Procrastination is not just the theft of time; it is the theft of dreams. Many people fail to achieve their full potential because they are afflicted with this scourge.
I know some of you will say, but procrastination may be beneficial at times. The kind of procrastination I am referring to here is not about prioritizing one job over another less important one. I am referring to situations where you persistently put off doing a job, project or chore simply because you cannot face doing it.
The reasons why people procrastinate are varied but I will classify procrastinators broadly into 4 groups.The first group includes those people they feel inadequate; for example student who finds it incredibly hard to start writing his essay or project because he feels completely overwhelmed by the seemingly enormous task.The second group include those who fail to get going because they are perfectionists and just cannot cope with failure.I include in the third group those people who find the task at hand extremely easy and as a result postpone doing their chores until the very last moment because they know they can get the job done on time and very well.The final group includes people who are simply lazy and just do not want to try and will look for every excuse to avoid getting the job done.
Procrastination is the principal reason for loss of productivity sadly, most procrastinators will fail to acknowledge their problem but, they would benefit greatly if they learn to commence the work at hand on time.If you are one of these people affected by this common yet potentially destructive problem and you wish to overcome your tendency for procrastination, then I have good news for you.
My intention is to share with you 3 simple steps that will help you get rid of this malady and help you fulfill you dreams and long term goals.
I run my own home based business and I know just how dangerous procrastination can be and I have had to overcome it in order to stay focused. Since I have started to adopt these steps I have found a significant improvement in my output and I will urge you to give these tips a try and be amazed by the results.
1. Make a list of all the tasks you need to accomplish
Prioritize the important tasks and allocate sufficient time for each task. One of the reasons why people put tasks off is because they do not allocate enough time to get it done and then become frustrated because they perceive that they are not making progress.
A list of activities to accomplish per day will allow you to realistically budget your time. The other advantage of a list is that you are less likely to squander the time you have when you know you have so much left to do.I personally prefer to use a personal digital assistant but you can use what ever works for you e.g. a journal or calendar of events to assist you plan your schedule. This will enable you can start them and complete them in a timely manner.
2. Swish Technique
This neuro linguistic programming technique (NLP) can be learnt very quickly and is extremely effective. Whenever you do not feel motivated to do your work, create a picture in your mind of the consequences of not doing it. Make this image vivid. Create another smaller picture in the corner of the first picture but dissociated from it of what might happen if you completed the task and did it very well. Generate a swish sound while switching the images making the undesirable image go away by making it become smaller and darker. Replace first undesired picture with the desired goal oriented image making the latter bigger and brighter.
Practice doing this a few times until you can do it very quickly. A college student may create an image of what it will be like to fail an important examination and all the consequences that may follow if he allowed that to happen because he did not study properly. The second image may see him receiving his degree while his parents and other family members congratulate him on his achievements.You can create whatever images you like but try to make them very vivid and add in other sensory modalities such as smell or touch to make the pictures more effective.
3. Get on with it
Once you have gone through steps 1 and 2 just get on with the task. Try breaking it down into small component parts and get on with it. Remember whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.
I will recommend these steps to any one serious about overcoming procrastination and I will be surprised if you do not achieve immediate results. Some of the steps may feel awkward at first but with a little practice will start to occur spontaneously. Nothing is accomplished by staying still start now.
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