Podcast: Don’t put things off, beat procrastination

"I'll do it later." Does it sound familiar? If you struggle to get things done, you might be a procrastinator. Educational psychologist Sinenhlanhla Khumalo shares insights and practical strategies to overcome procrastination

Procrastination, the widely practised act of putting things off until the very last minute, is the real thief of time for many.

In this episode, educational psychologist Sinenhlanhla Khumalo defines procrastination as a pattern of avoiding doing certain tasks or making certain decisions later and shares practical strategies to tackle procrastination.

“Often times, a person procrastinates consciously, and it does have a negative impact on one’s life in the sense that if you are procrastinating, it means you can’t fully be productive.”

Trying to avoid stress and anxiety

“With procrastination, you’re trying to avoid stress and anxiety in your mind. You’re telling yourself that you don’t want to be stressed, you don’t want to be anxious, and you don’t want to deal with this now. Hence, you delay doing the task. But what actually happens is that the more you delay or avoid doing a task or making a certain decision, the more anxious you become about not being able to finish that task on time.”

According to her, procrastination is not entirely detrimental, as she believes it is something everyone does sometimes.

“I do believe that if you do it in moderation, it can actually have positive benefits for you. But I guess this is a very controversial topic because a lot of people don’t believe there’s any good in procrastinating, but I do. And I feel that if you do it in moderation, if there’s a balance to it, then it’s not overall bad.”

Khumalo advises that the biggest thing to do to manage procrastination is to plan and really try to make sure that you stay organised.