Stress and Happiness–Cause and Effect
Tylynn Schaber Stress and Happiness Which sounds more fun, doing the dishes or playing a little Xbox? One would probably say playing their game and put the chores on the back burner because they could always do it later. This would be classified as procrastination. Procrastination may cause many negative effects including unnecessary stress and loss of one’s happiness. Procrastination is the practice of poor time management paired with lack of willpower. There are two different types of procrastination: behavioral and decisional.
Behavioral procrastination is when one uses procrastination as an excuse to do poorly; for example, one may put off studying for an exam until last minute and blame a bad exam score on the procrastination. Another instant where one may have behavior tendencies is when one has low self-esteem or self-worth and believes that if he or she never finishes a task, he or she will not be judged. Those with decisional procrastination problems typically put off making a decision or choice; they typically are afraid of errors and are possibly perfectionists.
Decisional procrastinators generally seek out other alternatives until they are made to make a decision, if they make a decision at all. 20% of the population is guilty of procrastination and recent studies show that it is on the rise. Everyone tends to procrastination, possibly not as often as most but definitely occasionally. One of the effects of procrastination is unnecessary stress. Everyone knows that stress has a very negative effect on oneself. Stress is a type of pressure or worry, usually unneeded.
Stress has many effects in itself; it may take a toll on one’s body, one’s mood, and one’s behavior. The tolls it can take on one’s body include headaches, sleep problems, and stomach pains. It can affect one’s body by possibly giving a person anxiety, sadness, or even depression. Stress can affect one behavior be making one go through social withdraws, angry outbursts, and drug and alcohol abuse. All of these additional symptoms of stress could lead to health problems, which are well worth avoiding.
Upon all of the things that can come from stress, stress leads back to procrastination. So the more one procrastinates, the more stress one will get, so therefore the more they will procrastinate. Another effect of procrastination is the threat of one’s happiness. Happiness is the state of being content or completely satisfied. Happiness is important in one’s life because that is what gives one the motivation and will to wake up tomorrow and enjoy the little things of life that often go unnoticed, too.
Without happiness, one will become depressed; depression has many, many additional negative symptoms. As you can see, by procrastinating, you can hurt more than just your grade. Procrastination can take effect on nearly every part of your life. It can lead to stress which in the end can take a toll on your health, which is scary. Procrastination may also take away one’s happiness, which could lead to depression. One should note, it is much easier to do work that can be done today, today, and not put anything off for later.
