We’ve all had that mental block sometimes, perhaps it’s just a lack of motivation to actually get up off our backsides to do something. How many times have we put off writing that email, or making that phone call? I certainly face this struggle on a daily basis despite being very goal orientated. So what am I talking about?
PROCRASTINATION!
A great man once said “Procrastination is like a credit card: It’s a lot of fun until you get the bill.”
Unfortunately, not all of us can afford that bill. So what are some tips and tricks you can employ to ensure you don’t waste a minute of your time? Read on to find out!!
According to the Harvard Business Review, procrastination is the act of strongly resolving to complete a task or goal but then failing, due to motivation or otherwise, to complete the action. In a study[1] into the psychology of WHY people procrastinate, psychologists Ted O’Donoghue and Matthew Rabin, from Cornell University’s Department of Economics, confirmed earlier findings that people:
- Are impatient
- Like to experience rewards soon
- Like to delay costs until later
Well, now that we know that our brains are programmed to delay all hard tasks why don’t we just tell it to think the other way? Well the problem is that our brains are much better at processing and making sense of concrete rather than abstract thoughts and patterns. In other words, our brains fail to align with tasks that lead to future benefits for actions which we take now!
Then, how can we overcome this systematic bias?
Step 1: Recognise that we have a problem
The hardest thing about correcting a bad habit is being ignorant of the fact that we have a problem in the first place. The issue of Procrastination is no different. It is something that hinders our ability to achieve our goals and plans and we must therefore treat it like any other problem, starting with recognising its existence.
The fact that you’re reading this post likely means that you’ve recognise the problem and are being proactive in making sure you eradicate it from your life! Well done, you’ve completed Step 1 of overcoming Procrastination!
Step 2: Confront the source of your inaction
Now that you’ve addressed the fact that you have a Procrastination problem, what’s the next step? Well you have to confront it. If you’re struggling to figure out where your Procrastination comes from, here are some great starting points:
- Do you like completing meaningless chores in place of more important or time-consuming ones?
- Creating a to-do list but then not sticking to it or filling it with menial tasks because you know they require less investment
- Going over your tasks but then not actioning any of them
- Excessively planning your day instead of focusing on a few quality tasks
- Getting distracted easily by Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat etc. or friends, family or significant others
Step 3: Map out your course of remedial action
Ok, so far we’ve identified that we have a Procrastination problem and identified the source. Now it’s time to visualise a path to success and eradicating Procrastination from our life entirely (bold claim, but with the right mindset we can achieve it!). What I usually like to do is write positive affirmative statements on a piece of paper. You can write these down wherever you will find them most easily – such as a journal, diary, whiteboard etc.
From here, depending on the source of your procrastination, you can decide how you will move past your procrastination. For example, if you spend excessive time on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, you can set some goals around using these less using an Affirmation Statement and Remedial Steps.
Positive affirmation statement: To reduce the amount of time I procrastinate, improve my quality of life, relationships and well-being, I will limit my Facebook usage.
Remedial Action Steps:
- I will seek to reduce time spent on Facebook by half an hour until I no longer have the urge to use it
- I will actively log the time I am on the site
- I will revisit my logs every Saturday and set new goals for lowering usage
- At the end of the month I will reach total time spent on the site to less than 20 minutes per day
You can see how by doing this you know exactly what your goal is, what you need to achieve it and when you expect to see change. Aside from beating Procrastination, this is a great method to achieving any of your other goals too!
Step 4: Emulate and learn from the experts!
We all love to watch YouTube videos, I love to especially on my morning commute to work. One of the ways in which I spend my commute time is by watching videos of the people whom I aspire towards. You’ve all heard these names before; Tony Robbins, Barbara Sher, Tim Ferris, Eckhart Tolle, Susan Jeffers etc. These women and men are famous for a reason, they’ve pioneered or refined a way we can all improve our quality of life through self-help.
Therefore, these are the very people we can turn to emulate and use their methods to overcome our problems, and in this case – Procrastination. Here are some gems of wisdom which you should keep in mind while battling Procrastination!
- BEGIN – “To begin is half the work, let half still remain
- “The best way to get something done is to begin”
- “Don’t let your want for perfection become procrastination”
- “Sometimes ‘later’ becomes ‘never’
- “If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it”
Step 5: Utilise technology and keep track of your progress
By now you should know why you have trouble with procrastination, have an plan of action to combat it and also some motivation to continue. However, even the best of us have problems with keeping on the right path to improvement. No one is perfect, which is why we should use all the tools at our disposal to help us with battling Procrastination. I personally prefer to use Evernote (www.evernote.com). Evernote is a free journaling, diary and notebook app which will allow you to sync your diary across multiple devices.
I use Evernote to track my goals and actions and it is immensely useful for overcoming the almost constant threat of Procrastination. Head on over to Bryan Kramer’s blog for an excellent guide on how to set up and use your new Evernote diary to plan, track and achieve your goals and beat Procrastination.
Step 6: Go forth and conquer!
That’s it, you now have all the tools in your arsenal to go out and conquer Procrastination, vanquishing its ever emergent threat from your Productivity!
If you liked this article and found it useful, I’d appreciate it if you left a comment below or shared it amongst your followers and friends.
Peace!
Craig
[1] O’Donoghue, T and Rabin (1999), M, Doing it Now or Later, The American Economic Review.
