Stop Procrastinating in 5 Simple Steps
Procrastination can ruin your life. This is a behavior that can snowball out of control and affect every aspect of your life. Whether you procrastinate about working out or eating right or something like doing your homework or completing a presentation at the office, in all cases this is a very damaging habit.
Many people start procrastinating in school. They put off doing their papers or push off studying for a test until it is just a day away. This is very demoralizing and creates massive amounts of stress and decreases that person’s true potential. How much better could that paper have been if they had more time to do research or edit? These people will say they do better work when they are pushed to do it under pressure. Actually that is not true. What they mean is they feel that the work is good enough and the pressure is what motivates them. But deep inside they know they could have done better. There is a great deal of guilt/ regret and fear associated with procrastination. These are very damaging emotions.
Perfectionism is also associated with procrastination. When a person desires perfection they push off taking action until they believe they are ready or have enough information to “do it right”. Perfectionism is also a fear based behavior.
So where does it begin?? Well of course it begins in your mind with thought. This flood of thoughts triggers feeling which then triggers behavior. In the case of procrastination, thinking about doing something is what stops you from taking action. How to get around this behavior can be simple and yet difficult. All you need is to take an action toward the goal or task. Obviously, that is harder for many thenit sounds. Using the following 5 steps will allow you to simplify the process:
1. Stop thinking about it. This will take some self discipline. Get up and do something –anything is better than ruminating.
2. Get rid of the word “try”. The word “try” presupposes failure. Get rid of the word and the behavior will follow.
3. Know the result you want. Have a specific outcome or goal. By knowing what you want you take away the need to think.
4. Break the goal or task into small steps and take action. Just a small action at first. Small steps lead to great success.
5. There is no failure there is only feedback. Whatever information you gain from taking those smalls steps will help you to adjust and continue forward having learned from your mistakes.
By following these easy steps you will feel more productive and motivated. When you accomplish the tasks you have been putting off you gain increased self esteem and self discipline. So what are you waiting for-just begin!
