I know, I have already written about P word – Procrastination, and don’t worry this won’t be the last. But it’s needed, our world is burdened with a crazy amount of distractions.  So now more than ever, in today’s world we have to be more on top of our game, or else the game will play on, without us. Procrastination is a silent killer, but not be fooled into thinking that being a procrastinator is the same as being lazy!  Sometimes we but more effort into putting something off then it would take to get the job done.  Usually it’s because we are scared and have anxiety about the things we are going to have to do or change. We can battle these emotions and with a simple tool that we have been, equally blessed and cured with.  Habits, if we start creating a habit to follow some simple steps to overcoming the P word, we can win! So here are some simple idea’s to help do just that.

1. Know yourself-  If you take some time to figure out how Procrastination affects us in our life and the habits that we have that trigger Procrastination. If you can figure this out, that alone can catapult you in the right direction in a huge way. It becomes a lot more easy to stop if you understand what causes Procrastination. This way you won’t feel so inadequate.
2. Practice good time management- This is a subject in itself, but a simple way to start doing this is to create time estimates to complete your tasks and then compare those estimates. This simplifies your work patterns which improves your quality of work, therefore relieving stress.
3. Change your perspective- Things become a lot more doable if you can just look at why you are wanting to get it done in the first place instead of the work that’s involved – the end game. And if you’re getting judged on the task, look past the grade and focus on your interest in the subject.
4. Commit to your tasks- Just take a sec to list your tasks that your confident you will complete and put the effort in to cross them off to give yourself a sense of achievement. This builds on your faith in your abilities and shows to yourself that make good on promises.
5. Working in an environment that is conducive to your, getting things done- This is a big one, I talked about our world earlier and how it’s full of distraction more than ever before. So we have to find a place that we can focus, and not only a place but people who have the same goals as you. This can be a real game changer. As humans we can get more done in an hour of hyper focus than we can in a whole day of normal focus.
6. Be real- Set reasonable target goals. If you set goals that are unattainable you will become very discouraged.  I’m not saying that we can’t set crazy goals at all. But it’s important that we set mini-goals to get to the big one.
7. Self motivate-  Too many people spend all their time just hating on themselves!  It’s crazy! Self negative talk is one of the biggest causes of people’s failures and Procrastination’s.  Talk yourself up. This one is so important and one that we should really be capitalizing on and creating a habit. When you start Procrastinating, notice the negative thoughts you have and stop them before they start and replace them with positive.
8. Scheduling- This is a concept that is better explained in the book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey but basically schedule your task by importance and don’t let yourself stray. Give things that need to be done priority levels and things that should be done a lower one. And while scheduling be certain you schedule time for you and things you like.  A strike schedule will lead in into a stressed despair.
9. Quite fantasizing about results- To much time is spend talking about what we are going to do! Fantasize about the next step that will start you in that direction. Devise a plan and get there! There’s a great quote that I can’t remember who wrote it but is says: “Tell everyone what your going to do, but first show them!”
10. Plan for obstacles- planning for possible things that can stifle our focus is good because then you can plan countermeasures to stop it or trigger something you do to help you stay focused.
11. Help yourself- Ask your trusted circle of people to help you stay on task. If they notice that your slacking, they should kick you back in gear. Get yourself some accountability.
12. Expect nothing- If you sit around waiting for someone to do something for you so you can do your part then, well nothing is going to happen.
13. Forgive yourself- sitting around feeling sorry for yourself will yield no results. Remember that there is no quick fixes and no one is perfect. We have talked about failures a lot already in previous articles. Procrastination is rooted in our mind,  so feeling bad just increases our tendencies.

Tomorrow is the busiest day in the life a Procrastinator