Procrastination is a Convenient Excuse to Avoid Change – Part 2

In our last blog, we talked about our first four of the seven helpful tips for overcoming your tendency to procrastinate. As a reminder, we covered:

1) Face Your Fears: this is the importance of confronting your inaccurate beliefs and naming your fear so you can start taking steps towards confronting it.

2) Get Clarity on Your Goals: What do you want to achieve and why? Clarity helps you establish your goals and overcome distractions so you can stay focused and keep moving forward towards your goals.

3) Make a List: This is about making a task list and prioritizing the work you need to do.

4) Break Projects Down Into Manageable Parts: This step involves breaking the work down into manageable tasks so you can tick them off as you finish them so you are motivated to keep going.

Now, we’ll get into the remaining three tips for overcoming procrastination.

5) Recognize the Signs of Procrastination: As you start to knock items off your list, pay attention to when your mind starts to wander. When you find yourself thinking. “I don’t feel like doing this now.” Or “I’ll have time for this later.” Then you should recognize that your brain is in procrastination mode. When you are tempted to procrastinate, don’t give in to the urge. Instead, force yourself to work for a few minutes on the task. Pick something that you can do immediately that will take you towards your goal. Force yourself to work a few minutes on the task. In many cases, you will find that it is easier to just complete the task once you get started. Momentum will shift and your urge to procrastinate will go away and you will likely start moving towards the next task.

6) Eliminate Distractions and Make it Harder to Procrastinate: It is difficult to get anything done when you are tempted to turn your attention to the TV or Social Media updates. Dedicate a period of time when you will turn off all distractions including music, TV and your mobile phone and use the time to FOCUS all of your attention to the task at hand.

7) Reward Yourself: When you have completed a task or a portion of a larger task, reward yourself for your efforts and progress. Let yourself indulge in something that you find fun and enjoyable.

There are many strategies and skills you can use for overcoming procrastination. Like any skill you need to learn and practice it until you get good at it. Eventually, it will become an automatic response and you will develop the habit of taking action despite your fears.