Critical Considerations On Keeping Procrastination From Undermining Good Intentions
Procrastination really should be a four letter word as it is often at the root of many a failed project, a missed goal, a target unachieved or a disappointment. Sadly, procrastination seems to be a regular human failing, as we are far better at coming up with excuses not to do something than we are otherwise. Ask yourself – how often have you put something off until later, for no really urgent or pressing reason? The opposite of procrastination is prioritisation and putting off a certain task for any reason should be far from your mind. If we're not careful, the much less intrusive or simpler task could become way more important in our list of priorities, even though we know that we need to prioritise the other task instead.
If you procrastinate a lot, all you are doing is “hoping” that time will be available at a later date, or that something will come along to motivate you to tackle the task that you truly know you have to complete. In truth, when we procrastinate this way and put something off, we internally feel that we have let ourselves down and this can have a direct and very negative effect on our frame of mind and can seek to ruin our day anyway. Productive time management requires that we eliminate procrastination entirely.
Train your mind to make the best decisions, if you find it difficult to make them and always hesitate before you do so. If you feel procrastination coming on, something inside you will be telling you that you should go ahead and tackle a commitment now and not put it off – you need to listen to this voice in your head. You are being very unproductive if you are procrastinating and putting off major tasks until the last possible moment. In addition to this negativity, you will be building up stress within you for no real reason. If you doubt this, shrug off the questions next time and tackle a job right away, finishing in style and ahead of time and see how much better you'll feel.
The sad fact of life is that unless you recognise what procrastination is and get ready to control it, at some stage in the future it will have a very significant effect on your life, be it in a personal or career situation. Take this as an invitation to change, not as a way to try and scare you!
Don't use fear of failure as an excuse for not getting involved right now with a task that you know needs to be done. Before you take a task on, make sure that you have the skills available and all the necessary information to ensure that you can complete it well. By being positive and looking at everything in such a light, you can be more productive and use your precious time to best effect.
With online time management tools such as time tracking software, you can help to eliminate those really wasteful periods of time during each day spent daydreaming or on needless worrying. You are in control of your own destiny and by being highly effective, limiting procrastination and being committed, the sky is the limit. In this day and age, time management software is a great asset to help put theory into practice for the focused person.
