Do it now: Understanding procrastination - Part II
Is your procrastination getting on your nerves yet? If not, I bet someone in your life has had it with your ability to put things off indefinitely. Yesterday we attempted to understand why people put things off so easily, today, let’s look at how to turn these reasons into starting points to becoming a ‘doer’.
(For descriptions of the following “problems”, see yesterday’s entry)
Problem: The Perfectionist’s Curse
Solution: Why is the quest for perfectionism called a curse? Because in some cases, perfectionism is simply not necessary! Yes, you should try your best but keep in mind that you can only do your best with what you have. So, in yesterday’s example of the rip in a piece of clothing, let’s say a grey pair of pants, choose the closest colour of thread you have (an exact match is not necessary) and stitch them up! In all other areas, look at the problem, look at your resources, and using what you have, do your best. Rest assured, in only very rare cases will your absolute best not be enough.
Lesson: make the limits of perfection the resources you have at hand. Sure, if you had a ten thousand dollar budget, you could probably do a better renovation job on the bathroom, but using the resources you have to replace the sink, add a fresh coat of paint, or redo the curtains is also a success.
Problem: Laziness
Solution: Nike has had much success with the “Just do it” slogan so why not apply it to getting over laziness. Just (get up and) do it! If you are a longtime procrastinator, you are well aware that putting things off doesn’t make them go away. So get going and save the resting for after the job is done.
Lesson: laziness breeds more laziness, or it leads to panic as you end up not having enough time to accomplish your important goals. Your time is precious; don’t let laziness rob you of it.
Problem: It’s just a temporary delay
Solution: If your temporary delays are never that, you can’t afford to give yourself that time. If you truly don’t know how a short delay ends up being months, set a timer for short time periods (five minutes, 30 minutes, two hours). When the timer goes off, you must get to work. You may also find it useful to break the task down into small elements that you can do and then take a break before moving on to the next element, allowing you to put things off–but not indefinitely.
Lesson: If you start things right away, and stop allowing yourself ‘temporary’ delays, you will get things done. Your rest will be that much sweeter as you’ve earned it due to your hard work.
Problem: Fear (of failure)
Solution: The best way to get over a fear of failure is to fail! You will be shocked to realize that there is life after failure, and this life can sometimes be even better than before. “Show me someone who has never failed and I will show you somebody who has never tried” a saying goes and there is a reason for that. Failure is a part of life. The act of failing always teaches you (and sometimes others) a lesson or two (whether these lessons are learned is another thing), and some are able to use the lessons learned to lead them in an entirely different direction, one that leads to success. Putting off doing something then, can be like delaying reaching your full potential: you never know where your next success or failure will lead you.
Lesson: Fear of failure could very well be a fear of reaching your full potential.
Lest you think you are getting tips from a reformed procrastinator, tomorrow I will horrify you with my own to do list that I will need to apply these very principles to!
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