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Five Secrets to Finally Tame The Procrastination Demon
Are you like many people
who put off what you know you should do in your daily
life? Is the basement, the closets, your office, the
garage, the yard work all demanding your attention?
We all delay doing some chores, but if you are finding
yourself with more and more undone projects, maybe you
are a victim of "procrastination". This gets
to be a really demoralizing situation. If you accept
the challenges that life provides, then you are more
likely to live many years longer than those who spend
their lives stressing about "getting things done"
and never making the necessary moves to accomplish what
needs doing.
If you are not being challenged in your
daily life by your work or your living situation, then
maybe it is just fear holding you back and you need
to accomplish much more. Fear grips you so that you
are not able to accomplish what you desire and so you
put it off, making excuses not to accomplish the project.
Eventually this can become a habit throughout all your
facets of living. This article will attempt to reinforce
your zest for a challenge, to enable you to take chances,
to overcome rejection and to step up to the plate when
you know you have things that need attention.
Here are some steps to take immediately:
1. Be organized - I know that this is
a hard goal to reach. But, start out small to accomplish
the larger goal. Make a project chart for your larger
jobs and put the smaller projects on your daily chart.
Organize your day with a "TO DO LIST" and
put the items down as rapidly as possible and do not
worry about what order until the page is filled up.
Then go back and rank what is most important and circle
the item, make a star by that item, or otherwise note
their importance. This way you can let the other items
fall below what is most important and you can get to
them later. What you do not get done one day can be
added to the next day's list. I know this can be a hard
habit to get into, but once you do it for a week or
two, you will find it will be hard to get to sleep without
your list made for the next day.
2. Divide Major Projects - If a project
seems overwhelming, then have a major project list and
divide each segment into smaller tasks. For instance,
let's say you want to clean out the garage. (At my house,
that is a MAJOR project!) On Monday, you can go through
the stuff that looks like it should be going to Goodwill
and box that up. Tuesday, you can do an easy chore of
taking it to Goodwill. Wednesday, you can arrange all
like items in separate piles. For instance, yard tools,
lawn furniture, sports equipment, household tools like
step ladders, tool cabinets, brooms and mops, things
of that nature. On Thursday, you can map out how much
room to allow for each category because maybe you have
too much lawn furniture based on the space you have
or maybe you want to devote more space to lawn furniture
and less to sports equipment. Whatever your lifestyle
is, this is the way to organize it within the garage
area. On Saturday, move everything that you plan to
keep out of the garage and clean the shelves and floors
and windows. Then put it all back and arrange neatly
based on the space sketch you have. On Sunday, enjoy
having a place to park the car, finally. It is all a
matter of doing little bits of associated action and
keep moving to the final goal.
3. Just get started - When you find
yourself making excuses and putting things off, then
you know that you are letting yourself go down the road
to being a prisoner of the demon called procrastination.
Just do not let yourself provide excuses. Start with
your easiest task and proceed from there. You will have
a greater sense of accomplishment when you make small
insteps to the greater project than if you do nothing
at all.
4. Outside help - Enlist outside help
if you find it necessary to finish a project. There
is nothing wrong with having help, whether you have
to hire outside help or whether you encourage your family
members to help on some projects. The idea is to make
a goal sheet and keep on the projects you know are needed
around your place and pick a start date so everyone
knows how to schedule their time to be involved. A family
that cleans together keeps the place cleaner for the
next time!
5. Reward Yourself - Finally, reward
yourself and your crew when you finish a project. Getting
a job done has taken a lot of effort, and you need to
be good to yourself for fighting the procrastination
demon. There is a wonderful feeling which comes over
us when we know we have done a good job and can see
the fruits of our labor. That is how the world works.
As it has been said, this is a kill and eat world. You
have to know how to make yourself set goals, work through
the human desire to put things off, and finally to feel
the sense of accomplishment and reward with completion
of a project.
Ok, now, get out those pens and papers
and take a mental trip across your home, your business
life, and your personal or religious life. What needs
to change? How soon? Will you take my advice and banish
the procrastination demon and finally feel the reward
for accomplishment that you may have been lacking recently?
And make no mistake, the procrastination demon can come
on you at any time, in varying degrees, and you must
take a stand and banish the demon with whatever steps
you feel necessary. Do not put off having the things
you want in life because you procrastinate. Give yourself
the satisfaction of accomplishing the things you need
and doing them within your goal period.
It is now or never - Get up and JUST
START!
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