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Can’t stop procrastinating? Can you imagine what your life would be like if you could never procrastinate? What if I could do everything quickly? If you were always focused and happy to do what you do?
I’ll tell you a personal story and after the mind tools I discovered to stop procrastinating. In 2016 I was in particular period of my life. I was facing various personal and not all positive changes. Slowly I was becoming aware of one thing: I was surrounded by unfinished things, situations I didn’t like. I decided to stop this trend abruptly. Initially, I had to be honest with myself. I was avoiding looking at some things straight in the eye.
Do you remember the TV series “My Name Is Earl“? the guy makes a list of people he did something bad to solve Karma. There was some right in this action.
I took example from there and thus began my list of incomplete actions, of people I still owed something to or incomplete projects. The first step was to write to everyone. I worked it out a bit, so I started that day to solve every aspect to get everything done. But the most surprising thing is that other small things also benefited from it. I began to make my bed. To study more diligently to treat people better, to wake up with dedication early in the morning, to work for the future. Personal growth was surprising
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I quit smoking and started running every day for about 6-10 km. I realized that the quantity of unfinished things I had around me demotivated me to the point of creating other unfinished things. The determination is therefore a flow, which can be obstructed.
The fact that I had decided to bring order into my life had also changed aspects that I considered not interconnected. The postponement, the procrastination is the modern evil par excellence. He’s killing us. Procrastination is like a cancer that slowly demolishes all your intentions.
But there is an antidote.
Table of Contents
What does it mean to procrastinate
I consulted many videos and many texts before writing this article, to get useful information. What I have noticed, however, is that in such contents causes and effects are not associated, giving too much responsibility to the mind, or to behaviorism, and too little to a simple fact: all too often we pass immediately to practical solutions without analyzing the problem anatomy.
Before we fight this evil, let’s try to understand it. Procrastination means: “the action of delaying or postponing something”. pro- (in favor of) and cratinius (tomorrow).
An appointment, a phone call, a commitment, a job, a payment can be postponed until tomorrow. In fact, almost anything can be procrastinated. Postponement, however, causes dissatisfaction with the failure to achieve goals.
Can you imagine a soccer team that never wins anything? The sense of frustration and the lack of motivation of the players (and of the fans) will make the results fall even more.
Let me give an opposite example. You’ve just won a million dollars: how much do you feel about putting off the collection? A beautiful woman has accepted the invitation to dinner: do you want to postpone another evening? A customer has accepted your business proposal: do you refer to it later? As you can see, these rewarding activities make it possible to clearly understand a single thing: procrastinating what does not motivate us. you procrastinate what you don’t want to face.
Assign an appropriate goal
Lack of motivation is the first cause. And motivation is the key factor. You have often heard that man uses a lower percentage of his abilities. The first thing we do wrong is not to assign ourselves adequate goals, underestimating our abilities.
In a society that promotes “staying calm”, of “not daring too much”, of “being objective”, we have become accustomed to being mediocre. Not wanting more, afraid to fail.
If you don’t set yourself exciting goals, you can’t be motivated enough. And if you are not motivated, you procrastinate later, because there is no sense of urgency.
The time factor in this case is important: setting a goal and giving a time, gives an immediate rhythm to your life.
People underestimate themselves. They don’t think they can achieve much. But the opposite is true, much depends on what we ourselves believe is right. A good rule is to multiply your estimate by 10. For example. Do you need to get a new customer? 10 new customers scored. and to have 10 new customers you have to make 100 phone calls. The underestimate does not excite.
I studied web design for a period of time. I realized that if someone asked for a “simple design” (simple = little money) I never completed it. There was nothing to motivate me and so I put off. A lazy attitude that becomes a reason for procrastination has to do with one thing: lack of motivation.
Working in the future
How many times have you postponed a phone call that you didn’t want to do? How many times have you let a situation degenerate because it has been delayed too much? The second point is to work for the future. And here is another definition that I find fantastic: proactive.
- (of a person or action) creating or controlling a situation rather than just responding to it after it has happened
If your attention is to control situations, you will never find yourself in the condition of being demotivated. Think of the gym. I’m sure nobody wants to have a bad body. But how many times have you thought: “tomorrow start”?
If you find yourself with a little abdominal fat it is because you have not been proactive towards yourself.
If you find yourself with less money than you expected it means you haven’t looked ahead. Attention is a definite quantity. More than surrounds with unfinished things and the less he has available for the future. And trust me, the best condition is to have most of your attention focused on the future.
Reinvigorate your goals
If you find yourself trapped by a life that you don’t want, day after day, how can you be happy? How can you not procrastinate in a life of a convict?
You had a purpose, to become a musician. Then you procrastinated with the studio, then you thought the piano wasn’t for you. Then you quit.
Two years later, you want to attend a theater course. However you already start with a previous failure “you already know you’re not cut out for anything” … Do you know how many failures, one after another, accumulate?
You arrive at twenty who really don’t want to do anything at all (it’s useless). The enthusiasm does not come on anymore. The thing to do is not to accept all this pathetically. The thing to do is reinvigorate the purpose you had. Why did you want to become a musician? Did you like to make people feel good? Maybe you wanted to create an effect on others? This is what you need to reinvigorate. You don’t have to go back to playing (even if I recommend it), you want to make others feel better. Go back to wanting the same thing. Suddenly you will feel more energetic and eager.
Goals make you feel good, help you stop procrastinating. Write your goals every day your desires.Do it as soon as you wake up in the morning.<
Do what you really like in life, have the courage to change if you have to.
This is a daily process. It is not to do “one off”. You can lose your way again and these points will therefore seem less important. Take them back in your hand.
There is no greater joy in life than achieving one’s goals, especially if this involves difficulty and fatigue.
Include others in your goals
If you decide that your purpose in life is to get rich (and only that) you won’t be really motivated. We are social beings, used for thousands of years to live in community. Living by setting personal goals alone doesn’t motivate enough, no matter how many lies you can tell.
Of course this does not mean that we should not include financial prosperity in our goals. But it cannot be the only motivating factor. For example, every company has as its motivation the acquisition of money, but if you go to read the mission of companies, it turns out that they are focused on something else. For example “giving people the power to create community and make the world more united” is the mission of Facebook®.
Effective time management
Now that you have understood these motivational points it is time to move on to practical tips: on how to manage time.
List every day what you will do. Simple but effective. Make the list literally and one after the other without jumping to the most comfortable.
Really completes everything. It often happens to “solve a thing” by returning it. Solving means solving. It is a bad habit not to complete even the smallest things.
Do one thing at a time and don’t let it interrupt you for any reason. If you really are taking an action, use all your attention to that thing. Multitasking is something that actually does not benefit people. If you work, don’t use the phone. If you cook don’t read. If you drive, do nothing else. Having 100% of your attention helps to solve. A work project is better to complete it in one breath than to take it back many times. If you are studying, disconnect from everything. Phone notifications are a very powerful distraction weapon.
If you find yourself procrastinating, examine the situation. Find out what is the thing that is not motivating you and change it or correct it.
Be disciplined. Discipline is a component of this concept. Start today something you always wanted to do. You will find yourself far more distant than what you thought.
Your future starts today. Start Now. Do something right away that you don’t want to do. Now. You will feel much better.
I tried it on my shoulders. And I write this article because I made these mistakes so many times that I decided to quit once and for all. Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.
