How To Overcome Procrastination

by Brian on


Pro­cras­ti­na­tion is one of the biggest prob­lems that every one faces at some time in their life. I don’t think I’ve ever known some­one who hasn’t pro­cras­ti­nated on any­thing. Pro­cras­ti­na­tion can be one dif­fi­cult force to over­come because we have devel­oped the habit of pro­cras­ti­nat­ing. We are all directly where we are in life right now because of our habits that we do day in and day out. Some­one says that ‘your habit pre­dicts your future’ and that is so true.

So how do I destroy one of the most destruc­tive habits around which is called procrastination?

Firstly we need to iden­tify what are the main things we are pro­cras­ti­nat­ing on. Get a pen and paper and list the things that you are pro­cras­ti­nat­ing on. E.g. a report, study­ing for an impor­tant exam, it might be see­ing a doc­tor, start­ing a mem­ber­ship in a gym etc.

Now ask your­self why I am pro­cras­ti­nat­ing on these things. Write down your answer to that ques­tion also. Some pos­si­ble answers may be that you would rather watch TV than study for an exam or you do not think you could make the com­mit­ment to go to a gym reg­u­larly etc.

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Now let’s fast for­ward your life to 5 years in the future. Imag­ine if you made that com­mit­ment to go to gym reg­u­larly from now on, what your life would be like then. Just imag­ine the health you would now have, how great your body looks, the energy you now have to do things you didn’t have the time to do because of lack of energy. Imag­ine walk­ing down the streets and those girls or guys are check­ing you out. Just write down all of the things that the future would look like if you did what needed to be done. Write it down until you can actu­ally feel these things. Don’t you see how much bet­ter your life would be?

Another way to do this is to think of what could hap­pen if you con­tinue to put these things off. Imag­ine if you don’t decide to go to gym and get your weight or health in order what could hap­pen. You could be fac­ing an early death, prob­a­bly miss­ing your children’s wed­ding cer­e­mony, prob­a­bly not being there to sup­port your wife when she needs you badly. Imag­ine if you fail that exam and it keeps you back for an entire year in high school so that you can’t go to col­lege. Do you see how painful these things can be when we pro­cras­ti­nate on them? Tony Rob­bins says that every­thing we do is either to avoid pain or gain plea­sure and that is so true. Let us try our best to avoid pain, and the pain I am talk­ing about is the pain of regret.

The truth is, the rea­son we pro­cras­ti­nate is because we are focus­ing on what we don’t like instead of focus­ing on what the end result will be if we do get the cor­rect things done. We are focus­ing on the process instead of the ‘prize’. When we focus on the prize we get the moti­va­tion to do what we want to do. Stop focus­ing on the process and start focus­ing on the ‘prize’ and you will over­come your pro­cras­ti­na­tion.

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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

CAROL JONES August 1, 2009 at 12:45 am

BRIAN,

Greetings from rural Australia.

I love the way you’ve used long term thinking to justify taking action now. Simply asking yourself the question, “Where will I be in 5 years time if I don’t do this now” really pinpoints the reasons for urgency. Well done!

Take care,

CAROL

Carol Jones
Director
Interface Pty Ltd
Post Office Box 139
KANDOS NSW 2848 Australia
Tel: +612 63 58 85 11
Fax: +612 63 58 85 10
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Brian August 1, 2009 at 8:57 am

Thanks for the nice comment

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