How not procrastinating saved the human race

Do you think Noah, after being told to build the Ark, immediately jumped up and grabbed a hammer? 

There is little detail as to what happened in between Genesis 7 when the Lord finished His instructions and when Noah did all that the Lord told him to do. 

It is probable Noah’s first step was to develop a plan followed by the diligent execution of those steps. We can only assume he was faithful in working hard to meet the Lord’s expectations.

Just imagine what would have happened had Noah been a procrastinator. Would God have decided against the flood? Would God have continued as planned? Or would He have chosen someone else?

God’s choice in Noah was not a mistake as the Lord was pleased with him and his work.

Many of us are not as diligent about our work. We procrastinate.

Theorists Ellis and Knaus in 1977 identified six steps to procrastination. Independently, another team, Burks and Yuen, identified the same steps in 1983. 

Here is what they identified:

1. You want to achieve an outcome, something you or others value and respect.

2. You delay, briefly thinking of real and imagined advantages of starting to later.

3. You delay more, becoming self-critical.

4. You delay still more, until finally the task has to be done, usually hastily.

5. You berate yourself.

6. You repeat the process almost immediately on other important tasks, as if it were an addiction or compulsion.

As you can imagine these steps have a devastating impact on your self-esteem.