We’ve all done it at some time or other. We put off our exercise routine until tomorrow; we continually delay finishing that project or starting that business. Procrastination is the mother of all demons and can literally stop you in your tracks from achieving all that you desire.
Apart from the obvious tactics of being organized and
having a to-do list every day, here are 7 other effective processes you can use to slay this giant.
1. Do it now
Hold your breath and jump right in! Putting things off until the last minute is a bad habit and like all habits is ingrained in our subconscious mind and hard to break. It feels like the normal thing to do and we simply continue along our path. To complete a task immediately may even feel strange or like a forced action.
2. Take baby steps
Sometimes we procrastinate because the task may be intimidating to us. Perhaps we have no possible inkling on where to start. In these cases, it is quite fine to take it one step at a time. Say you are preparing a business plan and for the 5th time this week, you’ve turned on the PC and looked at the blank screen. Or you’ve just remembered you need to do some more research before you begin…you’re still not ready. You simply need to break down the project into smaller pieces and tackle each bit separately. Make each task an individual project and after completion of each one, celebrate and acknowledge your achievement
3. Forget it
Why force the issue? If you have been ‘dragging your feet’ on something for a very long time, it may all be for the best. Something, somewhere is trying to tell you something. That something is your intuition and it is usually right! Think about something that you have been putting off again and again and again. What are the reasons that you need to complete this task in the first place? Does someone want you to do this? What is THEIR agenda? What are YOUR reasons for this lengthy delay? I find it amazing that 99% of the time I put off doing something, I am thankful that I did! Disregarding a project after a long period of procrastination is however usually a last resort.
4. Support team
Do you put off tasks because you feel that they are too big and complex for you to handle alone? Or because you need assistance? Be honest with yourself. “No man is an island”. Ask for help! There are many resources out there that can provide you with all you need to carry out your job.
If you’re a solo-professional and you put off answering emails, then don’t answer them yourself. Hire an assistant, find some college students that want experience, get a family member to help. Procrastinating on life changing activities could be as a result of fear of the unknown. Get a mastermind group together, find a mentor, join a support group. You don’t have to do it all by yourself. Just ensure that to kick this habit; you do what feels good to you in whatever method you choose. You’ll surely postpone procrastination for a very long time.
I took this tactic to another level by making a deal with a very close friend. The deal was: I would tell him what I wanted to do during the day and if I didn’t manage to do one or more things from the list of things to do, I would give him an agreed-upon amount of money. This helped me work on what I shared so I don’t lose money by end of day. Sometimes all we need is associating an actual risk to our lack of drive to do things. The good thing with this particular arrangement was that my friend also asked me to do the same for him.
I don’t know, maybe next time I will ask my girlfriend to keep her legs closed every time I don’t get to do things that I planned to do.
5. Use apps
Apps such as Trello, Monday, Toggl, etc can help you get organized and keep your priorities straight. We are currently in the final stages of developing an app for this Soar to Infinity program. It will not only help you keep track of your tasks and goals, but it will also have friends who can inspire you and hold you accountable to your goals and tasks so that you do not procrastinate.
To make sure you get notified when this app comes out, subscribe to our mailing list so that you are among the first to know and download this revolutionary app.
6. Optimize your environment
What you are surrounded with, has power to push you forward or pull you backwards. Make sure your environment is well organized and clean. Beware especially of notifications from email or social media apps that keep ringing/popping up to let you know of some latest activity. This is one of the most effective tools that get people distracted and off-focus. Social media and internet “research” that leads you far off track, and phone calls can lead to procrastination
So, try this: During your scheduled block of time for working on a particular task, close your email and Instant Messenger, turn off your phone (or at least set it on “Do Not Disturb” and put it out of sight), and don’t let yourself get on the web until you have completed the task, or hold off any necessary internet searches until the end. See how that works out in a week’s time.
7. Thinking intensely
Thinking intensely about what I want to do has helped me several times to get an impulse that pushes me to work on that task. If I want to write a song, for example, and I have been procrastinating on it, what I do is lie on the bed and just try to think of the multiple angles from which I can approach the subject matter and what things I can rap about. Usually, I end up jumping out of bed, grabbing my note pad and write the things I have been thinking about. The more I dive into the writing process the more ‘locked-in’ I become in the task until I find that I have finished a verse in no time.
