Procrastination by Zukhruf bint-e-Nadeem-Attariya

About this novel

Procrastination (Urdu: پروکیسٹی نیشن) by Zukhruf bint-e-Nadeem Attariya is a short, practical Urdu essay on the habit of putting things off. It explains what procrastination is, why it happens and how to break the cycle, in simple language that anyone can follow.

Procrastination, she writes, is not an illness but a psychological circle that almost everyone gets caught in at some point, usually without noticing. It means postponing a task again and again, or losing interest in it. Students are its most common victims: they promise themselves every day that from today they will revise each lesson on time, and every day they put it off.

آج کا کام کل پر مت ٹالیں — اپنی نیت اور مقصد کو یاد رکھیں۔

She then looks at the causes. Sometimes it is plain laziness. Sometimes it is routine: when we work like robots for months, the same way every day, the heart gets as tired of it as it would of eating the same food at every meal. And very often it is social media. With a phone in our hand, tasks stay half-done, because the mind stays stuck on the screen.

The solutions are just as down to earth. Push yourself to do the very task you’re avoiding, and think about your niyyat: why are you doing it, and what will you lose if you don’t? A student should ask what the purpose of their studies is; a housewife can think of the comfort her work brings her family. If routine is the problem, give yourself a break and come close to nature. Wake up early, don’t sleep again after Fajr, go for a walk, sit under the open sky, and watch the night give way to the morning light.

It’s a short, useful read of about a dozen pages, especially good for students.

You can read it online here or download the PDF for free.

More by the same writer: Khubsurat Log Kon Hoty Hain, Azamat or Bulandi Waly Rab and Gehra Dost.