I must have been around seven when I suddenly noticed that Mummy was becoming a much tougher disciplinarian.

She began pushing me to do tasks that she had always taken care of in the past. This was seriously impeding my happy-go-lucky existence, so I often refused to bow down to her demands.

The result? Every morning, I would get a scolding for two things—not cleaning my room before leaving for school and not packing my school bag the previous night.

One day, I asked Mummy, “Why do you scold me every day?”

Without missing a beat, she replied, “Why don’t you do the right thing every day?”

That afternoon, when I returned from school, I noticed that my room had not been cleaned. Peevishly, I asked her how she had forgotten to do the needful.

She told me that she had done it by choice. It was time, she said, for me to learn a new skill. What followed was one of the few occasions when Mummy and I simply sat down and talked.

She explained that procrastination was not unique to me. In fact, she admitted that even she and Papa struggled with it from time to time. That surprised me. Until then, I had assumed that delaying what you should/must was a problem only children had.

Mummy told me that success in life comes from doing things consistently—and doing them well—whether you feel like it or not.

It was a simple lesson, but one that stayed with me for life. But her real gift was this: “You can learn to stop procrastinating.”

She never treated procrastination as a flaw in my character. Instead, she treated it as a skill gap—something that could be overcome with awareness, discipline, and practice.

Now, I can see that this changed my internal dialogue from:

• Why am I like this?
• Why can’t I get things done?

to:

• I haven’t learnt how to tackle this yet.
• I need a better approach.
• What skill am I missing?

Over the years, I realised that what Mummy taught me that day boiled down to four simple principles.

Step 1: The Positive Note
All of us procrastinate. The difference is that through self-discipline, we can acquire the skill to overcome it.

Step 2: Take a Stand
No more “I’ll try,” but “I will change this habit.”

Step 3: Build Self-Discipline
This skilling is less about motivation and more about keeping promises that you make to yourself.

Step 4: Eat the Elephant in Parts
Procrastination grows in the gap between intention and action. The answer is to create a practical execution strategy. Break down the larger goal into smaller enabling goals.

Over time, I have realised that the opposite of procrastination is not having high productivity—it is progress. Every small win builds confidence, momentum, and the conviction to keep moving forward.

Looking back, I realise that the untidy room or packing the school bag on time was never really the issue. Mummy used it as a training ground to teach me a much bigger life skill—the ability to do what needed to be done, whether I felt like doing it or not.

Over the years, I discovered that the same method worked everywhere—my studies, work, entrepreneurship, fitness, writing, and even relationships.

Of course, procrastination visits me from time to time. The difference is that thanks to Mummy, I know how to deal with it when it arrives.