Procrastination almost floored me…But I delivered the knockout punch
Imagine two versions of yourself, 2 years into the future. One in which you continue to procrastinate, build up stress and anxiety and don’t do anything to change the situation. The other version of yourself is someone who is an action-taker, secure in the knowledge that you can deal with any curveball life throws at you.
But how do you actually get to a stage of empowerment where taking action is your ‘middle name’ and procrastination has no place in your dictionary?
I was a fantastic procrastinator. I tried to change but couldn’t. The list of tasks on my plate kept growing and just thinking of the work that lay ahead, made me procrastinate even more.
What eventually saved me was a mindset shift or a mindset change if you’d like to call it that.
It worked well for me and I’m sure it will work for you too.
Try the following and let me know how it goes:
Declutter your life. Make a list of all the activities that don’t directly lead you to your goal and eliminate them. Immediately.
Rank activities in order of their importance. This will help you focus on what tasks need your attention more than the others and will free up precious mental real estate.
Set a deadline for finishing each task and stick to that. Submit the finished result by the end of the deadline. If it’s an article you are writing, submit it when the timer hits zero. You can go back and edit it later. If it’s a report you’re working on, get a first draft done by the deadline. No compromises; just do it.
Of all the things I’ve tried, I’ve found that the simple act of clearing up ‘clutter’ helps me minimize procrastination.
Why? Simply because I have less things competing for my attention.
Try this today. You really have no other option. Or actually you do.
You have two:
You can choose not to change and stay the same. You spend days, months and possibly years reading self-help books and attending costly coaching programs that promise to teach you to be more productive.
For a while, you might even feel more motivated and pumped-up. But a few weeks or months down the line, you realize that something’s missing and things haven’t really changed. You’ve not only lost time and money but you are back to square one!
The other option is: You take action today. Declutter your life. Focus only on what’s going to take you closer to your goal (whatever that may be) and start working on it.
Bear in mind that you don’t have to achieve everything in a day. Just doing a small bit of the overall task at hand will put you far ahead of most people. You might also feel that taking a wee bit of action today is not going to transform your life overnight. And you’re right; it won’t.
But imagine what the compounding effect of the positive action you take every single day will add up to in 2 years from now. Or even 6 months.
Let me know what happens. Write to me at rlemos@mindwizzards.com. I read every email.
Until next time…
Sincerely,
Ryan
