Most of us have this dangerous problem at one time or
another: we put things off.
Procrastination is an ugly, nasty little problem that many
of us try to combat each day.
It's simply human nature. If the problem is the least bit
unappealing, painful, or irritating, most of are going to
try and avoid it.
This action, of course, violates Gibson's 9th Law: No amount
of procrastination will ever help a situation.
Truth be told, procrastination makes things worse. It never
makes them better, and it rarely allows us to avoid the
inevitable. All it ever does is put off the day of
reckoning.
Don't want to deal with your money troubles? Procrastinate
dealing with the problem, and it'll get worse. Weight
problems? Procrastination is not your ally. Down in the
dumps? Procrastinate turning your life around, and you're
going to have a much worse mood in the long run.
In fact, there is only one time I can think of when
procrastination ever helps: when we put off doing something
really stupid.
So, if you're prone to making stupid mistakes, then
procrastination is likely to be your friend. For the rest of
us, procrastination is one of our worst enemies.
How, then do we overcome procrastination?
It's much easier than you think. All it takes is a few
simple habits.
First, when you take action, you destroy procrastination.
One of Og Mandino's "Scrolls of Success" says, in part,
"Procrastination I will destroy with action."
Here are some easy, painless ways to start destroying
procrastination with action:
1. Deal with your incoming mail when you get it. Refuse to
leave it
unopened on your desk. I once had a co-worker who stored his
old mail for years and years, unopened. Throw the junk away,
and deal with the other stuff immediately.
2. Clean off that desk, and then refuse to let it accumulate
stuff anymore.
I speak from vast experience here -- when my desk is messy,
things get lost, and items slip my mind. When it's clean, I
can more readily see what I have to do. It's cluttered right
now -- I guess I'd better attack it tonight.
3. Make lists. I keep harping on this, and for good reason
-- I find that when I make a "to do" list, I accomplish five
times more than when I just leave the list in my head. It's
a whole lot easier to accomplish it, because you've got
something positive to keep your procrastination at bay.
Order the items by priority, and work them in order. If one
item isn't ready, skip it, do the next item, and then come
back to the original item. Some of the most efficient people
I know work like this.
4. Set up good habits to counter procrastination. It doesn't
take that long to build up a habit -- good or bad. We
generally develop procrastination as the result of a
stimulus -- perhaps a painful moment in our past.
Recognizing this and developing those good habits can make
all the difference in the world.
5. Start thinking of ourselves as "action-oriented." The
labels we use make a vast difference in the way we grow in
the future.
Frankly, I really wish I didn't have so much experience in
this area. Possibly like you, I have missed tremendous
opportunities just because I put something on the back
burner, rather than addressing it immediately.
Life rarely gives us second chances. We have to seize the
chances when we find them -- and that's why putting
procrastination behind us is so important to our future.
Don't
wait until you're on your back to get help. When you have problems, questions or
concerns, please DON’T WAIT to call me. I’m here
to help. When you start looking for solution early
you have a much better chance of picking a good
solution.
Don't
wait until you're on your back to get help. When you have problems, questions or
concerns, please DON’T WAIT to call me. I’m here
to help. When you start looking for solution early
you have a much better chance of picking a good
solution.
