10 Tips for Avoiding Procastination

We are all guilty when it comes to putting things off. We pros-pone to do tomorrow what we actually should do today. Procrastination pervades every aspect of our lives. And we seems to have mastered it to perfection having learned a subtle form of it when we were babies. We delayed falling asleep because our mothers wouldn’t cradle us in her arms. We’ve procrastinated in performing our duties at home, in school, in the work place, and in our most fragile human relationships. We shudder to think what the final tally of lost hours will be because we procrastinated habitually. But if we are going to make any sense out of our lives, we're going to find a way to stop procrastinating. Procrastination is an expensive habit. And you've got to find a way to check it. Those 10 tips should help you.

Tip # 1 Everything starts and ends with the self. 

If someone said to you that you were a procrastinator, your immediate reaction would be to defend yourself. “It’s his fault”, “My mother was like that too”, “I was forced to do something I didn’t want to do”. Some people like to blame their misfortunes on others. But the truth is, you are equally at fault. You procrastinate because you yourself choose to procrastinate. The sooner you accept that, the better you’ll be able to overcome procrastination.

Tip # 2 I want NOT to procrastinate anymore

In line with tip # 1 above, once you accept that procrastination is your weakness, the next step is to eliminate this weakness. Your desire not to procrastinate anymore should be sincere. You need to demonstrate that determination through small daily gestures.

Tip # 3 Take Responsibility

You’ve accepted the fact that (a) you’re a procrastinator, and (b) you have a sincere desire to change. Now tell yourself that if you fail to achieve a particular goal or a given task, it’s because you procrastinated. Admitting guilt is a giant step. Note, however, that there is a huge difference between admitting guilt and being too hard on yourself. Admitting guilt is taking ownership of your actions. Being too hard on yourself is unjustified self-blame. Continue from where you left off.

Tip # 4 Ask: In what ways do I procrastinate?

Ask yourself, “In what ways do I procrastinate?” Sit down with pen and paper. Writing them will help you focus and identify them more clearly. Here are some ways where people procrastinate:

• paying bills

• not discussing the complaints you’ve received about a member of your team for fear of hurting  his/her feelings

• repeatedly postponing a dental appointment because you’ve got better things to do

• not returning the call of your son’s teacher because you know what the problem is and you’re fed up

• not discussing your resentment about your husband spending too much time at work or with his buddies

• not getting that hair cut, that dress dry-cleaned, that donation mailed

• not visiting a sick relative in the hospital

• not telling your significant other you no longer love her/him

• not calling your doctor about that persistent numbness in your right arm or not fixing a colonoscopy exam date

• not having the car’s squeaking brakes checked

• not going to confession because you never know what the priest’s schedule is

• not sending that overdue thank you note or making that overdue call to your mother-in-law

Tip # 5 Goals not met because of procrastination

After listing the ways in which you procrastinate, make a second list of goals that you failed to achieve because you procrastinated. Let’s take two typical examples: you promised your editor you’d get that article done by a certain due date. On the day the article was due, the editor calls you. You tell her sheepishly that you didn’t have time to do it, and you say something like, “My son was sick for days and I couldn’t concentrate” knowing full well your editor was generous

with a deadline date. Result? You took one step farther away from your goal of becoming a

professional writer, and two steps farther away from developing a good relationship with an editor who picked you from the 25 writers who applied for the assignment. You can be sure your name has been taken off her address list. Second example: you delayed lobbying for your colleague’s promotion even if he was the best man for the job. Result? The job went to someone less deserving; second, your colleague resigned to take up another offer. When you measure the consequences of a missed opportunity because you procrastinated, ask if the consequence was worth the delay.

Tip # 6 Taking the hint from tips 4 and 5: what is the dollar value of missed opportunity?

In fast-paced societies, people tend to think of time as precious and valuable. Expressions such as “time is of the essence,” “time means money,” “you missed the train”, “you missed a window of opportunity” reinforce the value of time. When wheelers and dealers on the stock exchange take time off to whisper sweet nothings to their better half, those three minutes can mean hundreds, even thousands of dollars in missed transactions. So, install a permanent calculator in your brain and calculate how much that missed deal meant in terms of dollar value. The article you didn’t submit could have cost you $150.00. Your colleague’s resignation from the company wiped off an important asset from your human resources ledger. If we make it a practice to tag a dollar sign for each of our procrastinations, we’d probably resolve to procrastinate less.

Tip # 7 What kind of information do you need in a hurry?

We spend half our lives on the phone. We spend an equally big chunk of time looking for phone numbers and names. The directory is cumbersome. Putting them on your outlook means you have to reboot your computer. Here’s a neat trick: tear out sheets from your notepad and label each as kitchen, bedroom and living room.
Kitchen sheet: jot down the following telephone numbers:

• supermarket

• butcher’s

• pastry shop

• utensil stores

• take out pizza and other delivery shops

• drug store

• Oriental grocery


Bedroom Sheet

• dry cleaner’s

• doctors and dentists

• walk-in clinic

• shoe repair shop

• alteration shop

• department store

• Catalog order stores, etc.

Living room sheet:

• professional house cleaners

• plant shop

• local home centre

• florist

• bookstore

• eyeglasses

• airport

Or if you prefer to use your cell phone, use its memory feature.

Tip # 8 Filtering the essential from the petty

Procrastination is the opposite of action. When you decide which of your tasks need immediate attention and those that can be done later in the week, you’ve just learned the fine art of prioritizing. So decide – once and for all – which should be assigned top priority, and then act.

Tip # 9 Better in black and white than dreaming in technicolor

That’s just our way of saying that when you read things on paper, you’re able to act logically; this is much more effective than just thinking out how to avoid procrastination. Putting down things in black and white is even better than brainstorming with another person. Here’s the reason: if you write down what needs to be done, you’re the only one who knows what’s urgent and important.

You focus on this task from the implementation to completion. Once it’s completed, you take it off your list. There’s that sense of accomplishment, no matter how small the accomplishment is.

You go on to the next task, until you actually get used to the idea of doing, rather than procrastinating. Brainstorming with a friend, on the other hand, can be viewed as a positive, but can be a form of procrastination. You’ll say to yourself, “what she said makes sense”, so you mull over it, leaving the task nundone. Thinking about your tasks yourself and then doing them – without anyone’s feedback – is much more productive.

Tip # 10 Discard old habits

We’re creatures of habit. Even if we know that a certain activity is no longer cost effective, we continue doing it anyway. One example: not looking for alternatives. It’s a lot easier to use the

same, familiar road to work, but if there’s a quicker, or more relaxing route you can take, find out what that other route is. It’s always good to have alternative routes. Traffic snarls occur in times when you’re in a hurry.


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