Overcoming Procrastination
I will start with this quote by Edward Young
“Procrastination is the thief of Time”. Then I will add mine, “it is the thief of destiny and achievements”.
There are so many people limited by procrastination. By the time they realize it, its already 10years. There is a difference between procrastination and failing, the former is to be at a state of doing nothing until… while the later is in action but didn’t hit the target.
Image Credit: Canva.com
I was also a victim of procrastination. I will do this later, in two minutes time, or will do it by tomorrow and by the time you know it its one year is gone. And we start running from pillar to post looking for how to cover one year of work in two minutes.
5-Simple Steps
So, this article is about how I have been able to handle procrastination in my life.
- Own up: Don’t look for who or what to blame for your non-achievement, blame it on your self and determine to make a change in your life. People who procrastinate are always looking for who or what to blame it on. Forgetting they have the absolute responsibility and choice to determine the outcome of events that may happen in their life. Forget the setbacks and use it as an energy booster to move forward.
- Write it down: I believe so much that writing has a lot to do with action. When you write something down. It is being recorded into your subconscious and stored in your memory for later action. Don’t just wish to do something without putting it down. Most people who procrastinate always forget what they are supposed to do. Because there is no memory recall anywhere in their subconscious. So a new activity just comes the persons way and he/she moves along forgetting what they are supposed to execute.
When you have something to do, write it down and set timeline. If you don’t like writing with pen and paper like me use a computer, laptop or even your mobile device. I realized that I enjoy typing on my computer than any other platform. And I achieve a lot within a small-time frame typing.
When I am on the move, instead of forgetting what I want to do or thinking. I type it on Whats-app and send to my wife as a message. Because I know she will ask me latter about what I sent to her.
- Say it out and Confess it: This method have helped me a lot, after I have written it down. When you say something, its like pushing yourself to take action. Words are very powerful and because everything around you or people heard what you just said, you begin to ensure to do it. But if you keep it in your mind and to yourself you are bound to forget and do nothing about It, only to remember two days later.
- Get an accountability partner: most people struggle because they rely on themselves, my wife and my best friend are always people I talk to when I want to execute something, or when I want to start a project, or I want to do something significant. They keep a tab on you and remind you always. They will keep asking you like my friend, guy have you done it, when are you going to do it, what is the challenge etc. and sometimes they even help you if you need assistance. So, get someone you can trust to talk to.
- Take a step: One of the most profound thing to do is to take action, start doing it little by little, don’t try to complete the task immediately if you find it daunting. But start somewhere, don’t dump it, take a step and then another step and then another. By the time you know it, you are done with the activity. If you want to write an article, then start by putting down the topic and the idea about what you want to write, sometimes, you might need to start with the idea and then develop it before you get the topic, don’t let the topic stop you from writing something.
There is a popular Chinese proverb that says “the Journey of a thousand-mile starts with a single step”.
I have a personal principle that says “do it now not later”. whatsoever you can do now, should be done now not later. Doing a job or task later kills and brings a lot of regrets, setbacks and time wastage. You want to do a video do it now, you want to start a program start it now etc.
Practice these steps on a regular basis and you will see how procrastination will just disappear from your life.
To your Success
Lawrence Obi
you can also read some of our most recent articles or connect with me on our Facebook community. click here https://web.facebook.com/groups/SPMECommunity/
