Article January 11, 2010 Issue

PROGRESS, NOT PROCRASTINATION

A business manager talks about how prayer enabled him to overcome a feeling of being overwhelmed at work.

BY BLAKE WINDAL

While I was growing up in the South, my mom had a circular sign that hung in our house, labeled 'Round Tuit. The rear of the sign explained, "How many times have you said, 'I'll get to it when I get a 'round tuit'—well, now you've got one!"—leaving no more excuses for putting things off. I often used to think about that sign when, at work or at home, I found myself putting off projects with that exact sentiment in mind.

I've found that this problem of procrastination—a big symptom of burnout—boils down to the concept of limitation. The feeling of stalling necessary work often arises when there's a lack of enough time, energy, drive, or funding to move forward in a particular area. But on the flip side, it's possible to work furiously to the point of feeling completely burned out and still not make much real progress.

Over the years I've learned that the solution to stalled progress—whether labeled procrastination or burnout—is not to change a human sense of lethargy or apathy into a sense of rushing around frantically to get tasks done. But rather, the solution lies in finding the deep peace that comes when we truly trust God to facilitate our steps and strategies toward getting things done. Seeing that there is no power opposed to God, I've found that nothing can stop this progress.

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