There is one thing that plagues everyone; that one thing is procrastination. There isn’t a problem with it until it stops you from being productive. And everyone knows productivity is the king of getting more done in less time.
[featured-image single_newwindow=”false”]
Think about your next big project. It has to get done, but you simply don’t want to use your resources on it at this moment. It’s fine to procrastinate every once and a while. But a problem arises when we realize we now have to kill ourselves to accomplish that project on time.
I grew up homeschooled. If anything has taught me about procrastination it’s getting all your schoolwork done before going to bed. I cannot tell you how many nights I was up until 10 P.M. trying to get my studies accomplished; just ask my mom.
Why do we suffer from this issue? What causes it and how can we give it the good old boot? 3 reasons.
1. Lack of Discipline.
One of the most important requirements for finding success in life is self-discipline. Yet, too often there is a lack of it our work and life. It doesn’t come easy and it isn’t natural. People are not born with self-discipline, they learn it by repetition.
Self-discipline is forcing yourself to do something you don’t want to, in order to achieve something you desire. When we begin to determine our goal, set the to-do list to reflect that goal, and put our nose to the grindstone and work toward it, you’ll find the energy you need to win every time.
2. Fake Priorities
Author and entrepreneur, Jim Rohn said this; “Don’t mistake movement for achievement. It’s easy to get faked out by being busy. The question is: Busy doing what?”
Busyness or fake priorities are the second curse of procrastination. Instead of having the project or right priorities in place, we fill up our to-do list with busyness to make it appear as if we’re swamped with work. The truth is, we’re not.
Most of our busyness can be taken care of in the beginning or ending of our day. C. S. Lewis wrote a powerful book called, The Screwtape Letters. In this book he talks about demons distracting a young man who is trying to stay focused on the right things. Busyness is very similar. It keeps us focused on the wrong projects.
Make a list of your priorities, and put them into categories. Find the ones that are just busy work, and eliminate them. Find your what in life and do that.
3. The Circle of Stuck
Have you been stuck on a project, not knowing if you’ll get it accomplished. Maybe you are feeling it’s not worth moving forward, so you stop altogether. This one thing can hinder success and begin a downward spiral of procrastination.
How do you get out of being stuck? Here’s what I do:
- Create a visual reminder of the finished project. What should it look like?
- Ask someone for ideas and input into the project.
- Don’t be afraid to stop, but set a scheduled reminder to return in 24-hours.
Don’t allow being stuck to keep you procrastinating. It takes courage to accomplish goals. It takes a tenacity to press through the hard projects. But, when you see the light at the end of the tunnel, you’ll be glad you stuck it through to the end.
Procrastination plagues everyone. It’s like putting on the brakes and stopping all forward motion. If you truly want to give procrastination the boot. There are three things you must do.
1. Schedule your important tasks at the beginning of the day. Don’t fill it with busyness. Fill your calendar with meaningful tasks that help you accomplish your goals and priorities in a timely manner.
2. Create self-discipline by rewarding victories. Nothing helps motivate your self-discipline than giving yourself a pat on the back. You’ll feel better about yourself, and you’ll find more ways to reward your hard work.
3. Create a physical representation of your finished project. For me, I created a book cover of the book I was writing. This helped me visualize what the finished book would look like. Doing this one thing will spark inspiration, passion and creativity.
Work is work, and there’s nothing we can do about it. But if we take small steps to stop procrastinating, we’ll find ourselves more productive and less irritated. This process helps me, and I hope it helps you too.
[reminder]How do you combat procrastination? What would you add to this list?[/reminder]
Jason (J.B.) Sisam. Best-selling Amazon author of the Christian Early Reader book, 
LEAVE A COMMENT HERE:
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic. Also, this is a clean website, use of any language is not tolerated and your post will be deleted.