Tips to Overcome Procrastination by Changing Yourself

Procrastination can be such a thief of time. I hate it when I put off an important work only to regret it later. I sometimes put off writing articles for so many days and all those days this thing is at the back of my mind constantly nagging me.

As procrastination had been a big problem with me earlier (it is not so much of a problem now, thankfully!), I know the frustrations and problems associated with it. Here are some tips to overcome procrastination enemy which I like and find useful. Hope you too will like them.

3 Simple Tips to Overcome Procrastination & Get Work Done:

Tip #1: One of the tips to overcoming procrastination is to create a conducive or helpful atmosphere for doing things. This can be accomplished by turning off distractions as much as you can.

When you have to do something important, it may not be a bad idea to switch off your cell phone, disconnect the internet, turn off the TV, maybe even close the door and ask others not to disturb you for some time. Try to make your room quieter and free from unwanted noise. By creating an environment that is free from big distractions, you are making it easier for yourself to concentrate on the important task at hand.

Tip #2: Many people, including myself, postpone things till the last possible moment. Then we try to hurry up and finish off the task. People of such kind need to realize that this is not a good habit for various reasons. First and foremost, we are putting unnecessary pressure upon ourselves.

Secondly, we are trying to finish off a task within less time than is optimally required for it. This can affect the quality of the output of our work. Thirdly, if any sudden unexpected and urgent work comes up at the time when we are finally starting to do the task, then we won't have time left for us anymore.

Hopefully, with realization and little bit discipline, we might be able to conquer this habit of procrastinating till the last moment.

Tip #3: A useful tip to overcoming procrastination would be to change the self talk that we have related to our work. Suppose you have to do something important, but you keep telling yourself how difficult the task is, or how you hate doing it. This kind of negative self talk would keep us from starting that task. In such cases, we may need to change our attitude and focus and concentrate on the positive aspects of the job or visualize the job completed perfectly and easily on time.

We need to have a positive self talk with ourselves and keep reminding ourselves that the task will not be as difficult or dreadful as I am supposing it to be and I may even enjoy it once I start doing it. What I feel is that we need to change our self talk little by little for it to be effective. If we tell ourselves all of a sudden that the task will be absolutely easy or that you will absolutely love that task, I doubt if such kind of self-talk will have positive results. Initially just tone down the self talk so that it is at least a little bit believable.

Trying out the Above Tips:

If you can overcome procrastination habit, you can feel a new found freedom of being able to do things at will whether you like something or not. It may take time but little by little you can conquer this deadly habit which is stealing away your time and causing frustrations and regret in your life. The above tips and strategies should help you to a good extent to curb your procrastination habit and get more things done on time and with relative ease than you felt before.

To know how to change your bad habits to good ones and end procrastination in less than 21 days, check out - Procrastination & Bad Habit Busting

Do you feel your laziness is sabotaging your career and success? Find out simple tips to curb laziness and procrastination - tips to overcome laziness

7 Quick & Easy Ways to Avoid Procrastination

Procrastination is an extremely common problem, and every one of us will have experienced it! You know that you have to get something done, but you will do anything to avoid actually having to do it. I'm not one for doing housework, but when I had to study for exams, I was more than happy to clean the oven or defrost the fridge.

Here are 7 tips that I personally use to avoid the pitfalls of procrastination.

1) Early in the day, write down a maximum of 5 things that you absolutely must do today. By writing them down, you will see exactly what you need to do. Having various tasks swirling around in your head won't help you get anything done!

2) Restrict your list to 5 tasks. Anymore than that and you just won't know where to start.

3) Look at the list and decide on 3 tasks that you will be able to complete quickly and without too much effort. Normally, you would be advised to do the hardest tasks first. But think about it. If you procrastinate with the hardest tasks, then you won't complete anything on your list!

4) When you complete a task, take great pleasure in striking it off your list. Take a couple of minutes "out" to congratulate yourself on completing it. Feel really positive about your accomplishment, no matter how small or trivial the task was.

5) For the "harder" tasks on your list, you must look at these in a positive way. If it is something you really don't like doing, imagine that the task has been completed, and reflect on how great you will feel once it has been done. See yourself striking the task off your list, and congratulating yourself for completing it.

6) Having a sense of accomplishment will make all the difference when tackling your next task. The problem with procrastination is that if you don't complete anything on your list, then you miss out on this wonderful feeling. Get your first task done and your feelings of accomplishment will snowball as you continue to tackle more items on the list.

7) Sometimes tasks just have to be done, whether you like to do them or not. This is where you really just have to get on and do it. Besides the wonderful feeling of accomplishment (which will be greater the more you hate the task!), you will be rewarded by the benefits that completing that task will bring. Before starting the task, decide on an additional reward that you will give yourself when it is completed.

Procrastination prevents us from achieving the things in life that will help us grow and to reach our full potential. Enjoy the challenge of completing your daily tasks and congratulate yourself on achieving so much that day.

As you continue to achieve more and more, procrastination will soon become a thing of the past!

Jan calls herself a "Positive Thinker & Achiever". Through her writing, her workshops and speaking engagements, she encourages others to live more positively, with the ultimate goal of achieving "Positive Happiness".

She is currently developing a number of CDs and DVDs to motivate and encourage people to make positive and worthwhile changes in their lives.

Visit Jan's web site at http://www.powerpositivenow.com

Defeating Procrastination

Are you finding yourself procrastinating when needing to get something done? Why are you procrastinating? Let us start by defining what procrastination is. A common dictionary defines procrastination as postponing or delaying needlessly. To me, procrastination is a choice that we consciously or subconsciously make, based on how we are focusing on the effects of a particular action needed on our behalf. If we are focusing on why we don't want to take action in that moment, we will put off taking action and thus, procrastinate!

How can we defeat procrastination? How long does it take? I believe that we can break through procrastination and create the results we want now, rather than later - or how it usually gets...much, much later!

So, how can we do this? We can break through procrastination easily and consistently by consciously focusing on the positive thoughts and strong positive feelings we will get by taking action and more importantly, the strong negative thoughts and feelings to not taking action, or in other words "the consequences." We usually do more to avoid the negative than we do to gain the positive, so the negative aspect of what can happen if you don't take action will drive your motivation to act.

Whether it's paying the bills, taking out the trash, painting the kitchen or going to work on that report your boss wants, by focusing on the positive side of completing these tasks, as well as feeling the effect of the consequences that can come to pass if you do not complete the task(s), can help drive you to take immediate action.

So why does this work? The key distinction to make here is that we procrastinate in a given moment in time because of the meaning we attach to taking action. If the meaning we are attaching focuses on why we don't feel like it, our physiology changes into a sort of depressed state and then we decide subconsciously that we don't want to feel like this and wham! Procrastination occurs. When we change the meaning to something that we want, or that makes us now feel good about taking action in that moment, we take action. I want you to realize that it's the meaning that changes in that moment that is the deciding factor.

Finally, how can we make procrastination less of a habit? Most of us already procrastinate and don't even notice it. Take my word for it. If you need to take action and you're not, you're procrastinating. It could be fear of failure or anything else that your brain is evaluating as some form of pain that is stopping you from taking action. You need to analyze what is stopping you from taking action and deal with it consciously. Say to yourself, "What will be the consequences if I don't follow through and take action right now. Also, focus on the rewards you will get and relief you will feel once you have taken action.

To help diminish the procrastination habit, consistently follow through and take action using the self improvement strategy described in this article. The more action we take, the quicker the new habit will form. New habits take at least 30 days to install.

Remember, procrastination is the thief of time - don't let it take over your life.

George Tsoukalas

How to Overcome Sales Procrastination!

Often a sales person's mind is riddled in procrastination and unless diagnosed early, it can create havoc and lead to a downward spiral. You may have the procrastination virus and not be aware of its dangers!

My aim is in this article is to discover why procrastination is a major killer in sales and how to eliminate it. Procrastination is defined as to put off or defer a task for later. When you do that sales call, for example, do you write down immediately the particulars and action steps of that call so that you do not forget the details?

If you are leaving it for later, not only you will forget the fine details, but you may miss a key element when you next negotiate for the order. Procrastination also occurs when routine sets in or perhaps when you worry excessively. You have not reached your sales target and you waste your time on things you don't want to have happen

Fear is another killer playing on the sales person's mind. The fear of not succeeding is a very real threat. Fear breeds negativity and this plays havoc with any sales person.

The solution perhaps lies in the following steps:

· Focus on opportunities & successful outcomes. Say to yourself that you will succeed no matter what. For example, when asking for the order, assume the sale and start writing the order.

· Get down to business. Take decisive actions are better than inaction. Take your activity list and male sure that you complete them daily and you will have no time for procrastination.

· Eliminate ineffective habits. Get into the habit of being busy and productive. Set yourself a daily goal and a to- do list and review it at the end of the day and plan for the next day

Change comes from the things that we pay attention to.

Start tracking your daily thoughts: Are you aware that your attitude is negative and that you are using excuses all the time. Watch yourself and you will see that you spend your time blaming the boss, your partner, the economy, the dog, etc

All you have to do is take charge of your focus.

To download my free ebook, click here: http://www.salescoachdoctor.com/SalesCoachpage101.html

Joe Duval is an accomplished sales training coach for the past 20 years

Procrastination - Understanding & Overcoming it

Whenever I've worked on 'de-cluttering' my living or working space, I've always found that it's the unfinished project – whatever I’m procrastinating about - that takes up the most room.

Physically, it's a constant reminder of something I tell myself I SHOULD be doing.

Mentally, it consumes my thoughts and diverts my attention from the present moment.

Emotionally, it weighs down my heart and nicks away at my confidence.

In this article, I invite you to consider how procrastination, as a form of self-sabotage, shows up in the different areas of your life.

Understanding Procrastination - Why do you procrastinate?

Maybe your physical surroundings and your 'systems' of organization are getting in your way. For example:

~ My workspace is too messy

~ I'm too busy

Maybe distracting or debilitating emotions or thoughts are getting in your way. For example:

~ I'm afraid - afraid to fail, afraid to succeed

~ I'm overwhelmed

Maybe your physical body and its level of well-being is getting in your way. For example:

~ I'm too tired

Maybe your thoughts about the other people in your life are getting in your way. For example:

~ They might not like it

~ It won't be as good as _____, so why bother?

Procrastination is a habit like any other. If you can envision how you want to be instead and look honestly at what forms of self-sabotage you usually use, you CAN compensate for your procrastination.

Overcoming Procrastination: What type of procrastinator are you?

Are you a Do-er or a Stew-er?

Do-er

A “do-er” will do anything to avoid the task at hand – the dishes need washing, the dog needs walking, the mail needs sorting, the bills need paying, the files need organizing, etc.

Action Plan for Do-er’s

Set a timer for 15-minutes and tell yourself that as soon as it goes off you can do whatever else you want, but until it does, you must sit in that chair and work on the project in front of you.

• Train your self
• Keep it short
• Stay in your chair

Stew-er

A “stew-er” will sit and “stew” about the thing you’re not doing. Your mind will spin round and round about different possibilities, you will plan elaborate things for when you do get around to working, you’ll be thinking so far into the future that you’ll never catch up to yourself.

Action Plan for Stew-er’s

Focus and calm your mind with meditation, affirmations and mind-body work such as breathing.

• Clear your mind
• Ground your thoughts
• Pause and breathe

Whether you’re a “do-er” or a “stew-er”, when we can accomplish our creative goals IN SPITE of having so many reasons to put them off, the rewards are even sweeter.

When I'm feeling overwhelmed, I need to remember that all I have to do is the next thing. A few next things later and I've tackled quite a bit!

It’s important to consider the bigger picture of this “thing” that you’re trying to do. There’s always the possibility that you don’t really want to do it or that you’re not meant to be doing it. If this is the case, a part of you knows that and is trying to tell you, so listen up (just make sure it’s not fear or self-doubt in disguise).

Lastly, remember to celebrate what you HAVE accomplished, no matter how small. The more you focus on what you HAVE done, versus what you HAVEN’T, the more confidence you’ll have and the more momentum you’ll build towards the next thing you’re going to do.

Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach, helps artists enhance their creativity by addressing their unique self-care issues. To receive one of her free monthly newsletters, subscribe at http://www.genuinecoaching.com/newsletter.html