Dealing With Procrastination- An Unavoidable Evil

Hi Steamians!!

I hope we all enjoyed the just concluded weekend and are looking forward to beginning the new week with vigor. I definitely am. Well here is just a little something to reflect and work on in the new week.

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I remember back in college as an architecture student, whenever we were given assignments and projects to do, we found excuses to delay starting until a day or two before they're to be turned in. Then you'd see the mad race to complete the project, we'd spend the nights in the studio, burning the midnight candles with cups and cups of coffee to keep awake and promising ourselves it wasn't going to repeat itself - that the next assignment given would be started and completed right on time... LOL .......Story!!!

I have also come to realize since leaving school that it's no much different in the real world. One thing we're pretty comfortable doing in this life is pushing and postponing what we do not want to do into another hour, another day, month or even year.

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We give ourselves pep-talks on why it can always be done another time. We say things like

'I'll do it tomorrow afterall the deadline is next week'.
.... 'i'm not in the mood to work on it now. .....I'll do it when I get inspiration.'

... We shift, move, drag, push, delay, suspend, defer and postpone into the next day and the next day and the next day.

Before we know it, it's the deadline's Eve and mad panic sets in. The ever present regretful words had I known then becomes our mantra.

Recently I was opportuned to come across an article written by Forbes on how to end, reduce or control procrastination. The few points I got from that article has helped me in the past few weeks and I'm going to share them here.

The very first thing to do is to make up your mind henceforth not to procrastinate.

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Secondly…write down your goals
…seeing your goals written down in your own handwriting can act as a great motivator. So pick up your pen and write….doesn't matter how you write it or if they're well structured….. just write!

Third… you need to set a deadline.
…..you may have a week to complete a particular task, set yourself four days to complete that task. The remaining days could be used to achieve something else or review and perfect that task.

WBS…. Work breakdown Structure …
…break down the heavier tasks into little bits that can be done without breaking a sweat….many tasks seem insurmountable until they're taken apart bit by bit.

Start something.…
…. however unpleasant the task may seem, face your fears and start something no matter how little…afterall the journey of a thousand miles begins with just one step.

Carrot and Stick….
…haven set up goals and deadlines. Push yourself to achieve them. Treat yourself to the carrot when you succeed and to the stick when you fail.
…for those who do not know…the carrot and stick is another term for reward and castigate/punishment.

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Finish what you started..
…according to Williams James. 'nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an unfinished task'.
“Much of the stress that people feel doesn’t come from having too much to do. It comes from not finishing what they started''.
David Allen

Conclusion…..
…always remember that in order to achieve something, you must take a first step. My first step began after I read the article, second step was to pin the guidelines against my wall.. I'm still taking little steps to get rid of procrastination permanently...... You can do the same Have a wonderful week.

Written by
@bennyjay

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