The Procrastination Factor

by Angel Haag

The only days that exist in any calendar are Monday through Sunday. Stop scheduling yourself and your dreams for SOMEDAY…!!!

~Behnam Bakhshandeh

Many of us put things off until the last minute and then end up running around like that chicken with its head cut off (and chopping other people’s heads off at the same time!) Well, what if it didn’t have to be that way? What if you were able to manage your time and have procrastination be a thing of the past?

Procrastination is something that plagues most of us. If you are procrastinating, you’re stressing yourself out more than you need to. I know from personal experience how stressed I get when I am rushing at the last minute to get things done. I end up being tired, and I usually have pain in my neck or back. I can’t stop one moment to eat and when I do, I will just grab the first piece of junk food I can find. Stopping to workout or go for a walk is completely out of the question. Can you see yourself in any of that?

It doesn’t have to be that way! You can have more freedom, more time to do the things that you love to do, and live a healthier life if you stop procrastinating.

So, let’s start by finding out why you have been procrastinating. What stops you from getting items done in a timely manner? There is some secret pleasure you get out of waiting until the last minute. We act like we hate procrastinating, but really we love it! It means we get 10 more minutes on the couch. It means we get to be lazy for another half hour. It means we don’t have to deal with unpleasant issues, like that overdue credit card bill. If you look closely, we usually procrastinate on things we have an issue with. We don’t pay the credit card bill because it’s over the limit and we’re worried about having enough money. So instead of dealing with it head on, we ignore it.

Before you move on to the rest of the article I invite you to really look at what you have been avoiding, and why you have been avoiding it. Have you been hesitating to talk to someone you’re angry with? Have you been avoiding your boss because you haven’t turned in a project from last week? Have you ignored cleaning the house because you’re mad at your spouse or partner?

There’s nothing wrong with procrastination, but it does have a huge impact on your life! As I mentioned earlier, it raises your stress levels. You can lose business deals and people become annoyed and frustrated with you. Look around your life and be honest with yourself. How much has procrastinating cost you and your family?

So, what do we do about it? Well, you have already taken the first important step by taking a look at the impact that procrastination has in your life. Now, let’s take a look at managing your time so that you can maintain your sanity and reduce that urge to procrastinate. The following steps are good ways to manage your time and eliminate the procrastination once and for all:

1. Start eliminating the practices that you have had in place that are just not working! For example, not setting a schedule for yourself when you know you have a presentation to work on and then doing it at the last minute. Or what about when you promise your child that you will take them to the park on Sunday, but instead you need to move that play date because you waited until the last minute to finish your presentation. This is the impact I referred to earlier. These are the things that you continually do that put you in a crunch all the time, raise the stress levels and cause people to be upset.
   
   
2. Create new practices to start managing your time better. This may be just getting a calendar for some of you. For others, it is using just one calendar so that you are not forgetting items that may have been written on another calendar. For some of you, it is actually putting items in the calendar, and then making sure to look at that calendar everyday!
   
   
3. Break projects down into manageable steps. Taking a project, whether personal or business, and making sure to put each step into the calendar, will have the project not seem overwhelming, because now you are able to break it down piece by piece. Then all you have to do is complete one piece at a time. This is much more manageable and a lot less stressful!
   
   
4. Every week, look ahead at the next four weeks in your calendar. Really keeping track of what is coming up in the next several weeks will help you to handle things ahead of time versus at the last minute. You won’t be surprised by what is on your schedule for the day, and you will be able to adjust things if necessary.
   
   
5. Follow your schedule instead of ignoring it. After you have entered all these items in your schedule, you have to commit to following your schedule as much as possible This is where it is beneficial to always take the first 10-15 minutes of your day to look at your calendar for the day and week so you can plan your day accordingly. Otherwise, you just made a bunch of empty promises, and you will end up in chaos again. Remember, you’re the one who put these things in your calendar!
   
   
6. If you find yourself procrastinating, dig in. Remember to look at WHY you are avoiding the person or project, and commit to dealing with the issue, rather than ignoring it. If you ever feel like you are stuck back in procrastination mode, looking at the WHY will help you to start identifying the impact and then you can take the steps to creating something new again.

When it is all said and done, you can look back and be pleased with how the day went, instead of working until 10:00pm because you waited until the last minute to handle things. It allows you the freedom to enjoy your life in a whole new way, and feel like you accomplished something everyday.

Time is our most valuable asset, yet we tend to waste it, kill it, and spend it rather than invest it. All the accomplishments that you are celebrating today are the outcomes of disciplines and practices you did yesterday.

~ Behnam Bakhshandeh