Overcoming Procrastination In 5 Simple Steps

Overcoming procrastination can be one of the hardest things to do since the people who need to do this the most always delay in taking action. Procrastination is a serious example of an ‘epic’ lack of motivation which the longer it is allowed the more deeply rooted it becomes.

This ‘social disease’ can be and is the ‘killer’ of many dreams and goals. The only and most logical cure to be found is learning to how to better motivate yourself to take the necessary actions.  

Discovering how to stop procrastinating can be broken down into simply breaking old and often times psychologically based habits. Here is a simple 5 step plan to help you overcome your lack of motivation and take charge of your life once again.

Sort and Prioritize

One common reason for procrastination is due to the overwhelming feeling you can get from having too many things that need to be done. This feeling can severely hinder your ability to motivate yourself. The problem can be handled in a logical manner by sorting out your ‘to do’ list. By prioritizing them into a workable list according to their urgency, time deadlines or overall importance you now know where to start.

Simplify Tasks

Some ‘undertakings’ may be intimidating due to the enormity of the goal itself. Something like this typically involves many steps and/or tasks to be completed before the goal is reached therefore it is common for people to put it off. The best approach for this is to break this goal down into a series of steps and focus only on the immediate task at hand. The result will be since your focus isONLY on the immediate task you are not allowing the size of the overall project to intimidate or overwhelm you.

Peak Performance Time

Everybody has got a particular time of the day or night that they find themselves the most productive. This may be due to your energy level or perhaps a there are less demands upon your time. It matters not what the reasons are just determine when it is the easiest time to motivate yourself and schedule time to complete some of those tasks you have been putting off.

A quick note here and something to be consider with any of these steps is perhaps only schedule a little at a time. As you begin to see results it will be easier for you to motivate yourself to tackling even larger tasks or goals. With results comes confidence and a surge of energy to accomplish even more.

Schedule the Time

We spoke of scheduling some tasks during your most productive hours and that should give you the added energy or ‘edge’ to make some progress. Well a ‘spin’ on that would be to take a task and simply schedule it into your ‘work’ day for completion like any other item you may have scheduled for that day.

By incorporating it into the ‘routine’ of your day you are NOT allowing it to build up the psychological barrier that develops when it is repeatedly ‘put off’ till later. This barrier builds up a lack of motivation and a feeling of dread. By scheduling and completing it within the course of a busy day its seems easier since no barrier or dread has a chance to build.

Just Do It!

Sometimes it works best just to grab an assignment or unfinished task you are not too fond of and simply complete it without any prior ‘dread’ or anticipation. As I mentioned earlier our lack of motivation offer stems from a psychological barrier and it is normally one we create ourselves. The more we ‘dread’ something the more dreadful it actually becomes and this feeling is something we create.

Overcoming procrastination is simply a matter of breaking old habits and restoring your lack of motivation to accomplish even the smallest of tasks. Learning how to stop procrastinating draws parallels with learning how to motivate yourself since motivation is the root of the problem. The simple 5 step plan reviewed above targets restoring your drive. By ‘chipping away’ at these old habits new ones can then be developed. The results will allow you to once again become the ‘pilot’ of your life instead of simply a passenger along for the ride. This will now put the goals and dreams that have eluded you in the past back within your reach.

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Overcoming Procrastination – a Positive 3 Step Plan

Overcoming procrastination is never and easy thing as the reasons we continue to put things off, find reasons to not take an action and in short to waste time and procrastinate are issues within our self that need addressing. A Plan to overcome procrastination therefore is not just about rolling your sleeves up and getting stuck into some work you continually procrastinate over (though it is better than nothing!). Instead you must approach overcoming your shortfalls in a positive way and with a plan to deal with it!

To make a lasting impression on the way you approach tasks in your life you must first acknowledge you have flaws that need to be fixed and view this as a positive thing, too many people either refuse to admit flaws or when they do think they cannot change or become despondent and beat themselves up over it. This is not helpful as everyone has flaws even very successful people who look like they live a perfect life, the truth is life is a journey of self discovery and positive changes if you want it to be and each change in your life for the better should be celebrated! So first be positive if you are trying to change your life and overcome procrastination!

If you embrace this then you can set a plan to follow that can lead to better time management and greater energy to get things done.

1. Discover

The first step is to find the core reason for your procrastination which can be more than just laziness or not wanting to do a task. The reasons can be many and varied but a few examples of common problems are as such.

* Fear of failure

* Fear of success

* Poor time management skills

* Lack of direction

* Lack of priorities

* laziness

here may be many other reasons but in the spirit of being positive do not feel bad about this just be honest and think of the benefits of overcoming these flaws can be. IF you are reading this then you want to change so don’t feel bad about any of it!

2. Plan

Once you nail down some reasons for your procrastination then you must make a plan to overcome this which fits into your life and the way you work best. How you approach this should be tailored t o your situation but the experiences of others should always be taken into account. Start small and win some success in overcoming small obstacles at a time which is good for morale and shows you can beat this problem even if it looks too large to start with.

3. Action

This is the hardest bit, as any procrastinator does it can all go well until it is time for action and actually implementing your plans. Nothing can take the place of the drive to get up and just DO something. If you have been honest with yourself and have a good plan in place and you can see the positive benefits from all of this then you should have enough fuel to energies you to get out there and achieve!

As always a positive approach is a must to this, try not to get down and if it all feels too much take this 3 step plan and break down the existing problem into a few smaller problems and beat them first. Rinse and repeat and overcome procrastination!

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Overcoming Procrastination – The Action Plan

Procrastination is the key cause of several failures of the people targeting richer lives. In case you have not been able to achieve your goals, it is time that you need greater commitment.

The only reliable remedy to commitment is action. Next time when ever you delay the initialization of a task or you fail to accomplish the job that you had already started, question yourself as to why you were not working towards it:

a. I can not do it & I do not want to.
b. I can do it, but I do not want to.
c. I want to do it, but I can not.
d. I can do it & I want to.

In case you are honest to yourself, you would probably get started with the fourth statement. And in case you do that, you would have made the initiative towards defeating the devil of procrastination.

Here are some features of procrastination and the tips that would help you fight procrastination:

1. The studies have proved that every individual can develop new habits with in two weeks only, provided you are serious that you wish to change.

2. In order to make the personal & corporate dreams come true, you must be focused and you must move ahead to take the action.

3. Usually we tend to delay those tasks that define the success of the long term projects.

4. List out the tasks that you dislike the most.

5. Then ask yourself as to how to approach them.

6. How would you like to tackle them that is first of all or leaving them for the last?

7. Take examples of the people around you who always achieve their targets by getting things done. Observe their work habits. Check out their approach towards the jobs that are monotonous & non-appealing jobs. Observe how do they manage to be so focused.

8. Now try completing the least enjoyable tasks first, or you might opt to put the disliked tasks some where between the favorite ones.

Mark Twain explains for this – In case you have got to swallow the frog, do not stare at it for too long.

9. In case you are facing troubles making the commitment only because you think that you would not be able to complete them, then you might want to try out the method devised by Thomas Edison. Edison used to go to the public through press conferences and announce his inventions. He declared to the world regarding his invention, and then went to the laboratory & invented it.

10. Might be that you do not want to apply this technique of ‘going to the public’ in all other areas of life. The idea is Thomas Edison, one of the greatest & most productive inventors of history of United States, had understood how important it is to drift way from inactivity. This technique of fighting against procrastination was an extra ordinary one & he used to get extra ordinary results.

11. Place your favorite inspirational quotes where you would be able to read them. Tell people the timings when you must not be disturbed. Try thinking about the tasks in & around the surroundings that help you bring a flow in your work. Which are the things that distract you and / or make you wish to postpone the job? How would you design and / or rearrange the environment in order to eliminate the causes of procrastination?

Thomas Edison said – In case we did everything that we are capable of doing, we would actually astound ourselves.

Try and do something today- something that you are putting off and initiate the astounding self of yours!

www.asksaiful.com Law of Attraction : Overcoming Procrastination
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Season Seven Episode 1 Josh Way riffs this short from 1952.
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Overcoming Procrastination – Everything You Need to Know

Procrastination has ever since been part of the upscale battle of every individual’s life. With work and life continuously getting tougher and tougher at every age, people find the need to delay some pending deadlines in hopes of getting a few minutes of rest. In truth, it is perfectly fine to get a break and doze off from work. However, not finding the discipline and courage to go back and finish what you need to do is often the challenge, which leads to procrastination. If you are looking for positive ways on overcoming procrastination, we have lined up some of the best tips that can guide you into becoming more efficient with your work schedule and assignments. Overcoming procrastination will help you drive a huge amount of discipline that is highly needed in every aspect of one’s life.

The first thing that you need to learn when overcoming procrastination is the process of self-control. Yes, we all love a few minutes or hours of the day to ourselves, but sometimes it helps to know when is the best time to do certain things. Bear in mind that the more you concentrate on finishing a certain task the more help you will get to bring in more expedient and better results. This will then give you more time for yourself at the end of the day. If you are feeling tired and restless, you may opt to take the time to take control over your mind through the process of hypnosis. Hypnosis, as an effective means of rehabilitating oneself, will help you get in tune with your body and release all the stress and pressure that is flooding inside your nerves. Releasing this tension will help you work more effectively, instead of keeping the huge amount of stress up in your head and allowing anxieties to slow you down. In most aspects, hypnosis helps your mind veer away from the notion of giving up. When the mind decides to give up, this will eventually trigger the body to slow down and to eventually stop working. Instead of doing this, psyche your brain to improve on your pace at work and challenge your body to correspond with what your mind dictates. Being able to achieve work in lesser and quicker timeframes will help you achieve more leisure time.

Keeping track of time will also help you in overcoming procrastination. A lot of people make the greatest mistake of assuming that they always have a few more minutes to relax and to do unproductive work. It is best to keep track of time so that you will know if you need to speed up a little on what you are doing or to catch up on other important tasks lined up for the day. If you have a work schedule lined up for you everyday, making sure that you are right on time for every activity will also help avoid procrastination. As much as possible, have a wristwatch or a means of checking the time so as to serve as your guide in pursuing other pending transactions for the day.

Self Empowerment By Overcoming Procrastination

What exactly is procrastination? Why can’t I follow Nike’s slogan “Just do it!”? When we fail to do something that we yearned to do but did not, we ask ourselves the question “Why can’t I just move my butt and DO it?”  It just means the act of putting off actions or tasks to a later time.

Procrastination, the opposite of decision is a common enemy that everyone should conquer in order to achieve the goals.

Why people procrastinate?

There are many reasons why people procrastinate and I will share with you the most common ones.

1. Fear of failure – you are not in control of other people response to work and over-valuing of these responses can cause anxiety and uneasiness. Take for example, if you want to achieve perfection in a task which standard cannot be met will discourage you from doing it.

2. Fear of success- you might find this strange, but it is true that some of us are afraid of what might happen if we are successful.

3.  Fear of changes – you do not want to change yourself to adapt to the new state because you are afraid of the impact the changes will bring to you, it is simply that you are already in your comfort zone.

4. Peer influence – if you associate closely with people who procrastinate, you will become one of them, so be careful of your association. Remember this “you are what you attract”.

5. Habit – If you have this habit since young, it will become part of you and changes will be extremely difficult, for example, it will be hard for a smoker who has smoked for 30 years to quit, it will be mission impossible.

6. Difficulty in making decision – some people is indecisive in what they wants, so they will always tell themselves, “Next time then do”.

7. Low frustration tolerance level – if you are easily aggravated by small hiccups or obstacles, you will tend to give up easily.

There are many more reasons like low motivation, stress, lack of skill, lack of assertion, laziness, fear of the unknown, lack of self confidence and many more factors that can lead to procrastination.

Next, we will come to how we are going to overcome it?

1.  Prioritize all the tasks to be done. Imagine if you have one large job on hand, you will tend to become over-loaded and soon you will be frustrated which will lead to procrastination. You can overcome this by breaking out the job into different tasks and prioritize them accordingly into 3 groups namely, H (High priority) – needs to be done immediately, M (Medium priority) – needs to be done, but not instantly and L (Low priority) – not essential but good to get it done. Focus on one task at a time.

2. You must also development good time management to prevent last minute excitement over incomplete work.

3. Adopt a habit of keeping a “To Do” list so that you can’t “conveniently” forget about the overwhelming jobs to be done.

4. Promise yourself a reward once you have completed the task. This will motivate you to work towards your goals. You must reward yourself and not torture.

5. Identify and acknowledge the unpleasant consequences if the work is not completed.

In summary, use these empowering techniques to help you establish the right priorities, and manage your time in such a way that you make the most of the opportunities open to you. Always take action when opportunities arise, STOP procrastinating!!!.

Overcoming Procrastination Created Priceless Results For Me

Hear a true story how overcoming procrastination created priceless results

As the author of The Last Year of Your Life and the founder of The Last Year of Your Life 52-week Experience, I have written a series of short articles to answer the many questions I get asked about how to live your life to the fullest.
In this article I answer a question that I get asked a lot, and that is, ‘What have you gotten out of The Last Year of Your Life? Why do you keep doing this? What have you been able to achieve?’
And let me tell you, I have been able to achieve some amazing things. And that is why I keep doing it.

In the first year alone, I built a factory for my business. It saved my company during the great recession. If it wasn’t for that factory, we would be out of business.
I wrote my book about the success secrets that I learned at the Wharton Business School. That was something I had been procrastinating for 10 years, but I knocked it right out that year.
I lost 40 pounds without joining a gym, without hiring a trainer and without changing my diet. 40 pounds, bam! That was so huge.
I used to be a wrestler in high school. I was a champion wrestler at 145 pounds. By the time I lived the last year of my life for the first time, I was up to 236 pounds. I was able to bring that down to 196 and maintain that weight.

And then most importantly, during the first time that I lived The Last Year of Your Life program, I was able to revive my crumbling marriage.
Yeah I saved my marriage by pretending I had a terminal disease. And I took a look at what was important to me. That is what you do when you’re living The Last Year of Your Life. You look at what is really important and what was really important to me was I did not want to let my marriage go down in flames.
So we got into counseling and we were able to turn it around.

Now how do you put a price on saving your business? How do you put a price on writing the book that is inside of you?
How do you put a price on regaining your health and fitness? How do you put a price on saving your marriage? Achieving a closer relationship with your spouse? How do you put a price on that?
Those are all priceless results that I have achieved by living as if it is the last year of my life. And many of them have been achieved because I beat procrastination. So learn from my experience and with my help you can stop procrastinating too, and you too can create priceless results for yourself.

I have been Living The Last Year of Your Life for the past three years now and it has been the most incredible experience in my life.
I know that you’ll get a lot out of it too, and I want you to do it because in The Last Year of Your Life, anything is possible.

12 Steps for Overcoming Procrastination and Reach for Success

Avoidance, procrastination, overwhelmed, perfectionism are all the daggers in the heart of efficiency. Use the following tips to overcome procrastination in your life.

1. Write it down, Write it down. There are many details that you have to remember in any given day, why should you try to keep it all in your memory? At the very moment that you remember something needs to be done, the very best thing to do is get it to your memory device. Then, just when you need to recall it, it will be available for you in an instant.

2. There Can only Be One! Keep it all in one place. Once you have developed the knack of writing everything down, your next step will be to keep your writing/recording it all in one place. Otherwise, you are going to spend valuable time procrastinating. Notice as you tend to search for your notes, you conveniently procrastinate more as you engage in a number of elaborate preparatory activities, all along you are avoiding success.

3. Stay fit, stay healthy. A keen memory is a well-nourished mind. Eat healthy; get plenty of sleep and lots of good exercise. These will all see you through to having the energy to do more and to having a good memory that stays focused and alert.

4. Get it out of your head. Record your every thought. You might find yourself driving when a good idea comes to mind or you might recall something that you really need to write down. No need to pull over and start writing, record the idea instead on that wonderful MP3 player or IPOD that you received for the holidays. If yours does not record, well get one! This way you will be better organized and it is safer then digging around your bag for one more electronic device. Use your handy recorder to be your second eyes and ears.

5. Deliver advance warning. Step into the future and call ahead to yourself. When you are at the office and you want to do something when you arrive at your next destination, call ahead to your answering device and leave yourself a message. Better yet, if you have the new VOIP (voice over internet or cable services,your messages are with you all day. They follow you; hence you have another organizing tool to help stop the procrastination. As soon as you get to your destination, you can listen to your message and execute on what needs to be done ASAP.

6. Have confidence in yourself. Avoid the perfectionist mode. Not everything has to be perfect. You will notice the world is very imperfect and it has survived. If you keep thinking I am forgetting something and saying you have a bad memory, you will probably continue to have a bad memory and you will do nothing. It is important to have a motivated, I CAN remember and I CAN DO success attitude. Remember, some procrastination is purely a lack of self confidence that is being covered over with the perfection syndrome. You end up feeling you can’t get the job done, so stop the excuses and have faith in yourself and stay motivated.

7. Build email reminders. You can type in what you want to remember, such as a buy milk reminder versus the reminder to buy Christmas gadget for your nephew, or special event. You will receive an e-mail reminder when the date is approaching. This is a terrific way to jog your memory by using internet technology.

8. Love those sticky notes. Want to remember something prior to leaving your home? Just mark it down on a Post-It Note and stick it to the inside of your door. Get the ones with the bright, neon colors; post them where you have to see them. Need to make an urgent call first thing in the morning? Leave a Post-It Note on your telephone. Need an oil change, need to pay a ticket; leave a Post-It Note on the windshield.

9. Create Visual memory joggers. Visual reminders will help you remember and stay focused. Use visual reminders for remembering your goals. If your goal is to take a trip to a Barcelona or Tahiti in a few years, keep a magazine photograph of Barcelona right on your desk or on your refrigerator. If your goal is to lose 25 lbs. in five months, maybe a current picture of the successful new you or for some of us the old de-motivated you is motivation enough to stop the procrastination and move towards your goals.

10. Use timers and alarms. Take advantage of all the electronics that you carry with you. Who doesn’t have an alarm on their cell phone? Do what I do, set alarm clocks and timers throughout your day. Have a 30 minute activity; make sure it doesn’t run over its allocated time for the day. Want to leave for the ladies luncheon by 6 p.m.? Set your cell phone to beep a few minutes before it is time to go and jog your new no procrastination mindset. Make sure you get to the next activity on your schedule.

11. Multitask better. Not enough time in the day, but you need to get more done. The key to successful multitasking is to plan two activities in advance and avoid giving precedence to more interesting, easier, and less urgent tasks. Look at your to do list and combine activities. When going up stairs, take something, there is always something waiting. Do your laundry and exercise. As mentioned in step above, set your alarm and create your wash and exercise period of the day. The key is planning not random multitasking.

12. Do not forget time is money. Time is a precious commodity so remember that the reason we work is to use time to make money and feel a sense of accomplishment. Stop waiting until the very last minute to start working. Why not make the most efficient use of time and improve your chances of making more money in less time. Why self sabotage you? Procrastination means you are being inefficient and therefore stopping yourself from reaching your goals. Build success through the use time and money will follow.

Learn to use your mind, your friends and your colleagues to help you stop procrastinating. We need to force ourselves to use the tools and technologies of the day to help support us in reaching our goals.

Techniques of Overcoming Procrastination

The techniques of overcoming procrastination are very important for every individual. This is due to the fact that most of the people have the habit of avoiding the things that are either dreadful, unmanageable, tiring or may cause anxiety. This is a natural phenomenon among the mortals.

In the current times, procrastination has seen an increase in occurrence. The advent of procrastination has lowered the productivity levels of the individuals. On account of this finding of the techniques of overcoming procrastination has increased.

Simple techniques:

1) Trimming the F.A.T:-

Whenever people find some papers coming to their offices or homes, they look at them and decide one of the three actions of F.A.T. This stands for filing, acting and throwing away. The decision regarding the three fundamentals has to be taken promptly.

2) Organize:-

The stress caused by the cluttering has to be removed from the lives of the individuals. The system of the papers has to be managed in an organized manner. A good system of filing is a great way of starting the process of overcoming procrastination.

3) Planned action:-

The distractions in work can be avoided by chalking out a perfect action plan. The plan has to be straightforward and simple in nature. The plan has to be initialized by writing one thing that has to be done, in order to sense productivity. However care has to be taken to keep the things that are manageable in a time span of ten to fifteen minutes.

The tasks that need to be done have to be bifurcated into different sections of the day. The balancing of the time has to be also looked into. The time has to be balanced between creating, doing and planning of the things. Overcoming procrastination can be done by reviewing of the work done throughout the day. The progress in the day helps in accessing the things that need to be changed for good. The next day can then be planned accordingly.

4) Just doing it:-

Completion of the worst job on a priority for removing the hindrance can be a good option for the people. Once this part of the job is done, rest of the job completion becomes easier, thereby enhancing the process of overcoming procrastination.

Setting of the time limit for the completion of the job for stopping the creeping in of procrastination is very important. Hence, just getting on with the job instead of planning can also be tried. Alternating of the good and bad tasks can also be enjoyable.

Conclusion:

As can be seen now, there are various ways by which the people can engage in the process to overcome procrastination. Overcoming procrastination permanently can be done by understanding the problem in the first place.

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Easy Tips for Overcoming Procrastination

The majority of us have all taken part in the fine art of procrastination. It probably started in school when you waited for the very last minute to write that paper or study for that test.

Overcoming procrastination is no easy feat but with a little determination and few smart tips you will learn not to put off what can be done today.

Confess

The first step to solving any problem is to admit you have that problem. The second step is acknowledging you want to solve that problem and will do what it takes to overcome the issue. So repeat after me, “I am a chronic procrastinator.

I will do whatever I must to rid myself of this nasty habit.”  Congratulations! You have taken your first step toward a new “do it now” you!

Why Do You Procrastinate?

There are three basic reasons you procrastinate. First of all, like many of us, you like to put off unpleasant tasks.  You might know you have to perform a task, such as visit the dentist for a 6-month cleaning.

Yet you know this task is not very fun, as you will lose time from work, your teeth will be sore, and the hygienist just might find a cavity or two and you will have to go back and have them filled.  Another reason you probably put off tasks is there is something you much prefer doing.

Why visit the dentist when that time can be spent earning money at work or getting a pedicure? The final reason you tend to put off a task is it seems overwhelming. Maybe you do not mind getting your teeth cleaned but finding a time when you are not busy, then driving all the way over to the office in traffic, and having to sit and wait seems a bit overwhelming to you. Whatever the reason, the next step to overcoming procrastination is to find a way to circumvent these reasons.   

Just Do It!

If you are facing a task you do not want to do then you need to get some leverage over the unpleasant task. Offer yourself a reward.  If I go to the dentist I can buy that new blouse I love. Or, find a friend who loves to nag.  

Tell that person to keep asking you about the dentist until you cannot stand it anymore and finally make the appointment.  Imagine what would happen if you did not complete the task. If you do have a cavity it will get bigger and you will end up with a horrendous toothache.  

If there is another task you would prefer than make that your reward. If you would rather get a pedicure than go to the dentist make an appointment for a pedicure right after you have your teeth cleaned. Immediate gratification is a great motivator for an unpleasant task.

If you feel overwhelmed by the task try to break it up into smaller tasks. This is a very effective way of overcoming procrastination.  On day 1 spend 10-15 minutes finding a few different times that would be acceptable to visit the dentist.

On day 2 call and make the appointment. On day 3 plot the shortest distant to the dentist to save you time.  On day 4 plan on what you will bring with you to keep you busy in case you have to wait. By focusing on a different portion of the task at hand in small intervals the task will not seem so imposing.

Keeping it Up

Hurrah for you! You made it to the dentist.  But do not stop there. Every task in front of you tempts you to slip back into your old habits. Overcoming procrastination is a never-ending battle. There are a few other tips you can try to win the fight.

Practice good time management and organizational skills. Spend a few minutes every night planning the next day. Set a schedule and stick to it.

If a task seems to be running over its allotted time then stop when time runs out and add it to your list for the next day. And do not expect miracles. You will not stop procrastinating overnight.

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