking for a magical way to overcome delays, but while doing and saying that procrastinate even further, and then they say "I know all the ways to overcome procrastination, but I am still always delaying ..."

In fact, the world's most common excuse for procrastination is people saying, "I have a problem procrastinating!"

Now, why is it that people feel like they have a special procrastination problem and why is it so difficult to overcome procrastination?It's simple – because they receive a short-term benefit from "procrastination"! Simply, when you label yourself a procrastinator, then you will justify continued procrastination as something you do!

In our next lesson I will explain the harmful consequences of procrastination.Thank you being with me together today. Have a wonderful day!