The Battle Against Procrastination
Procrastination has been a word used to describe me for most of my life – mainly by my parents and teachers. After years of putting it off, I finally decided to look up the exact definition. According to thefreedictionary.com, “procrastinate” means to postpone or delay NEEDLESSLY or to put off doing something out of habitual carelessness or laziness. Can I just inject here and say “ouch!”
For the most part, I have been working hard to break the habit of procrastination. Now that I have children, I donΓ’β¬β’t want them to learn from my example. Kids are followers more than listeners. Γ’β¬ΕDo as I say and not as I doΓ’β¬Β just wonΓ’β¬β’t cut it.
1. Make a to-do list for the week, and mark off as much as you can. ItΓ’β¬β’s amazing how one little line (through an item) can make you feel empowered.
2. Get a support system together. Have some friends meet for coffee once a week and start a buddy system (where you call and encourage each other through out the week). It helps to know that you arenΓ’β¬β’t alone.
3. Turn off the television Γ’β¬β or at least limit yourself to a small amount per day. If the recent writerΓ’β¬β’s strike has taught my nothing else, it has taught me that I can survive without television.
4. Read a book about motivation, organization, or attitudes to help you stay focused on your goal. Many of the writers have been where you are and want to help you break free by showing you their own path to freedom.
5. Do one more thing. Before you stop for a break, before you turn on the television or before you go to bed at night, do just one more thing.
6. Start right now. It doesnΓ’β¬β’t matter when you read this. You can start working on defeating procrastination in your life. If you wait until tomorrow, it has already won the first battle.
Procrastination is a strong force. It will eat up your time, your energy, and your focus Γ’β¬β if you let it. But procrastination can be defeated with just one singe phrase. Γ’β¬ΕDo it now.Γ’β¬Β Now is the time to break the habit of procrastination that has been running your life.
For the record, IΓ’β¬β’m getting much better about procrastination. Every now and then I slip back into my old pattern, but I am quick to jump back on the wagon. ItΓ’β¬β’s hard to do it now when your mind tells you that you can just do it tomorrow. But when that twitch starts to occur, I just try to do one more thing to get the ball rolling back to consistency.
