Stop Procrastinating Today (Not Tomorrow)

Do you find yourself putting things off and feeling as though you never move forward? In today's excerpt from Intelligence For Your Life:  Powerful Lessons For Personal Growth, I share ways you can overcome postponing your life and doing something about it . . . . now!

What does the word “procrastination” mean to you? If your answer is somewhere in the neighborhood of “It’s my middle name”—there’s help for you. According to Health magazine and Dr. Susan O’Doherty, author of Getting Unstuck Without Coming Unglued, here’s how to quit dragging your feet and get your tasks done:

For starters, most people procrastinate for one of three reasons.

1. Perfectionism. Your inner critic takes hold of you. You sit down to do something and suddenly you think, “I’m not good enough!”—so you put it off.

2. Emotional avoidance. You don’t want to deal with the feelings that’ll surface when, say, you have to clean out your ex’s belongings from the closet. So you postpone . . . again.

3. Fear. Fear of failure, fear of success—the fear of what happens
next.

But no matter what the reason for your delay, you can get the ball rolling on a project. Here’s how.

•Take small bites.
You’re not going to clean out the garage. You’re going to clean off one shelf.

• Do something each day.
Just twenty minutes a day on a big project is all you need to make a significant dent. And before long, you’ll be finished and on to the next one.

•Envision the end.
What will the finished product look like? How will you feel when you’re done? Ask yourself these questions often, and you’ll start assuming that you’ll finish.

• Shun the slackers in your life.
You need to surround yourself with people who DON’T hinder you. The more often you hear, “You have to get this done—NOW,” the more likely you are to tie up all the loose ends that you’ve been avoiding.

To discover more tips on how you can get your life organized, you'll find a wealth of material in my new book Intelligence For Your Life:  Powerful Lessons For Personal Growth.  You can purchase the book at your local bookstore or online at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.

John

Email John:  johnsblog@teshmedia.com