Morning Vibes With Dr Jerry - The First-Episode 146/Overcome Procrastination

Tuesday                         6th February 2018

Morning Vibes With Dr. Jerry - the First

Hello and welcome to #MorningVibesWithDrJerryTheFirst-Episode 146

Title:          If You Have To Choose Yourself First This Year, These Are The 8 Things To Throw Overboard - Overcome Procrastination

In continuation of our discussion on the habits to drop like a piece of hot charcoal if you have to choose yourself first this 2018.

Yesterday we took a look at Stop Criticizing Yourself And Others and discussed in details what it is and how it can be pushed out of the way for progress to be made

Today we are taking a look at Overcome Procrastination

Procrastination means -“The act or habit of putting off or delaying, especially something requiring immediate attention.”

It is simply "putting off for tomorrow what can be done today!"

Procrastination is a trap that many of us fall into.

In fact, according to researcher and speaker Piers Steel, 95 percent of us procrastinate to some degree.

While it may be comforting to know that you're not alone, it can be sobering to realize just how much it can hold you back.

Is  Procrastination the Same as Being Lazy?

Procrastination is often confused with laziness, but they are very different.

Procrastination is an active process – you choose to do something else instead of the task that you know you should be doing.

In contrast, laziness suggests apathy, inactivity and an unwillingness to act.

Procrastination usually involves ignoring an unpleasant, but likely more important task, in favor of one that is more enjoyable or easier.

But giving in to this impulse can have serious consequences. For example, even minor episodes of procrastination can make us feel guilty or ashamed.

It can lead to reduced productivity and cause us to miss out on achieving our goals.

If we procrastinate over a long period of time, we can become demotivated and disillusioned with our work, which can lead to depression and even job loss, in extreme cases.

But how we procrastinate and what we procrastinate on differs from person to person:

A student will procrastinate in school, waiting until the last minute to study for a test or write a term paper.

A professional will procrastinate on a work-related task because it’s challenging and requires hard work.

And an athlete might procrastinate on getting an injury checked out because he or she doesn’t want to miss an important game

We all have personal reasons for procrastinating. And it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking it’s not a big deal. You might even say to yourself: “It’s just a bad habit that I have, but it’s not that big of a deal.”

Of course people come up with all sorts of creative reasons why now, today, just isn’t the right time.

Too busy.

Too broke.

Too stressed.

Too risky.

Too uncertain.

Too inexperienced.

Too old.

Too young.

Too disruptive.

and all that

Occasionally those reasons are valid.

But more often they are simply excuses for doing the real work and experiencing the emotional discomfort inherent in making meaningful changes in our work and lives.

At the core of that discomfort is fear.  That potent and instinctive emotion whose reason for being is to protect us from pain (including the emotional variety) and urge us away from anything it perceives might threaten our sense of self, injure our pride, or rattle our world.

However, left unchecked, those fears can drive us to cling on to the hope that if we procrastinate long enough, our situation will improve, or our misgivings will magically evaporate and be replaced with newfound clarity and courage.

We tell ourselves that ‘one day’ we will be ready to make a change, or take a chance; that ‘one day’ the timing will be better, our confidence stronger, our circumstances easier.

Unfortunately the reverse is generally true.

As the days roll steadily by, our fears grow larger, not smaller, until they eventually lead to a burial ground for unfulfilled dreams and untapped potential.  

All the time, our procrastination can exact a steep toll on our finances, career, business, relationships and health.

We are loath to admit it, but in electing to put off today what can be done tomorrow, we inadvertently sell out on our happiness – both today, and in the many tomorrows that comprise our future.

Philosopher William James was not understating the impact of procrastination when he said, “Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an unfulfilled goal.”

It is important to know that “Life rewards action. Nothing great is accomplished without it.” and also that "delay grows increasingly expensive"

How to Overcome Procrastination

As with most habits , it is possible to overcome procrastination.

Here, I present to you the Steps and Practices to help you to deal with and prevent procrastination:

Step 1: Recognize That You're Procrastinating

You might be putting off a task because you've had to re-prioritize your workload.

If you're briefly delaying an important task for a genuinely good reason, then you aren't necessarily procrastinating.

However, if you start to put things off indefinitely, or switch focus because you want to avoid doing something, then you probably are.

You may also be procrastinating if you:

Fill your day with low-priority tasks.

Leave an item on your To-Do list for a long time, even though it's important.

Read emails several times over without making a decision on what to do with them.

Start a high-priority task and then go off to make a coffee.

Fill your time with unimportant tasks that other people ask you to do, instead of getting on with the important tasks already on your list.

Wait to be in "right mood," or wait for the "right time" to tackle a task.

Step 2: Work Out WHY You're Procrastinating

You need to understand the reasons why you are procrastinating before you can begin to tackle it.

For instance, are you avoiding a particular task because you find it boring or unpleasant?

If so, take steps to get it out of the way quickly, so that you can focus on the aspects of your job that you find more enjoyable.

Poor organization can lead to procrastination.

Organized people successfully overcome it because they use prioritized To-Do-Lists  and create effective Schedules . These tools help you to organize your tasks by priority and deadline.

Even if you're organized, you can still feel overwhelmed by a task.

Perhaps you have doubts about your ability and are worried about failing , so you put it off and seek comfort in doing work that you know that you're capable of completing.

Some people fear success as much as failure. They think that success  will lead to them being swamped with requests to take on more tasks.

Surprisingly, perfectionists are often procrastinators. Often, they'd rather avoid doing a task that they don't feel they have the skills to do, than do it imperfectly.

Another major cause of procrastination is poor decision-making.

If you can't decide what to do, you'll likely put off taking action in case you do the wrong thing.

Step 3: Adopt Anti-Procrastination Strategies

Procrastination is a habit – a deeply ingrained pattern of behavior.

This means that you probably can't break it overnight.

Habits only stop being habits when you avoid practicing them, so try as many of the strategies, below, as possible to give yourself the best possible chance of succeeding.

Forgive yourself for procrastinating in the past. Studies show that self-forgiveness can help you to feel more positive about yourself and reduce the likelihood of procrastination in the future.

Commit to the task. Focus on doing, not avoiding. Write down the tasks that you need to complete, and specify a time for doing them. This will help you to proactively tackle your work.

Promise yourself a reward. If you complete a difficult task on time, reward yourself with a treat, such as a slice of cake or a coffee from your favorite coffee shop. And make sure you notice how good it feels to finish things!

Ask someone to check up on you. Peer pressure works! This is the principle behind self-help groups. If you don't have anyone to ask, an online tool such as Procraster can help you to self-monitor.

Act as you go. Tackle tasks as soon as they arise, rather than letting them build up over another day.

Rephrase your internal dialog. The phrases "need to" and "have to," for example, imply that you have no choice in what you do. This can make you feel disempowered and might even result in self-sabotage . However, saying, "I choose to," implies that you own a project, and can make you feel more in control of your workload.

Minimize distractions. Turn off your email and social media, and avoid sitting anywhere near a television while you work!

Aim to "eat an elephant beetle"  first thing, every day! Get those tasks that you find least pleasant out of the way early. This will give you the rest of the day to concentrate on work that you find more enjoyable.

If you're procrastinating because you find a task unpleasant, try to focus on the "long game."

Research shows that impulsive people are more likely to procrastinate because they are focused on short-term gain.

Combat this by identifying the long-term benefits of completing the task. For instance, could it affect your annual performance review or end-of-year bonus?

Another way to make a task more enjoyable is to identify the unpleasant consequences of avoiding it.

For instance, what will happen if you don't complete the work? How might it affect your personal, team or organizational goals?

At the same time, it can be useful to reframe the task by looking at its meaning and relevance.

This will increase its value to you and make your work more worthwhile. It's also important to acknowledge that we can often overestimate the unpleasantness of a task.

So give it a try! You may find that it's not as bad as you thought, after all!

If you procrastinate because you're disorganized, here are six strategies to help you get organized:

Keep a To-Do List. This will prevent you from "conveniently" forgetting about those unpleasant or overwhelming tasks.

Prioritize your To-Do List using Eisenhower's Urgent Important Principle . This will enable you to quickly identify the activities that you should focus on, as well as the ones you can ignore.

Become a master of scheduling and project planning. If you have a big project or multiple projects on the go and you don't know where to start, these tools can help you to plan your time effectively, and reduce your stress levels.

Tackle the hardest tasks at your peak times . Do you work better in the morning or the afternoon? Identify when you're most effective, and do the tasks that you find most difficult at these times.

Set yourself time-bound goals . Setting yourself specific deadlines to complete tasks will keep you on track to achieve your goals, and will mean that you have no time for procrastination!

Use task- and time-management apps. There are numerous apps designed to help you to be more organized, such as Trello and Toggl, for example.

If you're prone to delaying projects because you find them overwhelming, try breaking them down into more manageable chunks.

Organize your projects into smaller tasks and focus on starting them, rather than on finishing them.

In his 2011 book, "The Procrastination Cure" Jeffery Combs suggests tackling tasks in 15-minute bursts of activity.

Alternatively, you can create an Action Plan  to organize your project.

Start with quick and small tasks first. These "small wins" will give you a sense of achievement, and will make you feel more positive and less overwhelmed by the larger project or goal that you are working towards.

Finally, if you think that you are putting something off because you can't decide what action to take or you find it hard to make decisions, take a look at the range of decision making tools to help you to develop your decision-making skills.

Until I come your way again, this is #MorningVibesWithDrJerryTheFirst

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