How To Stop Procrastinating…

We all suffer from procrastinating. It’s not just a select few, it’s literally everyone of us. Of course, some are more repeat offenders than others, but we all struggle with this challenge. So the big question we all have is, “How do I keep from procrastinating?”

Here are some ideas on how to stop procrastinating…

START WITH WHY

You have to first identify why you tend to procrastinate. Most people procrastinate with specific tasks, projects, and responsibilities more than other ones in their life. Rarely do we procrastinate in the things we have a deep desire to do. If we want something bad enough we’ll just do it. In fact, we tend to act too hastily if we want it bad enough. Why then do we procrastinate in some areas of our life than other? Well, you first have to ask yourself why are you putting it off? It is almost always a result of one of these 2 questions…

Is it because you don’t WANT to do it?

or

Is it because you don’t know HOW to do it?

DON’T WANT TO DO IT…

If you don’t want to do it, it’s possibly a sign you shouldn’t be doing it. With everything you have going on in your life you need to pass it through what I call the D-Filter…you either need to

Do it
Delegate it
Drop it

Make sure you filter everything you are doing, want to do, and are asked to do through this concept. It may be that you need to delegate some things you are doing. Outsource it if need be. You can’t do everything under the sun. You may need to drop it if it isn’t something you should do or can’t delegate. Make sure you don’t clutter your life with unnecessary busyness. If it isn’t getting you closer to your purpose and goals, don’t mess with it. You have to know where you should be spending your time. If it it is something you should be doing then your probably struggling with the next part…

DON’T KNOW HOW TO DO IT…

Many people procrastinate because they don’t know where to start. They want to do something, but the overwhelmingness of the task causes them to put it off. This is simply because your brain will literally shut down in an effort to conserve energy and focus if you don’t know what to do. We all experience this when we are facing projects that we haven’t broken down into actionable steps. If you don’t break projects down into steps you will become increasingly overwhelmed. The secret to getting things done is in the small steps not the giant leaps. The first step to being more productive is to always have a small actionable item to do next. You don’t chop a giant tree down with one swing; you chop it down swing by swing…by swing…by swing. Never end your next step in the project without writing down your next step in the project. Get a plan and start living that plan.