Procrastination, it’s a long word for a reason!
Sometimes we deliberately push things off until later, because we can’t bear the thought of doing them, or feel totally annoyed at or overwhelmed by the task that lies ahead. Some of us think we work a lot better under pressure, so we delay things until the very last minute when the pressure is intense, in order to help motivate ourselves to get the job done in the little time that we have left. But, far too often, many of us push things off for reasons that we aren’t even aware of. Be it fear of failure, or although it may sound strange, fear of success. We may procrastinate because we have a very low belief in our own abilities, or we simply don’t have the drive and motivation. Procrastination creeps into our lives at every turn, be it work related, achieving our personal goals and dreams, or looking after our families.
Procrastination is defined as the action of delaying or postponing something. It goes by so many other names and in today’s world it is disguised with legitimacy. Emails, texts, social media, refreshing the news headlines every few minutes, are all forms of procrastination that we welcome into our daily lives. What’s more is that it takes our brains a significant amount of time to refocus after being distracted from the task at hand, leaving our productivity down in the dumps. With the massive amounts of advantages that we are blessed with in this day and age, that are there to make our lives easier and simpler, it should take us almost no time to get things done and reach our deadlines and goals. But many of these generational advantages are holding us back and sending our productivity and ability to succeed down the drain.
How many times to we complain about not having enough time to get things done, or to spend time with our families, or to give ourselves a little break. How many times do you hear yourself saying if only I had another hour I would be able to do……., if only I didn’t have these responsibilities I would be able to succeed…. If only I could spend a few minutes on my own, I would be much more grounded, but I just don’t have a second.
So how do we start to kick procrastination in the rear? Start by making yourself a “to do list” of all the activities, responsibilities and tasks that you need to get done. Each morning when we wake up, imagine that the next 24 hours are all that you have to get done what is on your “to do list”. There is no such thing as waiting for tomorrow or pushing it off until next week. Whatever you don’t get done today, is a lost opportunity. Now, I’m not encouraging people to run around like Duracell bunnies, and burn themselves out! Or even worse, crack under self-imposed pressure. What I am asking is for us to start being more aware of how we are spending our time, what is important, and what is making a difference to our daily lives.
When we are honest with ourselves and become more aware of our abilities, we also become enlightened to our restraints. Often times we feel restricted by external things, be in technology, family demands and expectations. But more often than not, our internal restrictions are happy to have something else to blame for our shortcomings, bad time management, and inability to get things done without a panic or at all, but they are often overlooked.
Getting over the procrastination hump, takes some introspection and honesty. Ask yourself, why am I pushing this off? What is holding me back? Do I believe I can get this done? Do I know how to get this done? Am I afraid of the outcome? Do I worry about what others think? Is this really for me? Do I find this boring? Is this something that is important? Can I do without this? Do I need help to get things done, or are my self-beliefs and motivation holding me back? Don’t be afraid of the answers, but rather use them to help you overcome your internal drawbacks!
If we spot procrastination as it is happening, we can nip it in the bud, redirect our attention and stay focused on our goals, families, and dreams! That’s a far better outcome than being unproductive, and demotivated, or feeling lost and unsure of what direction to take.