Five-Minute Habit

 

How many times have I set my cell phone’s alarm feature to buzz me up from my deep slumber every early morning?  Many times.

But whenever my cell phone does ring, it’s funny that I always end up pressing the snooze key so I could have another five-minute rest.

I always bargain for more time to sleep before I will finally get up.

 I can see beams of sunlight streaming through the window pane.  I can already feel the morning air caressing my cheeks. But I would always opt to put my cp’s alarm to snooze. Odd.

And have I gained much from the five-minute extension on bed?  I’d say, “Not much.”

Either the five-minute habit was useless because it felt as if time went by too quickly or the “over-stay” was not helpful because truth is, it never really allowed me to get back to sleep even if I wanted to.

Putting off things to a later time is actually a problem not solely limited to me. It has infected a lot of people.

People procrastinate because they think they have plenty of time to spare, they have this strong belief that they can beat the deadline even at crunch time, they don’t know how or where to start or worse --they don’t want to perform the task at all.

Students cram just when they only have a few hours left before exams. Moms scurry to pay bills only when they receive disconnection notices. Employees hurry to submit requirements only when their bosses give them a stern warning. Public officials act only when they’re already caught red-handed with controversies.

I read an article once about the much publicized “pabaon” issue in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. An army spokesperson said that AFP now has made modifications in its system particularly in the finance department to make sure that the old flaws will not happen again. Why only now?

I wonder even. If you browse the internet for Filipino Values you’d be surprised to find out that the “Manana Habit” is in the listing. When did putting off things become a valuable trait?

There’s an old Filipino adage that goes, “Aanhin mo pa ang damo kung patay na ang kabayo?”

Why does it take us so much time to do the things we can actually carry-out now while we still have an opportunity to achieve something great?

Well okay. I guess there’s a valid reason why we sometimes have to delay completing a task. There are instances when we need to postpone things because we would like to avert possible jeopardy. That is quite understandable. Sana nga lang it will not take us ages before we could decide whether to take the plunge or not.

Otherwise, let’s use our time well. Seize the moment while we still can.

Come to think of it, the extra five minutes we spend lying on bed can be put to better use like a minute of praying, a minute for planning our daily chores, a minute to show affection for our loved ones, another minute to flex our muscles and another minute we can use to convince ourselves that it’s going to be a fruitful day.

And there’s a mantra which I learned from browsing the net which may be of help for people who are in a habit of deferring a task for another time and it goes, “Do it. Do it Right.  Do it Right Now.”

So whenever the five-minute dozing habit becomes hard to shake off in the morning, try the mantra. Better yet, remember that the five minute additional sleep is like losing a five-minute opportunity to make things happen.