One of the more common obstacles is procrastination. Procrastination can be a hard obstacle to overcome, especially if it has become a life long habit.
Procrastination – according to Wikipedia – refers to the act of replacing more urgent actions with tasks less urgent, or doing something from which one derives enjoyment, thus putting off impending tasks to later time.
“I am going to start putting things off starting tomorrow“. Sam Levenson
What do we gain by procrastinating? Unfinished tasks do not go away and if they are in our visual sight can be a constant reminder of failure.
Procrastination can create stress, a sense of guilt and crisis, a loss of personal productivity, frustration, lack of self-confidence, or social disapproval for not meeting deadlines or responsibilities.
So why do we procrastinate:
We don’t love doing the activity
FEAR – we want to avoid the unfamiliar
We are not competent to do the task
We underestimate the time frame the task requires
We believe we must be in right mood to do the task
We are unorganized
We believe we need the task to be perfect
We don’t see the reward by completing the task
There is an underlying issue – eg. we must make an uncomfortable decisions, etc.
Here is one quick tool to overcome procrastination.
Start by doing something that gives you a sense of accomplishment.
Take a small step, such as:
– as a health goal – 10 minutes of stretching or walking, cooking a pot of soup
– as a personal development goal – writing in your journal every day
– as a personal time goal – working in the garden, calling a friend
– as a mess goal – straightening up a room, reading back magazine issues
What do you need to complete?
Choose an activity which you have enjoyed doing in the past.
–The point is to just get started on a consistent, regular basis.
When you complete your goal, pay attention to how you feel. Is there an improvement in your mood?
Reward yourself for achieving a success. Make a list of the daily accomplishments in a journal. It helps us focus on how many things we DO. Read through it daily, smiling as you recall success.
