Are you aware of the costs of procrastination? If this sounds like you, read this now…don’t put it off until later!
Do you have an important thing to do that you planned for the week and that you ended up doing, slightly rushed for time, on a Sunday night? Or how often have you been planning to visit your friends and put it off for months because they just live too far away? If this is the case, you might have caught a bad case of the procrastination bug.
Don’t worry, it is treatable, assuming you want to do something about it. But too many people simply don’t want to face it.
So, it’s time to address the hidden costs behind procrastination, or, rather, what the cost of doing nothing is. Contrary to the common belief, doing nothing does not always appear to be the cheapest solution.
With hindsight, a passive behavior might even be the costliest of all reactions and might bring a fair share of long-term issues. So have a look at what it means to procrastinate and how it can affect your household, your finances, your health and your social life.
Not Making Necessary Repairs in Your Home
One of the biggest costs of procrastination can be seen in homeownership. As a homeowner, you are responsible for the good maintenance of your house. Indeed, besides looking at regular cleaning, it’s important to check the house to ensure that everything is still in a working condition and keep it that way.
For example, a leaking roof will need to be repaired as you can’t continue to deal with heavy rain by simply leaving a bucket to catch the leaking water. Indeed, the water can infiltrate your attic and ceiling and create serious issues such as deterioration of your insulation system or even electric fire hazard.
It is important to treat any repair need as an emergency in order to avoid costly water damage to your home, or pest infestation, or even high energy bills due to old windows that let the cold air through.
Not repairing your house means that it will become less homely and gradually will put your health at risk. While there is always the solution to move home, this seems a little extreme when all you need to do might be to fix the roof!
Lack Of House Cleaning
The steep costs of procrastination can also be seen in house cleaning and maintainence. If you are among these people who try to endlessly postpone cleaning the house, you should consider the various risks that come from not looking after your home. Indeed, your house needs regular maintenance that can be labelled as cleaning, whether you vacuum each room weekly or empty the rain gutter.
Maintenance is what helps your house to continue to protect you against the elements.
Think of it as servicing your car: If the car is not serviced, it could break more easily and stop you from getting to work. The same argument is valid for your home. Without regular cleaning, the dust accumulates and creates a breeding environment for dust mites, which can affect your health and the one of your family. Allergies, respiratory issues and asthma can be commonly treated by grabbing the vacuum cleaner more often than not.
Additionally, if you don’t control the humidity level in your home, you are creating a favorable environment for mold growth, which can also cause serious respiratory discomfort.
When you consider the structural cleaning, which are those seasonal cleaning activities such as the rain gutter, the garden, or the heating system, you need to think of the consequences of not doing it. For example, a blocked rain gutter can facilitate water damage. An unmaintained garden can increase the risk of flooding during heavy rain.
Lack Of Organization
Poor organization is another area where the high costs of procrastination can easily be seen. There is no such thing as not being organized. There’s only lack of interest or refusal to try. While some people enjoy creating a sense of organization, they are often wrongly categorized as being good at keeping things in order.
Knowing where things are and putting everything in a place that you will find is not a talent that some have and some haven’t. It’s an effort that some are willing to make – maybe because they enjoy it – and that some aren’t.
Managing your important documents and keeping them safe is another essential responsibility of your adult life. Indeed, the cost of not finding an essential document – such as losing your passport for example – can be quite high.
Additionally, if you don’t keep your papers in order, you are more likely to miss important deadlines, whether they are to apply or register for certain social services or to pay your bills.
In the long term, poor organization could be the death of your finances and social status!
Not Going to the Doctor When You Need To
Perhaps the biggest of all costs of procrastination can be found in refusing to go to the doctor when you need to. Do you wait until the last moment to make a medical appointment? Even though you might prefer to wait for your body to start the healing process of its own – and it’s an honorable thought – you need to realize that your health is precious.
Numerous cancer patients, for example, have waited months before making an appointment that could have cough their disease early on, for instance.
If your body is giving you an indication that there is something wrong, you should listen attentively and do everything that you can to heal it, and this includes going to the doctors. The longer you wait, the more time complications will have to develop. Don’t wait until it is too late, take care of yourself and consult a professional.
Not Meeting Friends And Family
Some days, there’s nothing more exciting than the prospect of staying at home and watching your favorite TV show or playing video games. And while this can be nice, you need to be aware of the costs of procrastination in doing this and make sure that this doesn’t turn into a bad habit.
Indeed, preferring indoors and solitary activities will gradually isolate you from your social circle. As you begin to feel estranged, you start developing a routine of avoiding family and friends’ reunions. This form of isolation is very common, unfortunately.
Please remember that isolation can increase feelings of worthlessness and sadness and turn into depression. Numerous individuals find themselves sliding down the depression slope as they are cut from their social life.