How To Eliminate Procrastination For Good And Increase Your Productivity 100%
How To Get More Done In Less Time
Key Points:
> Procrastination will steal your time
> Procrastination is not a matter of poor time management
> You can re-train your brain to eliminate procrastination for good
“Procrastination is not only the thief of time; it is the thief of life.”
Ever think, “Where does my time go?”
The average person wastes 34 hours a week according to the latest research. That’s over 1 month you could be wasting a year!
I’ve struggled with wasting time myself. . .
I hate doing anything that has to do with manual labor. So, if I have to fix a leaky faucet, or paint the kitchen, I will put it off, and put it off, and put it off.
And, the longer I put it off the worse I feel about myself because I know I should get it done, but I can’t get myself to do it! This is the thief called procrastination!
I don’t feel good knowing that there is something that I need to do, but I can’t get myself to start doing it. And, the dang task doesn’t go away!
Is there something that you are procrastinating about right now?
Is there something that you really need to do but you are not doing it? You keep telling yourself “I gotta do it”, but you never seem to get around to doing it!
You may not be doing it because that task or activity is something that you associate with fear, anxiety, boredom, monotony, or fatigue. In other words, it’s probably something that you dread doing for some reason that you may not even be aware of. You associate negative feelings with that task or situation.
Most people procrastinate doing one or two dreaded things. However, there are some people who procrastinate about doing many things and then this becomes habitual.
This habit can then become a source of depression, which can in turn cause problems in everyday life. It traps you in a cycle from which you can’t get out.
Perhaps you may know someone like this? It’s the 32 year old son who is still leeching off of his parents. He never leaves the house to get a job because he spends most of his time in his bedroom playing video games. He procrastinates about going out to look for a job.
You may know the housewife, who has gained a mastery of Facebook and all other social media, but never seems to get around to housekeeping. She puts it off, and off, and pretty soon the house is a complete stinking mess!
So, how does a person stop procrastinating?
Well, there are some things that you can do:
Just Get Started!
Take a small step to begin the task. This is called a leading task. A leading task can be as simple as sharpening a pencil, or looking up the phone number of someone that you should call.
Since I hate to paint, I can get started by taping the edges where I don’t want to get paint. This is enough to get me going, and then I gain the inertia to keep me going.
As the law of physics states, “A body in motion tends to stay in motion. Also, you may have heard this phrase, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Take any small action.
Break It Down!
Break down the task into small manageable pieces. Sometimes, the task is so big and overwhelming that it is very difficult to get started on it.
You’ve seen hoarders on TV. Their house is a total, filthy mess but they can’t seem to be able to start cleaning out their house. It’s just too overwhelming! So, the coach helps them to start one room section at a time. How do you eat an elephant?. . .”One piece at a time!”
Schedule It
Put it on your calendar. Make an appointment “On Tuesday, November 23rd I will start painting.” Did you notice that I said “will” start, and not “I need to,” or “I will try?” The vocabulary you use to talk to yourself is very important. Then muster up some willpower to stick to the schedule.
Also, give the task or situation a rating on a scale of 1-10. If you rate it a ‘9’ then you know it is something that must get done immediately. The higher the rating, the higher the immediacy. Prioritization is an important first step so that you don’t waste time doing insignificant tasks.
Conquer Your Fears
We often procrastinate because we fear what the outcome might be. For example, we may fear confronting our boss, or perhaps scheduling that prostate exam. We are fearful that the boss might fire us, or that the doctor will find cancer. So, we put it off.
Dale Carnegie, in his book “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living,” suggested a formula for solving worry situations:
- Ask yourself what is the worst that can possibly happen
- Write down precisely what you’re worrying about
- Prepare to accept the worst if you have to
- Write down as many solutions to your problem as you can think of
- Decide on the best solution
- Start immediately to carry out that decision
- Calmly proceed to improve on what you see as the worst part of the situation.
Reward Yourself!
Sometimes the negative feelings about the task outweigh the benefits of getting started on it. So, a positive reward may help to get the wheels turning.
For example I might say, “When I get this painting done, I will reward myself with two tickets to the football game.
How big of a reward should it be? It should just be big enough to outweigh the negative aspects of the task.
Only you know how painful that task may be. The higher the degree of pain associated with the task, the bigger the reward.
However, make it realistic and affordable. You shouldn’t propose rewarding yourself with a new car just to motivate yourself to clean the garage!
If you liked this article and you got some value, please share it with your social media network. I also enjoy reading your comments below.
Be sure to check out my other article called “The Truth About ‘The Secret’ and Why It’s Just Bunk!
David Figueroa- Success Coach
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If you want to release the root cause of your procrastination and finally accomplish the things that are most important to you, register for this exclusive training by John Assaraf, one of the leading mindset and behavioral experts in the world- “3 Keys to Eliminating Procrastination.”
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About the Author David C Figueroa
David C Figueroa is a psychologist with over 35 years of experience teaching personal development. An awesome success coach, and internet marketer. Now retired, he has refocused his goals into helping ambitious men and women to create exceptional lives.
