How to Stop Procrastinating and Start Being Fulfilled
Do you ever procrastinate? Let me share with you what I perceive to be the 4 main reasons people procrastinate and how with a little help, you can overcome this habit.
Here are 4 reasons why you may be wasting time and how to stop procrastinating:
- You procrastinate because you’re bored.
It’s a fact of life. You feel bored and not so thrilled about the work you must do. Work becomes routine and we end up just going through the motions. But how do you get around this? The first step is to recognize that you’re bored. Be conscious of your feelings, your falling energy levels, and your lack of desire to finish your projects. Ask yourself a few questions and be totally honest with your answers. Am I bored with what I’m doing? Why am I bored? What would give me a lot more energy?
Successful people maintain their excitement by focusing on one thing, one task at a time and getting that accomplished first before moving on to the next project or task at hand. Prioritize the most important and urgent tasks to be done and get those completed first.
Another key is to tackle the most unpleasant task and get it out of the way. You will be surprised at how relieved you will feel and how freeing it is to get the hard or nasty projects out of the way instead of leaving them. If you leave them and procrastinate, you will have anxiety and feel agitated because the task or project will constantly be on your mind until you complete it and get it off your plate. Keep asking the focusing question and determine if what you’re doing now is getting you closer to your big goal? The big goal is completing the task.
- You procrastinate because you’re overwhelmed
Often people procrastinate because they let things pile up, instead of handling one task at a time and taking each task to completion. This may start with one little thing that doesn’t get done and you push it back. Then something else comes along, and you postpone that, too. Small task, things, projects, are not too difficult to accomplish when you look at them individually, but when they start to pile up you now have a growing list of things to do that can create extra stress.
If you’re not careful, this can begin controlling you, and you will become overwhelmed and won’t know where to start.
To combat this, start each day by doing the success list, not a task list, a success list, and then block out adequate amounts of time to get them done in order of importance. Don’t jump around between tasks, again focus on the ONE main thing that will make everything else easier or unnecessary.
3. You procrastinate because you’re doing work you don’t really enjoy
All of us are required to do certain things we don’t enjoy. That’s one of the rules of the game if you want to become more successful. You may not like it but that’s the way it is.
Successful people do the things that necessary for their success. They don’t enjoy doing some of these things either, but they go ahead and do them anyway. You may be stuck in a mediocre job or career that doesn’t allow you to use your greatest abilities. If that’s true, then look for an opportunity to expand your talents. Life is too short to be stuck at work you don’t enjoy. Most of the time, the type of work you do should stimulate you and give you energy. Why stay in something that drains your energy and is not fulfilling. If you’re not switching careers due to fear, remember that the biggest rewards in life are found outside your comfort zone.
- You procrastinate because you’re lazy
I’m going to be blunt for a moment… If you avoid taking action because you’d rather put your feet up every night and watch Game of Thrones (I know it’s tempting), I love it too, there’s little chance you’ll be enjoying an abundant lifestyle anytime soon. Success takes effort and consistent, focused activity. Laziness is not part of the equation.
It’s time for YOU to stop procrastinating and start succeeding!
