Emma's Rock: A Story About Procrastination Why It's Dangerous How We Can Avoid It

By Fahim Firfiray and Anna Temchenko

Meet siblings Deli and Emma. Emma never procrastinates. Her to-do list is tiny. She has an array of tools to ensure that no task ever gets left behind. Deli, however, delays everything. He wants immediate pleasure, doing easy activities, just to avoid the pain that comes with working on the hard stuff. Follow the course of their contrasting lives. How does Emma get started and then always deliver? Can Deli rescue himself from the harmful consequences of his behaviour? And as you read, ask yourself, are you more Emma or more Deli? Do you habitually put things off? Is it adversely affecting your life? What can you do about it?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Aug 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9781035809622

Fahim Firfiray

Fahim Firfiray is a leadership and people development specialist. During a career spanning over three decades, he has helped hundreds of individuals, from all over the world, transform their lives, both personally and in the workplace. He has advised high profile companies across the UK and the Middle East, enhancing the capability of their leadership and work teams. Fahim is from London, married with three grown-up children.

Book preview

About the Author

Fahim Firfiray is a leadership and people development specialist. During a career spanning over three decades, he has helped hundreds of individuals, from all over the world, transform their lives, both personally and in the workplace. He has advised high profile companies across the UK and the Middle East, enhancing the capability of their leadership and work teams. Fahim is from London, married with three grown-up children.

Dedication

For my beloved granddaughters, Layla and Asmaa;

the 2 most organised pre-schoolers I know.

Copyright Information ©

Fahim Firfiray 2023

Illustrations by Anna Temchenko

Cover design by Farrukh Khan

The right of Fahim Firfiray to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781035809615 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781035809622 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2023

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Introduction

Procrastination is the act of putting things off until another time. This relates to tasks and actions that you know you can perform at their proper times, but that you deliberate­ly choose not to. Ultimately, they are completed later rather than sooner, if at all.

Procrastination is a disease, and one that we all struggle with. Some of us battle miserably with this condition. Others suffer from it less. It’s not a pathological disease, the kind that student physicians might study at medical school. It’s more of a personal disease, and maybe even a social one. However, just like other diseases, in its most extreme form, it can be debilitating for the person suffering it.

Procrastination is also a crime, one that we all commit, daily, weekly, monthly, or maybe even all our lives. Some of us engage in this crime actively. Others, hardly at all. It’s not an actual crime – the kind that students of law or criminology might read about in their textbooks. It’s more of a personal crime: a moral crime, a crime against yourself and the people around you. However, just like real crime in its most extreme form, it can result in a person feeling completely imprisoned by their own behaviour.

Procrastination is one of the great mysteries of life. Why do we delay? How is it that many of us just don’t attend to critical matters, even in the face of negative consequences and danger? Those could be consequences for us at home or at work. They could affect ourselves, our families, our col­leagues, or our teams.

To help us understand this mystery, let’s explore the story of Deli and Emma. As we go through this story, from time to time, we will pause. Use these pauses to stop and consider the events and behaviours you are reading about. During those times, reflect upon three questions in particular:

Why do people procrastinate?

What is the potential harm caused by procrastination?

How can we stop ourselves procrastinating?

Collect your thoughts and feel free to jot them down. Fo­cus primarily on questions 1 and 2. We will discuss question 3 in greater detail, after the story, in Part 2.

So, let us begin.

Part 1:

The Story of Deli and Emma

Chapter One

Childhood

D

eli and Emma were brother and sister. They had the same parents and had grown up together in the same house in Balham in South London. However, they were strangely different in other ways. People around them were very famil­iar with these differences. In fact, among friends and family, they had nicknames that reflected that difference. Deli was known by all as Deli, the Delayer, because he always did exactly that – delay. If there was any task or action that he had to do, whether it was for himself or others, it was always overdue. Emma was known as Emma, the Immediate. She was famous among friends and family for attending to mat­ters almost immediately.

So, where shall we start with their story? Well, how about in their early lives?

Birth

Deli was the eldest by 18 months, born, of course, a few days late. Emma, on the other hand, was born a few days prema­ture. Of course, not of her own doing, but she was even early for her own birth. As babies, they were both radiant, beauti­ful, and undeniably huggable. Their eyes boasted the same gorgeous dark brown hue, and they were both gifted with the same delicate light brown hair.

There was one minor physical difference between them that Deli had inherited from his mother. He had a web of skin between the middle fingers of his right hand. This was a fea­ture entirely anticipated by his mum and dad, but one that was not present with Emma.

Early childhood

Let’s jump ahead a few years. One early sign of their con­trasting attitudes towards time and personal space was how their rooms looked at home. Emma’s room was always or­ganised and tidy. She was proud of it. She knew