What Does Procrastination and Low Motivation Cost You?
Have you ever stopped and asked yourself exactly what procrastination and low motivation costs you? It may be money, friends, social relationships, job promotions… travel to exotic places, writing a novel, or simply the rich feeling of living a life by your design.
Do you intuitively understand that absolutely nothing is going to change… until you do?
Successful people will tell you that they devote anywhere from ten minutes to an hour each and every day – engaged in something that inspires, motivates and encourages them! The tools may be different – books, CDs or videos, quotes, journaling, prayer and meditation – but the results remain the same… positive change is undeniable.
Procrastination becomes a vicious cycle of feeling inadequate, guilty, depressed and lacking in self esteem… while achieving nothing notable in your life.
Whenever you avoid completing important tasks, you are setting yourself up to experience that cycle… you are simply more inclined to:
1. manage your time poorly,
2. fail to clearly identify primary objectives,
3. become overwhelmed by too many tasks,
4. find it difficult to concentrate,
5. be easily distracted or influenced by casual things around you, and
6. waste time on meaningless activities.
How to Break the Chain of Self-Defeating Behavior…
The first step is to admit that you have a problem with time management, focus, concentration, and prioritizing; the next is to take corrective action to modify those behaviors.
A part of the process includes a personal assessment, keying into every single one of your skills, assets, positive habits, experience, education and expertise. Armed with embracing what you have to share with the world, you are better able to develop a “can do” attitude. Confidence is not something that can be found simply by reading self-help books that explain the concept; confidence is developed by doing! It is the little successes in life that prepare us for the larger ones.
Personal discipline is one of the most powerful “tools” you can draw on! Many people fight it with an uncanny ferocity – feeling someone has told them what to do for the better part of their lives and they are going to do what feels right for them, now.
It is all a mindset! You do get to make choices… you do get to draw the boundaries and you do get to choose what you will do and when. The important thing to remember, however, is that who you are and what you will have achieved in the next 3-5 years will be the result of those choices! Make them from a place of wisdom rather than torn emotions.
Plant this little thought in the middle of your mind: “Discipline equals personal freedom.” Once you have control over personally taking a strategic approach to your life rather than a reactive one, you will have freedom beyond measure; freedom experienced only through disciplined actions.
That personal discipline calls for time management, prioritizing tasks, and creating an environment of productivity. You may well have heard it said that we don’t “manage” time – we manage how we utilize it. That is an important thing to remember because it puts the accountability back on us. It requires that we:
- set priorities and perform each task accordingly;
- block out time for important activities and stay focused and on task;
- look at large projects and determine how to break them down into smaller, less overwhelming ones, so that we remain actively engaged in completing them rather than getting immobilized by their enormity;
- pace ourselves – taking periodic breaks where we energize our bodies and revitalize our brains; and
- create a work environment that does not encourage distractions, and provides for important information and supplies be close at hand.
Over a very short period of time, minor changes in your attitude and work habits will reflect a dramatic increase in your performance; and subsequently diminishing or eliminating your need to procrastinate over things that are frightening or overwhelming.
ACTION STEP:
Read this a second time and take time to answer the following questions:
- What is procrastination costing you?
- Consider one act where you know without a doubt that you are procrastinating. Why do you feel you are not moving forward?
- What would be your greatest fear about completing the task you are running away from?
- What is that costing you right now?
- What will it continue to cost you in the future?
- What are the skills and/or talents you have that could help you complete your task?
- If you are lacking in skills, are they something you could learn?
- If not, is there a “part” of the project you could outsource so you can keep moving forward with the remainder of it?
- What are you willing to do today that will move you away from procrastinating?
In parting, remember… nothing happens without change. It is the questions in life you actually take time to answer that make the greatest difference in how you resolve any problem you may face. It is in taking time to face those problems and responding to them intellectually, emotionally and mentally that changes who you are and who you can become during that process.
Anna Weber 4-Dimensional Success AnnaWeber@4-Dsuccess.com
