The insanely unproductive, bad habit that so many of us toil with; procrastination. Interestingly enough, the dictionary’s definition for procrastination is ‘the action of delaying or postponing something.’ Really? Procrastination is an action? Well, when you stop to think about it, that definition is completely and unarguably correct! Think of the last time that you were guilty of procrastinating something that you should have been doing. In general, you didn’t just sit motionless in a chair and silently stare at the wall…for hours…you did something else that was busy work or you left your work area looking for someone to visit with about something much less important.
"Procrastination is the thief of time." – Edward Young
So there’s a great learning that stems from the discovery that procrastination is an action instead of a lack of action. An action can be stopped! You can stop procrastination dead in it’s tracks and keep it from being that sinister thief of time that 95% of us struggle with during some point in our lives. Here are a few simple keys to help you constructively clobber your procrastination 'actions'.
Do it NOW! As the picture above suggests, when you feel the urge to do or not to do, Do it NOW!
Avoid impulses that distract you and take you away from the task at hand. Turn off your email and text message notifications and stay focused! And remember, what happened in yesterday’s game or sporting event will be available to review for weeks! Wait until you’ve finished your important tasks to catch up on those unimportant ones.
Don’t beat yourself up! You’re not going to fix this problem overnight. Learn from your mistakes and dedicate yourself to a long term fix. You can and you will!
Lastly, research suggests that setting a goal and adjusting the due date to a time 5 days before the actual deadline may help you make a positive shift. The phrase that we’ve all heard, “If you’re not 10 minutes early, you’re late,” can apply on a bigger scale by meeting that deadline ahead of schedule. Good luck…and Do it NOW!