“Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task” _ William James
We covered in a previous article some patterns and behaviours that lead to procrastination. We can change them, especially if they can support us in achieving our goals.
People who consistently achieve their goals – whether it is losing 10 kg, writing a book or going for a 1-year world trip – have a strategy with the following elements:
– they have the appropriate mindset
– they make a plan
– they take small steps
– they go with the flaws and let go of perfection
Adopt a supportive mindset and watch out your language
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work” _ Thomas Edison
The mindset is a set of assumptions, values and beliefs that causes specific behaviours. It is a filter of the world. Since there is a direct correlation between mindset and behaviour, we understand that changing one has an impact on the other.
How does this apply to procrastination? If you call yourself a procrastinator, you are very likely to act like one. It will be very hard to change since another part of you will behave as a procrastinator. We learnt here that there is a strong connection between what we say and what we believe or think.
A first step to get things done could be to adopt a mindset that will help you achieving your goals. You may want to try the following:
– watch out the words you use to qualify yourself
– say what you want to achieve instead of what you are afraid of
– prove yourself right by remembering all the times you finished the work on time
Compare the mindset with the foundations of a house. How would you want to see the walls standing on their own if they are not well supported?
Build a system to get to work that you cannot resist
If we have put off this assignment for so long, getting back to work is not easy. We need to find a way to ease the working process. Have you ever had to build a new piece of furniture and spent hours reconstructing it because you did not have any construction plan? Plans can save you precious time.
The interest of building a get-to-work system is that you trust the plan that you created no matter the circumstances. The more you act automatically, the less likely your emotions – lack of motivation, tiredness, overwhelm – are going come in between you and the assignment.
In an efficient system you will:
– identify your enemy – mostly distractions – and remove them
– schedule realistic work time
– hack the deadline
Know the Enemy and keep them away
Let us be honest. Who can actually focus for one hour on typing a report while having Facebook, email and WhatsApp on? I would love to be able to but I cannot. To get rid of your enemies, know them! Since I get easily distracted – oh, it’s snowing! –, I switch off my phone or I leave it far away from me and I do not open any browser. I know how far Wikipedia and I can go… If Facebook is your enemy, block it or try Martine’s 30-day challenge. The idea if to build an enemy-free environment!
Schedule realistic working time
Honesty, again! Do you think that you can finish in 2 hours a 4000-word essay that you have been intentionally putting off for months? It is important to be realistic in scheduling your working time.
Plan short working time slots with breaks and increase them as you gain more confidence.
For example, I write in my agenda the exact thing I am going to do and for how long. The more precise I am, the more focus I am going to be
Hack the deadline
Deadlines are daunting and produce anxiety if you have waited for the last-minute to tackle the task. Why not setting an earlier deadline than the real one? If we act as if we have to finish the assignment earlier, our mind will be focused on this fictional deadline and we increase the chances to finish the assignment on time, without anxiety.
This is a very effective technique for me. Some days ago, I had to do a presentation in a foreign language. Even if I had known it 2 months earlier, I started one week before the presentation. I decided that I had to get this done in two evenings, which left me actually 2 evenings to revise and to practice the speech.
Chunk your task in clear small steps
If you are overwhelmed at the idea to start accomplishing your work, you may find useful to break the assignment in small pieces. You would never eat a pie in a go, would you?
Why is it efficient? Because we love accomplishing things and we are demotivated with failure. Chunking keeps your motivation tank high and enables to progress in your task. Say you have an exam in a foreign language and you feel overwhelmed because you have not studied at all. You could start by learning a new sentence per day and then switch to two, etc.
Go with the flaws: forget about perfection and embrace your humanity
“The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection.” _ Georges Orwell
Perfectionism often comes with anxiety, fear and guilt and cause paralysis. It produces very non-useful emotions that hinder our actions.
One of the main things I learnt from my personal development journey is that the quest for perfection is vain. The blend truth is that humans fail and the best we can do about it is seeing this as experiences that teach us how to become better.
By letting go of perfection you embrace your humanity and expand your possibilities. You free yourself from what is preventing you from taking action.
Ready to defeat procrastination?
It takes honesty and self-study to be able to get things done when we indulge on procrastination. If you :
– Change your mindset
– Build your Get-To-Work system
– Take baby steps
– Let go of perfection
Follow those steps and notice how different your life is becoming! Do not forget to share your experiences with us!
Great article.
“Quest for perfection is vain” / Totaly true / Made it perfect, take too much time, energy / if it’s work at 80/90%, that great for the most of the cases 🙂