Gamblers Anonymous

Procrastination
Author : GA

Get it done today, because this is the only day there is. “Never do today what you can leave until tomorrow.” Some very unwise person once made this statement.

Procrastination is something everyone suffers from at one time or another. Strangely enough, some of the greatest procrastinators we know are compulsive gamblers (notice that we left this section of the booklet for last). We always think about changes as something we can do later. The same is true with our debts; we’ll start paying those off “tomorrow”. Unfortunately, the same is often true with extra meetings; next week will be the week to get in an extra meeting. And so it goes. On and on, we’re always putting things off for another day.

When we joined GA those of us who had a genuine desire for a better life, free from gambling, seemed to get down to tackling the major problems from the outset. But many of us neglected those “little” problems, saying we would deal with them later. But little problems, for compulsive gamblers, have a nasty habit of developing into big problems.

Procrastinators will use any excuse, being too tired or too busy. Another common excuse is that of just “not being ready yet”. Some cunning ones will even say, “I practice the ‘one day at a time’ philosophy. Just let me get through this one day without any hassle and I’ll do it all tomorrow".

The best and most rewarding way is to deal with each little problem as it arises. Be in control of your life. Don’t have those little problems picking away at your brain. You won’t have people, partners, sponsors and GA members constantly asking you if you have done this or that yet. And most importantly, you won’t have little problems growing into big problems that you can’t face and possibly leading you back to gambling.

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