01.19.07 3:39 PM EST
One of the BIGGEST obstacles I have personally faced is overcoming
and mastering Procrastination. Getting things done NOW v/s later has
become my mantra for the last 2 + years. Below is a great article I
threw together discussing some of the pitfalls of procrastination and
how to acquire that Get It Done Now mentality.
Enjoy!
Procrastination, the habit of putting tasks off to the last
possible minute, can be a major problem in both your career
and your personal life. Missed opportunities, frenzied work
hours, stress, overwhelm, resentment, and guilt are just
some of the symptoms.
Here are 3 practical tools to overcome it.
1. Replace “Have To” With “Want To”
First, thinking that you absolutely have to do something is
a major reason for procrastination. When you tell yourself
that you have to do something, you’re implying that you’re
being forced to do it, so you’ll automatically feel a sense of
resentment and rebellion. Procrastination kicks in as a defense
mechanism to keep you away from this pain. If the task you
are putting off has a real deadline, then when the deadline gets
very close, the sense of pain associated with the task becomes
overridden by the much greater sense of pain if you don’t get
started immediately.
The solution to this first mental block is to realize and accept
that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Even
though there may be serious consequences, you are always free
to choose. No one is forcing you to run your business the way
you do. All the decisions you’ve made along the way have brought
you to where you are today. If you don’t like where you’ve ended
up, you’re free to start making different decisions, and new results
will follow.
Also be aware that you don’t procrastinate in every area of your
life. Even the worst procrastinators have areas where they never
procrastinate. Perhaps you never miss your favorite TV show, or
you always manage to check your favorite online forums each day.
In each situation the freedom of choice is yours. So if you’re putting
off starting that new project you feel you “have to” do this year,
realize that you’re choosing to do it of your own free will.
Procrastination becomes less likely on tasks that you openly and
freely choose to undertake.
2. Replace “Finish It” With “Begin It”
Secondly, thinking of a task as one big whole that you have to
complete will virtually ensure that you put it off. When you focus
on the idea of finishing a task where you can’t even clearly envision
all the steps that will lead to completion, you create a feeling of
overwhelm. You then associate this painful feeling to the task and
delay as long as possible. If you say to yourself, “I’ve got to do my
taxes today,” or “I must complete this report,” you’re very likely to
feel overwhelmed and put the task off.
The solution is to think of starting one small piece of the task
instead of mentally feeling that you must finish the whole thing.
Replace, “How am I going to finish this?” with “What small step
can I start on right now?” If you simply start a task enough times,
you will eventually finish it. For example, go to your garage with
a notepad, and simply write down a few ideas for quick 10-minute
tasks you could do to make a dent in the piles of junk.
Maybe move one or two obvious pieces of junk to the trash can
while you’re there. Just focus on what you can do right now. If
you do this enough times, you’ll eventually be starting on the final
piece of the task, and that will lead to finishing.
3. Replace Perfectionism With Permission To Be Human
A third type of erroneous thinking that leads to procrastination is
perfectionism. Thinking that you must do the job perfectly the first
try will likely prevent you from ever getting started. Believing that
you must do something perfectly is a recipe for stress, and you’ll
associate that stress with the task and thus condition yourself to
avoid it.
You then end up putting the task off to the last possible minute,
so that you finally have a way out of this trap. Now there isn’t
enough time to do the job perfectly, so you’re off the hook because
you can tell yourself that you could have been perfect if you only
had more time.
But if you have no specific deadline for a task, perfectionism can
cause you to delay indefinitely. If you’ve never even started that
project you always wanted to do really well, could perfectionism
be holding you back? Give yourself permission to be human!
Tim Berger
330.881.3026
Free Audio Cd and CashFlow Report!
http://www.WavePageSystem.com
