First of all, I suggest you don’t read the following tips, and think, “Oh, I’ve heard this before.” The question is, do you DO it?! This year, take ACTION on these ideas; really look at how you can implement each one. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish when you’re not stuck in procrastination.
“How soon ‘not now’ becomes ‘never’.”
Martin Luther
“A year from now you may wish you had started today.”
Karen Lamb
HOOKED ON A FEELING
Don’t wait until you feel like doing something: Getting started is what gives us inspiration! We all know the satisfaction of getting going on something we were procrastinating on, and how once we get going we want to do more. Activity breeds more activity. “Just do it!”
BREAK IT
Break it down, that is. We tend to procrastinate on large tasks. These are the ones that are often the most important to our career. So break the task into small steps. We might put off “Do Marketing Plan” because it’s so big. But if we’ve broken down the Marketing Plan task, we are much more likely to do Step 1: “Call Joe to discuss [specific] info for Marketing Plan.” You may not feel like you can do the whole task, but you know you can do the first step.
Realize that everything–no matter how large–is a bunch of small jobs. And know that it’s a skill to be able to break large projects down into their sequential steps. If you can cultivate this skill, it will have huge pay-offs.
PUT IT DOWN
You are much more likely to do something that’s written down on your list then something that’s floating around in your mind. (And no one can deny the thrill and sense of accomplishment of crossing something off a list!)
MAKE A DATE WITH IT
Schedule a time right in your calendar to get started. And schedule a small amount of
time at the start. Everyone can work for 15 or 30 minutes on something.
CUT THE CHATTER
Close out your email program, don’t search the internet, and turn off your smartphone. If you’re looking for excuses to not do something, they’ll provide you an easy out.
“If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard,
just keep putting off doing it.”
Olin Miller
The bottom line is that many people fall short on the ability to get to the task at hand and stick with it until it’s complete. On the other hand, people who quickly and efficiently get the right things done are more successful in their work and have less stress in their lives. Check it out for yourself by implementing one or more of the ideas listed above–and start out the New Year right!
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