Why do people procrastinate? CategoriesTo Your Health & Sanity

Why do people procrastinate?

Everyone is guilty of procrastinating from time to time. However, putting off important life decisions can lead to unpleasant situations in the future, such as having to make these decisions under extreme pressure or facing the consequences of taking no action at all. We often try to convince ourselves that putting off an unpleasant task will prevent an even more unpleasant event from occurring in our lives. For example, some people put off making a will or buying life insurance because facing this decision means thinking about dying. Irrational maybe, but quite common.

Very few people deliberately procrastinate, but whether deliberate or not, the results are the same: something important does not get accomplished. When it comes to putting your affairs in order, it is extremely important that you commit and follow through. You cannot eliminate stress, but you can do the best you can to keep it to a minimum. The more you get done now, the less stress your family will face in the future. Now is the time to start.

When talking to potential clients about planning for Golden Age care, I first recommend that they take care of three critical documents: a medical directive, a power of attorney and a will.

Why these three documents? Because you never know exactly what is going to happen in the next few minutes, hours, days or years. But if these three documents are in place, much less stress will be placed upon the shoulders of those responsible for making decisions for you.

Here is a story to illustrate my point (The names have been changed): The mother of a friend of mine became very ill. Sharon had to put her Mom in a nursing home. A year before, we worked together in helping to put her Mom’s affairs in order. One of the things her Mom did not have was an updated medical directive. Now that Sharon was her Mom’s primary caregiver, the document needed to change to reflect this fact. So we updated the form and when a decision had to be made to put Mom in the nursing home, there was far less stress because the document was already in place, which was a great relief for Sharon. “For peace of mind that’s priceless” put these documents in place today.

Does this illustration help you? Let us know your experience.

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Rita McCulloch is a mid generation Boomer who saw change and turmoil happen all around her from a vantage point as a young African American woman growing up in Huntsville, Alabama. Yet her focus was on family, community, church and helping others. She began helping seniors with their personal and financial needs as a volunteer while raising her family. She then founded a business, Boomer3Solutions, through which she helps educate, organize, and prepare families for their golden age years and minimize the stress that can be related to caregiving. Rita brings to Boomer Connections a strong background in elder care concerns and the many decisions facing their Boomer family members.