I was going to procrastinate, but I think I’ll wait a bit longer!

Procrastination is the opposite of good time managment!

Beware of to do lists! Unless they are small and only cover “incidentals” they are likely to get in the way.

It’s so easy for a to-do lists to sub-divide and you end up with mutiple to do lists that snowball out of control, and you spend more time re-writing them than getting anythging done.

In fact, it can become so overwhelming that it makes you freeze in your tracks — preventing you from getting anything done. “How can it get this bad?” you ask. One word … procrastination. People procrastinate by putting things off rather than working on them. This causes things to build up to the point where they’re no longer manageable. “Procrastination makes easy things hard, hard things harder.” See if you recognise these 14 most common reasons why people procrastinate:

I’m very busy, so it’ll have to wait. Too busy procrastinating!

Lack of discipline. I’ll do this some other time.

Too much to do – where to start. So you don’t start anything

Fear of failure. I’m not sure I can do this. So I won’t even try.

Ignore it. If I don’t think about it, maybe it’ll go away.

Unreasonable doubt If I can’t guarantee success, I won’t even attempt it, in case I fail.

Feeling overwhelmed. This project seems daunting. I’ll think about how/when to start . . . later on.

Fear of complexity. “I’m not sure where to begin, so I won’t.”

Lack of motivation. I’m not in the mood.

Fear of accountability. I’m afraid to fail incase it upsets my boss.

Feeling bored. This is so dull. I’d rather be doing something else.

Lack of urgency. It doesn’t need to be done yet, it’s not due for several days.

Fear of making a decision. I’m not sure – I need more information before I can start.

Wait till the last minute. Deadlines are good – I respond well to a tight deadline.

Do any of these explanations sound familiar? If so, do something about it:

  • Start by using a diary, and put things in it. If it’s worth doing, set aside the time to do it (if it’s a big task, then set aside an hour each day to do it until it’s finished). Only fill 6 hours of every day – there will be other “urgent things that can be squeezed in as required.
  • If you get through a day and you have fished everything 2 hours early – you have a choice – finsh up early, or pull some things forward from tomorrow (and get them completed ahead of time too).
  • So now your To-Do list is in your diary. When the next task comes, put it in the next empty spot. The urgent into today, the others later.
  • Only do what is in your diary
  • IF IT’S IN YOUR DIARY – DO IT, NOW
  • Use the “Eat that frog” principle – do the things that look horrid first thing in the day. Often you will be surorised how quickly and easily they get done.

So now you can feel smug becuase of all the things that you have achieved.

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