Procrastination, The Subtle Goal Killer
Procrastination
Just held a teleseminar on Jan 24th and one of the
questions we answered was about procrastination. It is one of the biggest reasons why people
get off track, why we tend to lose focus and eventually just give up on our
goals and dreams.
We all know what procrastination is
right? Of course we do. It's putting off what needs to be done. Simple as that right? Unfortunately there are many kinds of
procrastination that we utilize and that are very subtle in their
approach.
Ever have something you are supposed
to do but it causes a lot of angst? You
might simply decide to do it tomorrow, or next week and that’s fairly obvious
procrastination. Another way to
procrastinate is to suddenly decide to get busy doing projects that have been
accumulating. You find it easier to
"clean the house", make a run for office supplies, or call your buddy
than doing the one thing that will bring you closer to your goal. Now you are so busy you just don't have the
time to get to the project, phone call or whatever that makes you uneasy. This is the dangerous kind of procrastination
because you convince yourself that you are not procrastinating; you're just too
busy to get to it. You will do it when
you aren't so busy you tell yourself.
No matter how you cut it, it's still
procrastination and if you really want to move your life forward, achieve your
goals and dreams you must get this under control.
Make the important steps a
priority. Do them first and then do the
ones that are of lesser importance later.
Uncomfortable but it will keep you moving in the right direction.
Tony Brunelle
http://www.asktonybrunelle.com/
Overcoming procrastination among perfectionists
Being a person who is somewhat perfectionistic and detailed oriented, I would hold off doing something if I could not do it perfectly (e.g., I don't have all the facts, I don't have my thoughts organized, or I feel I don't have enough time to do a good job). Then I read a statement which has helped me quite a bit.
"I choose to start on one small step and do it humanly with plenty of time for guilt-free play."
The word humanly indicates that it's not going to be perfect and it could be subject to criticism. To me, it means that I'm going to get it done as well as I can in the time that there is. For example, if you give me 3 days to write a bulletin, I'll give you a 3-day bulletin. If I have only 1 day, I will just include bullet points.
I really like this statement. It made me realize that I can allocate my effort based on the time available and based on the importance of the task. I don't have to give 100% to everything I do. I now chuckle when a quickly-written bulletin of mine goes out with a mistake and many of my conscientious readers will e-mail me to point it out. I thank them for their observation, and it makes me feel good that they pay attention to what I write and that it's not the end of the world when I make mistakes.
Another key point is the word choose. When you say to yourself, "I have to do it," a part of you will subconsciously feel, "I don't want to", thus draining you of energy and motivation. A better internal thought process is to "choose" to do something. You may not want to do it but by choosing to do it, you take control of your life where you choose to face the difficulty, the fear with whatever it takes to make it happen. When I feel I have too many things to do, I say to myself that I have many options to choose from, and I choose to do the most important and let the rest slide. This is empowering!
It's also important to allow time for guilt-free play. I now plan my tasks with every intention of including time to have fun in my life. When you do this, you're telling yourself, "I'm not putting off living my life. I'm going to have plenty of fun in my life". This makes it easier to concentrate on your work because you've set a deadline to complete the task but have also included playtime within that schedule. Not scheduling guilt-free play leads to burnout where you'll make mistakes and loose your motivation. I call this being "nice to myself". I find that by thinking this way, I have more fun at what I do at work and at home.
I'm fortunate that I have a partner who recognizes my signs of procrastination. My husband is a good coach in that he'll ask me what's the most important task that needs my action, and then he'll urge me to "focus the mind". It's his gentle way of reminding me not to procrastinate on important tasks.
Françoise.
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