10 Steps Towards Ending Procrastination
Tuesday, December 22, 2009 at 7:05PM The key to striking a healthy balance between flexibility and structure is nurturing trust in your own instincts and in your ability to follow through.
Procrastination is, among other things, a decision to stop holding yourself accountable. In doing so, chronic procrastination devalues your own hopes, dreams and values. Rebuilding that trust can replace procrastination with an approach that honors the many things that you truly want. Here are some steps to foster self-trust and stop procrastinating.
1. Identify what you're already doing right. Celebrate that, and learn from it.
Focus on what is working before you start working to change what isn't. You are probably already accomplishing more than you give yourself credit for, and not everything you are doing is wrong.
2. Identify what otherwise-neglected parts of yourself are being taken care of using procrastination.
In other words, identify what you are getting out of continuing this pattern. You didn't start procrastinating because you are a bad person. Procrastination is meeting a need that you were neglecting. That need may be for some self-care, some leisure, some down time. It may be a way to protect yourself from fear... fear that others will see you are not perfect, fear of your own success. Whatever it is, find it, name it, and own it.
3. Identify alternate ways to meet your unmet needs.
Once you've identified some of your motivators, think about what you could do besides procrastinate to take care of needy parts of yourself. Do you need more structure? More support? Is there some other fear or issue that needs to be resolved so that you can let go of your procrastination?
4. Identify the ways in which your life would be better if you change your habits, and what you would need to give up to make it happen.
Pretty much, make a pros and cons list... identify the rewards and the costs of making a change.
5. Decide if you want to change.
For this to work, you must truly and fully decide that change is worthwhile and you are ready to let procrastination go. Not sure? Make a better case for yourself. You may doubt many things about the process, but in order to succeed, you must be absolutely and compellingly convinced of your desire to change, and fully committed, before you begin.
6. Start slow. Notice your mistakes and obstacles as they come up, and learn from them.
Identify one goal that you've been procrastinating on, and set up a specific action plan for when and how you'll accomplish it. Block out time with yourself on your calendar daily or weekly to work on your goal, and hold that time sacred. If you hit bumps in the road, don't give up... learn from your mistakes, adjust your course and keep at it!
7. Keep or renegotiate your promises to yourself.
If you end up needing to change your goal or your scheduled work time on the goal, be sure it's only in a rare situation and for good reason. Most importantly, don't decide to work on your priority goal "later" - reschedule it for a specific time, preferably in the same week. Hold yourself accountable.
8. Be patient and gentle with yourself.
Trust in anyone, including yourself, is demonstrated over time. Habits too are changed over time... after all, they were learned over time, too. You'll get there if you keep working at it, but it won't happen overnight.
9. Get organized, and get realistic about what matters most and how much you want to do.
In other words, create structures that will support your more productive lifestyle.
10. Educate yourself about procrastination and avoidance.
As you begin to achieve put-off goals, you can work to eliminate procrastination in more areas of your life. Here are some great books to read if you'd like to learn more.
Reader Comments (1)
"Procrastination is, among other things, a decision to stop holding yourself accountable." Wow. That alone was worth the read! But I also love how concrete these steps are. Thanks, Thekla!