Guest Blogger: Sharon Sayler
It is already midway through the first month of the year. I can hardly believe it! Has that ugly word, procrastination, found its way into your new year’s plans yet? If you find it has, it is not too late to get started. Here are some tips to conquer procrastination.
Before you begin, accept three things:
- There is no perfection.
- Expect some setbacks.
- Everything will take longer than you thought.
And answer two questions:
- Is this the best use of my time?
- What do I need to really own what I’m trying to accomplish?
Procrastination usually happens because we don’t have enough information about what we are trying to do. One way to rein in procrastination as we gather more information is to trick your procrastination “brain” by working backwards.
“There will always be reasons to wait… The truth is, there are only two things in life, reasons and results, and reasons simply don’t count.”
– Robert Anthony
- What do I want to do or what will the finished project look like? Describe in detail what it will achieve or change, including a completion date.
- Break the project into tasks, working backwards, from the finished project to the current time. Imagine the last thing you did to make it work? Write it down… What was it you did to get the last thing done? Write it down… What was it you did to get the second to last thing done? Write it down… (you get the idea.)
- Develop this list into small and easy tasks that can be accomplished quickly, no more than a few each day. Do only one task at a time. Consider a thirty-minute plan—set a timer and work on something for just 30-minutes. At the end of 30-minutes, switch to something else if you want. (Chances are you are so involved you will keep going.) Reset your timer for the next 30-minutes.
- At the end of each task, celebrate its completion.
- Plan the next task and establish priorities for getting it done.
If you still find yourself getting stuck, try modifying your environment or enlist a friend to hold you accountable.
Have a great day in whatever your adventure.
To success! To life!
More of her tips can be found at http://www.impressionengineers.com/blog/