The Thief of Time

“...the best possible way to prepare for tomorrow is to concentrate with all your intelligence, all your enthusiasm, on doing today's work superbly today. That is the only possible way you can prepare for the future” ― Dale Carnegie

He had a clump of curly hair, messy and dishevelled. He bent his head and peered into the paper, he pulled a strand till it stretched straight and then left it to curl again. However, this time the strand stood singled out in the clump in a funny manner.He was wearing a steel band around his wrist. We call it a ‘kada’ in India. It is normally worn by Punjabis, but these days it is in vogue. He kept glancing at me as he rubbed his fingers as if to convince me that he was unable to remember. I kept moving around looking at everyone coldly. There was a lady clad in a sari who occupied the first bench. In a state of anxiety to do well in the exam she overlooked her roll number in the attendance sheet. She looked at me anxiously. I asked her to continue answering the paper as I had three whole hours to solve the problem. I then glanced at this boy who was tall, well-built and dressed in a black shirt swapping his hall ticket with a girl two benches ahead. He flaunted a huge boldly inscribed tattoo on his lower arm but never had a thought for the fleeting time. The girl in the second row with a hair band and clip and lipstick was enthusiastically trying to help two boys at a time. There were many more who were oblivious of my glances as they were busy writing. Perhaps they were well prepared unlike these.The boy in  the black shirt was restless and kept borrowing eraser, sharpener, scale and many more to pass his time. I kept hissing to control them.

The examination hall was filled with twenty-nine students with twenty-nine expressions including the one who was half an hour late. This girl was petite with a forlorn expression. I asked her why was she late. She immediately apologised. I said that she needed to feel sorry for herself as she had lost her time. She smiled back and said she had woken up late. I found a unpreparedness for the exam as she kept turning the pages, scribbling a word or two.

By now the boy with the tattoo came ahead to submit his paper. I reminded him of the backlog exams and  said that he would find it difficult managing examinations of both the years. He mellowed and sat back and tried to answer. There were many times he wished to go, but I did not allow him. A little later he seemed engrossed writing. Perhaps he had got a clue while I completed the formalities of the exam. He now wrote steadily. I wondered whether his intelligence could not be combined with a little preparation to have faired really well. The students were informed about their exams way ahead of time, but many of them feel that there is ample time to prepare and postpone their self-studies.

I recollected the days after I left my job recently to pursue my research. Each night  I would fall asleep cocooned in a soft blanket with very cool wind blowing through the open window. The alarm would ring, but I  would quickly change it  to snooze and slither back to sleep. I  would snooze countless times and wake up late. I always felt guilty for having overslept but convinced myself that I would definitely wake up early the next day. The next day it was never better, I would snooze greater number of times as I  had made it a habit. I began reaching late for my walk, I would recollect the loss of my precious time for research, but the evil spirit in me would convince me saying that it was alright once in a while. Things went on for fifteen days leading me to the realisation that the pleasure of sleeping had led to a loss of the important things in my life. I discovered the thief of my time was none other than procrastination. 

Procrastination is the practice of carrying out less urgent tasks in preference to more urgent ones, or doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable ones, and thus putting off impending tasks to a later time, sometimes to the "last minute" before the deadline. The pleasure principle may be responsible for procrastination; one may prefer to avoid negative emotions, and to delay stressful tasks.(Wikipedia)

I saw my son follow me in all my bad habits. He would never shed his sleep nor watch the beautiful mornings. Perhaps we would have turned into the snooze family but for my husband who is a strong disciplinarian in this regard.

I remembered the holiday homework we had during our school days. The homework was to be done regularly to be in touch with the subjects of study, but the relaxed schedule would throw me off bounds landing me into a heap full of homework just a few days before the reopening creating apprehensiveness, regret and stress. The work would be poorly done and the marks  would make me  feel ashamed. In the growing years I developed the habit of watching Television serials giving me great pleasure in the sob stories, I would creep into the character of moaning for no reason while pitying myself for having the worst in life. My studies were neglected leading me to  a stark reality with the announcement of the results. I could hear the voice of procrastination trying to console me saying there is always a next time.

Procrastination leads to self-deception where the person convinces himself that he had used his time effectively, but the time lost can never be retrieved. Procrastination ends when one plans and prioritises the quality use of time. Life is memorable and  fulfilling when one is satisfied with a job done well whether it is an examination, a mere household chore or a deed as simple as filing papers for leading an organised life. Procrastination ends when one recognises the need to commit oneself to a task with great importance and  tries to the stick to deadlines diligently

“Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in installments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day's success” ― Israelmore Ayivor