Overcome Procrastination in Five Easy Steps

Procrastination, or delaying an action until another time, is a habit suffered for a variety of reasons. These reasons could include the fear of failure, the fear of success, fear of rejection, perfectionism, poor knowledge or organisational skills, and very often procrastination could be due to low self esteem.

The following suggestions will assist in overcoming these reasons to procrastinate and help bust the procrastination cycle once and for all.

Fear of Failure or Success

Firstly you must understand and recognise what is causing your resistance. What is it that you are afraid of? Is it the actual task at hand, perhaps what is necessary to fulfil the particular task, or is it the result to be achieved from performing the task? Maybe it is the fear of possible failure? On a deeper level, is it the fear that you will succeed? Because added pressure is being placed upon you to succeed, the tendency to actually sabotage a project may occur. You may be afraid that the pressure from peers to exceed their expectations is simply too much.

Fear of Rejection

This fear of rejection is another common reason for procrastination. Frequently, this may originate from low-self esteem, or from a habitual uncertainty within your own mind. A past experience relative to the task at hand may create the fear of rejection to resurface. Be sure to affirm confidence in your own abilities and do not place too much emphasis on the thoughts of others. This is crucial in overcoming rejection.

Develop Organisational Skills by Creating Smaller Lists

Step by step lists are a convenient and successful method to develop organisational skills. Work your way up to completing the ultimate task by creating small lists. Break the journey into steps, and begin with three to five steps at a time instead of one big list of the full twenty steps. By completing the three or five steps, your sense of accomplishment and achievement will be felt, and this will spur you on to tackle the next group of steps. Pressure on total completion is reduced as you progress through each interval. Ensure you work at your own pace and do not allow anyone or anything to overpower you.

Improve Self Esteem and Motivation

Low self-esteem is a major factor preventing the completion of the simplest task. Why? Maybe it is because you do not feel you are worthy of the challenge, or perhaps you feel you are not good enough to complete it. The first place to begin is to check your motivation. Firstly, start with an easy task, then gradually work your way up to full completion. Not only will this build your confidence, but you will also begin to feel more positive about what you can actually accomplish, and you will be less likely to avoid or delay attacking the next task at hand. You will become more empowered to succeed.

Lighten the Load and Avoid Perfectionism

Perhaps you are thinking that if I can't do it perfectly right now, I'll wait until tomorrow when I can do it better. You must modify your thinking to allow you to at least begin the task, and do it to the best of your ability right now.

Use the following analogy to help you. Do you make a list when food shopping? Each time a product is placed in the shopping cart, you cross it off the list. Why not follow the same procedure with other tasks in your life? This will lighten the load and eventually the burden will disappear. The secret is not to cram or overload your mind with tasks that neither you nor others can handle. Take it one step at a time, and you will succeed.

In order to overcome procrastination, it is crucial to enable yourself with empowering thoughts rather than wallowing in restrictive thoughts. It is these restrictive thoughts that generate low self esteem, anxiety, fear and concern. Instead, restructure your thinking to focus on direct action rather than avoidance.

Avoid distractions, set aside time to act on the task at hand, break the task into smaller pieces or lists, reward yourself each step of the way, give yourself reminders and you will succeed every time.

Someday is not a day of the week. ~Author Unknown