Putting an End to Procrastination

Unfortunately, procrastination has often been equated with laziness or indifference and has pretty much gotten a bad rap overall, despite the fact that nearly sixty percent of us have admitted to being a chronic procrastinator. But, the really good part is that you can actually learn to make procrastination work for you instead of against you, increase your productivity, your feelings of self worth, even your income, and finally help you to get yourself organized once and for all.

By definition, according to Webster, to procrastinate means to put off doing something until a future date or time. This blanket explanation of procrastinating really isn’t going to help you very much, but what will, however, is getting to the root of why you procrastinate in the first place.

Most of us are guilty of putting off something until tomorrow that needs attention today, the real problem arises when we make a habit out of it. Many habitual procrastinators are often perfectionists, have a fear of failure and tend to get overwhelmed easily, while others merely have poor organizational skills, or maybe none at all.

Once you’ve admitted to yourself the reason behind putting off until tomorrow what you should be doing today, you’ll be much better able to get back in control of your life. And, if it’s simply who you are, then learn to work around your bad habits instead of resigning yourself to a life of disorganization and chaos.

Here are a few helpful tips for finally putting an end to procrastination and for increasing your productivity.

Be Reasonable

Giving yourself unrealistic expectations is simply setting yourself up for failure before you’ve even begun to try. In other words, repeated failure merely perpetuates the cycle of procrastination. Deep down, you know what you’re capable of, so honestly assess the tasks at hand, making a list breaking everything down into manageable chunks and allowing yourself to take breaks in between every goal you complete before getting back on track.

Switch Things Around

If you’re one of those people who bore easily and never seem to be able to focus completely on one task at a time, realize that there’s no set rule that says you have to work this way to be productive or organized. If you’re more efficient while multi-tasking and enjoy tackling two or three projects at once, then by all means do so. And, while you’re busy putting off one thing, get to work on another that you can cross of the list rather than doing nothing at all.

It also helps to complete the least desirable chore first, getting it out of the way and basking in your accomplishment while you sail through the others with confidence.

Reward Yourself

Once you’ve accomplished some of your goals and actually stick to your to-do list for once, make it a point to reward yourself for a job well done. Self-defeat is one of the worst feelings and we all need to feel good about ourselves to give us the boost we need to forge ahead.

Remember that all of us have procrastinated over something at one time or another, it’s simply human nature to do so, but when we conquer our demons, realizing that we are our own worst enemies, we can learn how to make procrastination work for us and the possibilities are then literally endless.

Effective Goal Setting and How it Can Help Get Your Life Organized

Most of us set goals for ourselves on a regular basis, sometimes without even realizing it, but whether or not we actually follow through with them is a completely different story. And, some of us fall into the all too common trap of setting a bevy of unrealistic goals and then suffering the emotional consequences as we fail to meet them, putting us back even further than we were to begin with.

If some aspect of your life is in dire need of organizing then you should consider making goal setting a part of your regular routine. We’re only given a mere 24 hours each day to accomplish what we want or need to do so it only makes sense to spend that time as wisely as possible as we all know life is way too short as it is to be wasted in any way.

Everyone, from the athlete to the corporate executive to the small business owner to the stay-at-home mom, can benefit greatly from effective goal setting and becoming more organized in the process, the only trouble is that most people have no idea where or how to begin this life changing transformation.

Here are the four simple steps you’ll need to be on your way to making effective goal setting second nature and reaping the many rewards to follow.

1. Positive Equals Positive: The first component of any goal should be that it is expressed positively. There’s a pretty big difference between, “My goal is to not lose any more clients this quarter” and “My goal is to increase our client base by two percent this quarter” even if the end result is virtually the same.

2. Getting it in Writing: Whether you use a simple sheet of paper, a daily planner, or a program on your computer, make it habit to start writing lists, both large and small. There are plenty of free and low cost software related to goal setting, but all you really need is a blank file that you can add and remove text from as needed.

And, never underestimate the power of visually seeing something crossed off your to-do list as it becomes shorter and shorter.

3. Using Sub-Goals: A sub-goal, as the name suggests, is simply a smaller goal that’s a part of a larger one. For example, if one of your goals is to get your master’s degree, then break that down further into smaller goals of finishing a semester with a certain grade point average, or devoting a certain amount of time each day to studying.

Breaking down work related goals into reasonably sized chunks simply makes it easier to complete one before moving on to the next.

4. Multitasking is Your Friend: If you cringe at the word “multitask” or if it’s something you’ve never been able to do, don’t be alarmed as everyone, men and women, are capable of multitasking. It’s simply a matter of doing the right things at the right time.

Expand your horizons, and your mind, by doing two things at once. Of course you shouldn’t try something ridiculous like driving and paying the month’s bills, but what about something simple like reading the newspaper while riding the exercise bike in the morning?

For a great time saver, consider investing in a simple voice activated tape recorder that you can use anytime to record important thoughts, or your next proposal for work that you just happened to think of while doing the dishes. Also use it to remind yourself of upcoming tasks instead of always relying on those handy sticky notes.