I’ve spent a lot of time looking at how I might finally conquer procrastination and be able to complete the many tasks in a timely manner, rather than being forced out of necessity to complete those tasks I’ve avoided for too long. So when I learned how I could use my unwanted procrastination as practice for success, I was keen to learn more.
You might believe that success is about coming up with great ideas or doing the impossible, but most success is the result of doing the mundane. It’s doing the things that no one wants to do. Whether it’s losing weight, getting a better job, doing well in school, or saving a million dollars, the process is largely unenjoyable.
In most cases, you know what needs to be done. The challenge is getting yourself to do it.
1. You think about doing something. Isn’t that how you start a task?
2. You notice how it feels. Every thought generates a feeling or emotion. When it feels good, we do the task.
3. If it feels bad, you avoid it. You have your own, consistent ways of deflecting the task.
4. When the feeling of putting it off feels worse than the feeling of doing it, you finally take action.
This is a very common process. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work well if you’re trying to get ahead or to prevent your life from descending into chaos.
1. When you feel bad about a task, get excited that you’re being given an opportunity to learn success skills. This is the moment that separates the men from the boys and the women from the girls. The least successful people are the worst procrastinators. Successful people do hard things.
2. Take a minute. Just sit with your feelings and notice them. Sit with your discomfort. Close your eyes and breathe slowly. Notice where you feel the disturbance. Is it in your head? Your chest? Stomach? Try to relax that area of your body and release the tension.
3. Spend five minutes doing the task you want to avoid. Anyone can handle just five minutes. Getting started is the hardest part, so become an expert on getting started! You’ll often find that you’ll continue beyond your five-minute goal. Congratulate yourself for lasting at least five minutes.
4. Forgive yourself for failing. Somedays you win, others you lose. Working through discomfort and defeating procrastination is a challenging skill to learn. Just get back on the horse and vow to keep trying.
Procrastination is a very human habit, poor decisions can be disastrous, our brains have to be thoroughly convinced that an idea is worthy of execution before it allows us to act.
Doing something today that’s unenjoyable doesn’t make a lot of logical sense if it can be put off until another time.
Decide for yourself that right now is that time. Use your urge to procrastinate as fuel for learning to be successful.
Roy Clayton.
