Inspired Coaching

“Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.”
William James

What are the four characteristics of a great procrastinator?

1.    Procrastinators are highly optimistic that they are going to get everything done and meet their deadlines.  They reassure themselves that there is plenty of time to get it all done, and therefore there is no need to start right now!

2.    Procrastinators believe that they work well under pressure, because the eleventh hour is the only time they do the important stuff.  What’s more, the results of this frantic gust of work-wind will always be acceptable somehow.

3.    Procrastinators have low belief in their own ability because they know that their work could be so much better if they spent a little more time on it, but they are too afraid to put it to the test in case they are wrong.

4.    Procrastinators are often too busy with lots of little things, like paper shuffling or making tea, checking e-mails… they distort these activities into important acts that have to get done before they can be in the right frame of mind for the real project.

Four Things Procrastinators tell themselves and others:

1.    The task is too difficult.
2.    The task is too time consuming.
3.    The task requires knowledge I don’t yet have and it will take time to learn it.
4.    Executing the task will show that I’m actually no good at it.  So I’ll do a half decent job with the excuse that I only spent a little time on it.

Seven Ways to turn procrastination into action:

“If you are so good at procrastination, why don’t you put it off for a while?” Unknown Author

1.    Be willing to change your current way of thinking.  Seneca says that “It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.”
2.    Discover the real reason why you put things off.  Listen to them. Dispute them vigorously and begin.
3.    If you think you work best under pressure, create a competition for yourself. Put yourself under play pressure and give yourself a reward if you succeed.  Invent whatever scenario you like to do so.  Be creative and trick your mind until a new habit is formed.  You can also create peer pressure by telling everyone that you’re going to get something done by tonight.
4.    Break a time consuming task into tiny chunks and do them in 90-minute slots.  Make sure they look small.  Set yourself a clear outcome for those 90 minutes.  This is the perfect time frame our brain can operate at maximum capacity. Set a timer and begin.  The timer will tell you how much time you have left to finish the task.  This will speed you up, give you energy and momentum.  (This is how I write all my articles!)
5.    If you are a procrastinating perfectionist and feel overwhelmed by the sheer thought of a project, make sure you always praise yourself for what you’ve done well instead of putting yourself down for what you yet have to do.
6.    To avoid the busy nothingness: Plan ahead for the next day the night before.   The unconscious mind then will want to get started with the most important thing first. This means no quick looks at e-mails, facebook or paperwork.
7.    Don’t underestimate the power of self-talk.  If you focus on the fact that you never have enough time, this will remain a self-fulfilling prophecy.  What can you tell yourself instead that will empower you to take focused action?

“Success is the progressive realisation of a worthy goal or ideal” Earl Nightingale.