Does the constant battle of procrastination drive you crazy? Do you find yourself getting completely excited about some idea only to find weeks go by before you do anything about it? Maybe you even have the “tomorrow syndrome” where as each day passes you keep putting it off until “tomorrow”. Why is it that tomorrow never comes and that someday becomes never? You might always tell yourself that the next time you have to do something, procrastination won’t be an issue, however you find yourself in the same cycle every time.
You’re not alone when it comes to procrastination; everyone has experienced it at one time or another.
There are a couple of key points to help you with procrastination.
Recognize you are a procrastinator
First of all you have to recognize that you have an issue of putting things off till a later time. You have to ask yourself if you are ignoring the task hoping it will go away. You also need to notice if you are replacing the task with a less important one such as watching TV instead of writing your term paper.
Why are you?
Why are you not accomplishing your tasks? Are you a perfectionist waiting for the perfect time or situation to present itself? Are you afraid of failing? How about being afraid of success? Fear of success doesn’t sound like it should be a fear but it absolutely is. You might envision yourself in the spotlight if you become successful, and that scares a lot of people.
Baby steps to reverse the cycle
Taking baby steps to completing your tasks is a major key. Don’t get overwhelmed by trying to accomplish too much in a short period of time. Its better to take small steps than not take any action at all. I know for me when I’m tired and don’t want to write, I’ll at least open a new document and put the title and write a sentence or two. This gives me the sense that I accomplished something and will give me motivation to reopen the document knowing it’s not blank.
Focus
Focus on the task at hand, don’t try and multitask. We think we have to do multiple things at the same time to feel as if we are accomplishing something. This is a bad habit that most of us have, and damaging to success. I promise you will be much more successful and less stressed if you focus on one thing at a time.
Accountability
Don’t be afraid to ask someone to hold you accountable for finishing your tasks. This is where a mastermind group can really help to push you to get things done. This is a group of like-minded people that meet about once a week to bounce ideas off each other and to also check the progress of one another. If you can’t find one, feel free to create one.
For more information on this subject check out Getting Things Done by David Allen, this book helped me to complete my tasks while lowering my stress and giving me more free time. For more resources like this one check out all of PFM’s recommended resource tab.
About Peter Serrano
@ashley8469 I’ll read it later