Outsmart your procrastination.
Finding time to outsmart your procrastination, especially if a job you hate is what’s waiting for you, can be a real challenge.
But the truth is that when you create a logjam for yourself, those dreaded tasks just become even more of a nuisance.
Stress and tension build, and right along with that, you lose confidence and focus, while your energy dissipates.
It’s a difficult cycle to break out of. However, when you do, the rewards are powerful and palpable.
So, here are 5 timely tips that will help you succeed at getting those most avoided tasks out of the way, done well, and possibly even enjoyed.
Outsmart your procrastination in 5 steps:
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- First, take 5 minutes to list jobs you “never get around to.” Write quickly and be inclusive. Don’t censor yourself.
- Estimate how long each task typically takes, and write that time next to the task.
- Select 3 tasks from your list that take roughly the same amount of time to complete.
- Now set aside a block of time in which you commit to doing just one of the 3 tasks on your list, starting with the one you dislike least.
- Once you complete that task, be sure to pat yourself on the back. Or maybe you could give yourself a special treat.
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Validating your effort is very important, especially when you are overcoming avoidance. And interestingly, as you reflect on this exercise, do you notice how the “least lousy” task started to look pretty good, compared to the jobs you disliked even more?
That’s because our minds often work through comparisons. Anything weighed against something far worse achieves the relative glamour of top billing. After all, the job you just finished helped you to avoid the other two, even more onerous, tasks. In fact, you might even end up enjoying your first task, because you may be thinking, “This sure beats doing the other 2 jobs!” Ultimately, you work more effectively and efficiently when your mindset is positive.
Now that you know how you can put procrastination to work for you, try using this same process to do your second most distasteful task. You can harness the enthusiasm you feel for doing anything except your most unappealing project as a way to get another task completed.
This will work for you if you work.
Success builds on itself, and as you experience the results, you’ll find yourself using this simple formula again and again. Soon you will be ready to tackle the tasks that you hate the most, as your positive momentum carries you forward and procrastination recedes behind you!
This is powerful. You’ve mobilized yourself by converting your aversion into constructive activity. In essence, you’ve taken the energy of your resistance and used it to catapult yourself into efficiency, effectiveness, and empowerment.
Remember to congratulate yourself for what you have accomplished. Include both the completed task(s) and the transformation of procrastination into productivity.
So, what is your next step to double your productivity and use your time effectively?
Here’s more help…
If procrastination holds you back, you’re certainly not alone. Millions of people struggle with this energy-draining time thief. Procrastination’s costs include lost productivity, lost income, lost opportunities, frazzled nerves, and damaged relationships.
My accessible and immediately actionable E-Guide Book titled “I Don’t Know Where to Start!” How to Stop Stalling, Get Clear, and Turn Procrastination into Productivity offers you a clear path to get to the roots of your procrastination and start doing rather than delaying — today.
“I Don’t Know Where to Start!” unmasks this time thief with exercises to help you identify your own unique brand of procrastination. And it provides insights to help you successfully address what you discover.
You really can make conscious choices about your time and how to use it. And you really can change old habits and patterns. Using the tools and skills you’ll learn in “I Don’t Know Where to Start” you’ll get started and keep going!
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