Overcome
Procrastination
Today’s article will
be divided into 2 parts; part 2 will be published on Nov. 29th.
“Procrastination is opportunity's assassin."
~ Victor Kiam
I also know what it's like to do the same thing in relationships, with friends or family and even with bosses when something needs to be said that might result in conflict. However, this article is about not allowing fear to become so powerful that instead of opening doors to success, procrastination sabotages any positive results that you could have achieved.
These are some of the techniques I used to move past procrastination. Use what works for you and of course ignore what doesn't. First, procrastination is just a word in your mind and doesn't exist unless you allow it to!
What do I mean by this? If you start telling yourself you are a procrastinator, that's what you will become because that's how you 'see' yourself. The dictionary defines the word procrastination as stopping and waiting to act because of fear or doubt and wavering about what you want to do. If this is the case, it's obviously just a word and habit that you learned. This means, you can also unlearn and re-learn so you change the behavior and perceive things differently.
When you are an entrepreneur or small business owner, especially if you have a home based business, it's very easy to put off doing things you don't find especially enjoyable and yet, often people who procrastinate work much longer hours almost as if spending more time will make up for what you are not doing. However, working longer hours and being busy does not equate to being productive.
Maybe you don't know where to begin or you doubt yourself and your skills so it becomes more comfortable to do the things you know you are capable of completing instead. However, the 'bigger' things don't just disappear in fact, if anything, when you put off important projects things get really backed up and you then find yourself overwhelmed because there's so much to do.
If the only thing that procrastination does is to create stress and overwhelm why do you suppose so many entrepreneurs do this?
The first reason is often F.E.A.R. It's so much easier to do something you like rather than find out that what you really need to get done might not work. It's also a way not to even acknowledge the doubt and fear you may have because when you're busy you don't have to acknowledge the reasons. It's really OK to have some fear, in fact it's quite normal, especially when you are doing something new or you want to do something and don't know how it will affect your life or your business.
Whatever the reason behind your procrastination, the first step is to get really honest with yourself. This means, as much as you may not want to, you need to become much more conscious about your thinking so you have the ability to recognize and control those thoughts if they come up and change the behavior to something that is more productive for you.
Is procrastinating worth it? I can tell you from personal experience and that of my clients that it's not. Procrastination just ends up draining your energy and sabotaging your success.
When you can look at the reasons for this behavior and you have some plans in place, procrastination can become a thing of the past. I'm not going to tell you that you will never ever procrastinate again! You're human. It's about how quickly you recognize what you are doing so you can change the behavior immediately and get back on track.
You can overcome this habit. Simply revise your programming. It's really quite simple! If you don't like the program in your mind, just like a TV, change it!
Look for part 2 on November 29th!
Award-winning authors Dave & Lillian Brummet:
Visit us on:
http://BrummetMedia.ca (new site, under maintenance)
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