My Top 5 Reasons for Procrastination and What I Can Do About Them
The habit of procrastination is something I've had for a long time and I really have to think about being proactive in order to overcome this habit.
Do you procrastinate? Why do you procrastinate?
Well, for me, here are my top 5 reasons for procrastinating:
1. I usually give the excuse 'I'll do it later.'
2. Procrastination is a habit for me.
3. I'm not clear on the path I want to take.
It can be tough to make a decision and I'm not sure the decision I make will be the right one.
4. Shiny Object Syndrome - I find another thing that interests me that sidetracks me.
5. It's easier to do smaller tasks.
Here are my tips on how I am combating procrastination.
I think of the costs of procrastination and the benefits of being proactive.
I imagine how my proactive future self is behaving. I think, 'What will she be doing?'
When I find myself saying, 'I'll do it later.' I set a timer for either 1 minute or 10 minutes. Many times, I find that once I get started, then I can gain momentum to continue. Another thing I may do is intentionally set the deadline before I need to be somewhere or before an online appointment or before dinner when my husband gets home. In this way, I have more motivation to really get down and do whatever task I have at hand because I know I have limited time and someone is counting on me to be at a certain place at a certain time.
Another thing I can do is say affirmations that encourage me. Instead of thinking of myself as a procrastinator, I'll say the affirmations, 'I am proactive.' 'I am a finisher.'
I have a buddy and we check in twice a month on our goals. We call our meetings 'Momentum Meetings.' We tell each other how we've been doing with our goals and what our goals for the next 2 weeks are. We give each other tips and encouragement.
Get clear. Right now, l'm taking time to journal my dreams and write down what my goals are for the year, in 6 months, in 90 days, and each month. What I can do is focus on one goal for a period of a month or 90 days.
I'll write my top 3 goals for the day and check it off at the end of the day if I've accomplished them. At the end of the day, I think, 'how can I do better the next day?' My husband encourages me each night in moving forward with my dreams of a thriving business. He always asks me, "What's your plan for tomorrow?" He keeps me on track with my dreams.
Every week, I have a major task I want to accomplish. I give myself a reward if I've accomplished a certain task. For the past 3 weeks, the reward has been watching a movie or a portion of a movie. It is good to celebrate when I've accomplished tasks, especially if those are tasks I've procrastinated on doing.
What do you think about these ways of combating procrastinating?
What about you? Are you more of a procrastinator or a proactive person?
What do you do to stop procrastinating? I'm interested to hear.
