Have you ever wondered how to beat procrastination? I know this has been a personal challenge of my past and occasionally in my present life, although nowadays I have instilled a habit of action.
Procrastination is caused by many factors, all of which should be addressed to accumulate maximum personal power and propulsion…
1) Fear… which is usually the fear of loss of love.
Fears like the fear of the unknown, or the fear of failure are chunked down versions of fear of loss of love/acceptance. To defeat fear, it’s necessary to take action. Taking action is the biggest antidote to fear there is. Action, action, action, action!! Make sure the action is “effective action” though – it should be goal-oriented action.
2) Limiting beliefs which usually means you’re not sure whether you can do whatever it takes. This usually manifests itself as self-doubt.
It’s perfectly normal for doubt to creep in and if anyone says to you that they’ve never doubted themselves, then they’re speaking total trash. They probably have it so well in check because they’re taking action and making continual progress that it appears as though they don’t have doubts. The continual action instils belief which leads you on the upward spiral to success.
3) Goals sharpen the focus and activate the Reticular Activating System (RAS) to be opportunistic for the things in your environment that will move you towards your goal.
The more specific the goals, the more laser sharp your focus and the straighter (although not perfectly straight) your route from where you are to where you want to be.
Quick tips…
- Write your goals down in precise exacting detail including timescales.
- Write down 50 painful things in your life that you want to move away from. If your mind says that you haven’t got 50, go back and think of more reasons… don’t let your mind B.S. you!
- Write down 50 pleasurable things you desire in your life that you would love to have. If your mind says you haven’t got 50, go back and think through it again… don’t let your mind B.S. you!
By doing this exercise, what are you actually doing? You’re giving your mind a firm direction to work towards. You’re essentially saying move toward these and move away from these. Your focus will now pick up on the things in your environment which will move you away from the painful and towards the pleasurable.
The reasons provide the juice… the passion… the drive… and the purpose. The late Jim Rohn says it best:
Reasons come first, answers come second.
If you have a strong enough why (100 reasons), then the how will reveal itself along the way.
Plan your next days work using the ABCDE method in your notepad/journal/PDA before you go to bed. Work down the list in order during the day. A time management book from Brian Tracy such as Eat That Frog should help you deal with the mechanics of this.
Don’t confuse activity with accomplishment. Activity will cause frustration and accomplishment will build self-belief.
After all this, if you say something like, “yeah, but I’m just lazy.” I suggest that you trace the moment in your life when you made that limiting decision that you’re lazy. Do you remember a time in your life when you were red hot? What were you doing? Did you have a purpose? Were you passionate in pursuing something? My guess is “yes”. Repeat that activity/project and when you’re in that red hot state again, set a highly emotionalised NLP anchor to that state which you can fire off at a later date when you’re feeling less resourceful.
Zig Ziglar says it best:
There’s no such thing as a lazy person; he is either sick or uninspired.
I look forward to sharing more great information soon.
Outstanding people have one thing in common: an absolute sense of mission.
- Zig Ziglar
Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.
- John F. Kennedy
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The mutt's nuts or the dog's drivel? I double dare you to leave a comment! :-)
Solid and helpful info. Thanks.
Interesting article. I'm sharing it with team members. Thanks!
I really like the suggestion of writing down 50 painful things and 50 pleasurable things. I am trying this out now!
50 pains and 50 pleasure thats a wonderful mind excercise because if you dont know what is keeping you depressd, making u not to achieve what u want to achieve then you feel lost without knowin why…IMPRESSIVE
Yeah, it really works. Straight from the man himself Tony Robbins. Building a vision to move towards and giving yourself some pain to move away from is a great way of telling your brain the direction you want to move in! :-)
Thanks,
Wayne.
Great post Wayne. I have used this exercise with my clients and it really does help bring focus. One other reason that I hear people express for procrastination is lack of time. Try this instead:
Sit in a chair and do nothing. Sit still —- very still! Do not read. Do not listen to music. Do not watch T.V. Do not talk to anyone. Do not do anything! Just sit very still and do nothing. After about 10 or 15 minutes, you will get very uneasy. You will start to be aware of each precious minute passing you by while your goals are not being accomplished. Before you know it, your motivation will be reactivated and you’ll be off and running!
Stephanie LH Calahan ( invites you to read Start 2011 off Organized!
Hi Stephanie,
Thanks for sharing your tips to beat procrastination. I’ll be sure to try that one myself. I can see how that would work – the old guilt trip that I give myself.
My problem used to be no action. Now my challenge is taking the most effective action to make optimum use of my time. I use long range goals broken down into taskpad activities followed through with disciplined action. Works for me.
Next challenge is to become more focused in doing it.