| IN a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest. "Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling in that way?" "I am helping to lay up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and recommend you to do the same." "Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper; "we have got plenty of food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food, and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day, corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew:
In Alma 34:32, Amulek tells the Nephites: For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors. What is Procrastination? Why do we do it? How does it hurt us? How can we stop? The dictionary tells us that the word procrastinate is Latin-based from the word procrastinatus, pro- forward + crastinus of tomorrow. Date: 1588. Elder Marvin J. Ashton said, "To procrastinate is to put off intentionally and habitually something that should be done. Procrastination is unproductive delay. Someone has said, "Procrastination is a silly thing, it only makes me sorrow; but I can change at any time—I think I will tomorrow!" One of my facebook friends posted this the other day: "Starting tomorrow, I think I will stop procrastinating." Elder Ashton related this experience: "…I was visiting in a faraway country with a… missionary. When I asked, "How long has it been since you wrote a letter to your mother?" he said, "Oh, about three or four weeks, I guess." When I suggested he write her a letter straightway, he responded with, "What does straightway mean?" "Straightway is a power word. Straightway is an action word. It means immediately, without delay or hesitation. It means at once. Also, it is associated with having no curve or turn—a straight course, track, or path. Procrastination would be the very opposite of straightway.!" Matthew 4: 18-22 Joshua 24:15 states, "Choose you this day whom ye will serve; … but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Choose you this day, not tomorrow, not when we feel like it, not when it is convenient—but "this day," straightway, choose. Elder Donald L. Hallstrom, told the following story in General Conference. "When our oldest child was 11 years of age, he was given an assignment, along with the other sixth graders of his school, to submit his favorite family recipe. As its contribution to a large spring fair, the sixth grade was producing a cookbook that would be distributed throughout the community. When the teacher announced the project and a deadline of a week from Friday, our son Brett immediately concluded there was plenty of time later to get the job done and dismissed it from his mind. Early the next week, when the teacher reminded the students of the Friday deadline, Brett decided he could easily complete the required task on Thursday night and until then he could occupy himself with other more enjoyable matters. On the appointed Friday morning, the teacher directed the students to pass their recipes to the front of the class. Brett's procrastination had caused him to forget the assignment and be completely unprepared. Flustered, he turned to a fellow student seated nearby and confessed his problem. Trying to be helpful, the classmate said, "I brought an extra recipe. If you want, use one of mine." Brett quickly grabbed the recipe, wrote his name on it, and turned it in, feeling he had escaped any consequences related to his lack of preparation. One evening several weeks later, I arrived home from work to freshen up before going to my evening Church meetings. A few days prior, I had been called as a stake president after serving several years as a bishop. We were somewhat known in our community as members of the Church who tried to live the tenets of our religion. "There's something you need to see," my wife, Diane, said as I walked through the door. She handed me a bound book with a page marked. Glancing at the cover, titled Noelani School's Favorites—1985, I turned to the identified page and read, "Hallstrom Family, Favorite Recipe—Bacardi Rum Cake." Why do we procrastinate? (Or why do I procrastinate?) Life requires effort . We might lack the courage, the confidence, or the self-discipline. Perhaps we haven't made concrete goals. Maybe we don't want to look foolish in our attempts. While he was in high school, my son told me that his main goal in life was to avoid anything that would make him look stupid. He gets this from me. Elder Marvin J. Ashton in his April 1983 General Conference address said, "To straightway follow our Savior requires effort on our part. How wise and blessed we would be if we eliminated procrastination and made a decision to serve the Lord and accept His invitation to "Come, follow me." Then when we have identified our goal, may we have the courage to act upon our decision. Satan may try to dissuade us by making the task look impossible, by making us doubt our worthiness or ability. Wishing things were different in our lives, or waiting for a roadblock to be removed or an attitude altered, can cause us to mark time rather than to move forward . William Shakespeare wrote, "Our doubts are traitors, And make us lose the good we oft might win By fearing to attempt." (Measure for Measure, act 1, sc. 4, lines 77–79.) Many, like the grasshopper in Aesop's fable, live by the motto Play Now and Pay Later. My mother always told me (and her mother told her), " If you give a dance you have to pay the piper." Some think that if they wait long enough, their problems will go away. But they don't. They must be worked through. Before we can solve our problems and put our lives in order, we must accept full responsibility for our problems. We often avoid taking action because we tell ourselves that our problem was caused by circumstances or people beyond our control. Therefore, we think we can abdicate our responsibility, and we find ourselves hoping that other people or a change of conditions will solve our difficulties. Rather, it is our responsibility to repent—to change, and to move forward without delay. As Amulek said, "Do not procrastinate the day of your repentance." (Alma 34:33.) Many of us want the simple way out. Someone once told the story of jokingly thinking he had found it. While driving above the city of Honolulu, he found a road named Easy Street. He said, "As I was dreaming of the life-changing benefits of my discovery, I took out my camera to record the blissful moment. As I looked through the viewfinder, however, my focus literally and figuratively became clear. A large yellow sign returned me to reality—Easy Street was a dead end! How does procrastination hurt us? Procrastination may seem the easy way, as it momentarily removes the effort required to accomplish something of value. Ironically, in time, procrastination produces a heavy burden laced with guilt and a hollow lack of satisfaction. Temporal and, even more importantly, spiritual goals will not be achieved by procrastination. President Thomas S. Monson said, "Two centuries ago, Edward Young said that "procrastination is the thief of time". Actually, procrastination is much more. It is the thief of our self-respect. It nags at us and spoils our fun. It deprives us of the fullest realization of our ambitions and hopes. Knowing this, we jar ourselves back to reality with the sure knowledge that "this is my day of opportunity. I will not waste it." How can we stop procrastinating? Procrastination is a habit. But it's a habit that can be broken. First of all you have to make a decision to CHANGE! Next, take the problem to your Heavenly Father. Through sincere prayer he'll give you the guidance and support you'll need to make the change. Then back up your prayers with some serious action. Here are a few things that I have found to be helpful: • Make a daily list of projects and check them off as you finish each one. • Start with your most difficult task, or the one you enjoy the least. The rest of your work will seem easy by comparison. • Break down big and intimidating projects into smaller ones. Then do each one step by step. • Remove distractions from your work place. Keep food, TV, cell phones, computers, and other temptations out of your way. You can get a lot done if you spend a short time on a task with good concentration. • Set realistic goals. In Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice finds herself coming to a crossroads with two paths before her, each stretching onward but in opposite directions. She is confronted by the Cheshire Cat, of whom Alice asks, "Which path shall I take?" The cat answers, "That depends where you want to go. If you do not know where you want to go, it doesn't really matter which path you take." Set goals. Write them down. Read them often. • Avoid overcommitment. Don't say yes to someone's request when you have no intention of following through. Then if you say yes, do everything possible to keep your promise. • Prioritize and pace yourself. President Spencer W. Kimball said, "Do It." He later expanded this to "Do It Now." --My own personal mantra is this: "Quit whining. Shut-up and do it anyway." Make the commitment to change your habit of procrastination. The Apostle Paul counseled, "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily" (Col. 3:23). Put enthusiasm into the many tasks you have to face and carry them out with a happy attitude. By abolishing the habit of procrastination you will find that you are accomplishing much more in life with much less effort. And the blessings will begin to multiply. In The Miracle of Forgiveness, Spencer W. Kimball wrote: "One of the most serious human defects in all ages is procrastination, an unwillingness to accept personal responsibilities now. "There are even many members of the Church who are lax and careless and who continually procrastinate. They live the gospel casually but not devoutly. They have complied with some requirements but are not valiant. They do no major crime but merely fail to do the things required—like paying tithing, living the Word of Wisdom, having family prayers, fasting, attending meetings, serving. Perhaps they do not consider such omissions to be sins, yet these were the kinds of thing of which the five foolish virgins of Jesus' parable were probably guilty. Parable of the Ten Virgins Matthew 25:1-13 President Kimball continued, "The ten virgins belonged to the kingdom and had every right to the blessings—except that five were not valiant and were not ready when the great day came. They were unprepared through not living all the commandments. They were bitterly disappointed at being shut out from the marriage—as likewise their modern counterparts will be. Elder Donald L. Hallstrom said, "Now is the time to exercise our faith. Now is the time to commit to righteousness. Now is the time to do whatever is required to resolve our undesired circumstances. Now is the time to reconcile with God through the merciful process of change afforded us by the Redeemer of mankind. Alma 34:32, 33 |
