Procrastination is a cunning and persistent thief of energy. That horrible “something is hanging over me” feeling when, let’s be honest, we would feel so much better if we just got it done already. I’d love to say I don’t procrastinate, but I have my moments too.
These are my Go To inspirations to move me out of inertia and into action. Grab your To Do list and let’s create some momentum:
1 “Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.” William James
Good to know that procrastination was an energy sucking issue back in James’ day — even before the interwebs and Facebook there was still a tendency to put things off. To liberate your energy, pick three things you have been putting off. Cross one off the list for ever — just decide, hell, I don’t really care (let’s face it: if you did you would have done it already), it’s just not going to happen.
Number Two — delegate it somehow, pay someone, bribe a small child, whatever it takes, get it done without you having to do the doing. It won’t be perfect but at least it will be off the list.
And the third one — suck it up buttercup, get it done. Just get it done so you can release back all that energy into your system.
2 “To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing.” Eva Young
As does thinking it needs to be “perfect”. Sometimes just starting, and getting it done is enough. When we wait for too long we can lose the momentum completely. Perfectionism kills countless plans and splendid ideas. Pick something low-risk on your To Do list and get it done, not perfectly — just done. Feel the relief. Move on.
3 “It is an undoubted truth, that the less one has to do, the less time one finds to do it in.” Earl of Chesterfield
The most productive people I know are working mums. What they pack into a day blows my mind. The less time they have, the less they procrastinate. The more time we have the more we can dither about endlessly...sometimes the perception of “not having enough time” can be leveraged as a plus. Can you give yourself a “fake” deadline to get yourself motivated, or get an accountability buddy who will call you on your endless deadline creep? By reducing the time, can you light a fire under your butt to make it happen?
4 “Putting off an easy thing makes it hard. Putting off a hard thing makes it impossible.” George Claude Lorimer
Have you noticed that? The longer you leave it the harder and more impossible and boring and awful it seems? Biting the bullet and being disciplined keeps an easy job easy; it’s often all the dilly-dallying that makes it hard, not the actual task itself. Conversely when you actually face the awful long put-off Task Of Hideousness, it’s often not as bad as you built it up in your mind to be. Dreading it was worse than actually doing it. Solution — if it’s quick and easy do it right there and then, don’t give yourself the opportunity to ruminate on it.
5 “Someday is not a day of the week.” Author Unknown
Dammit. That’s too true. Nor is “later” or “when I get to it”. Good point. Well made. Make today count, right? This is closely related to: “One of these days is none of these days.” Attributed to both Henri Tubach and H.G. Bohn
6 “Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.” Napoleon Hill
This is so true. The time is NOW. That’s all we ever really have. So whatever it is ... starting to write your novel, spending more time with your mum, learning to pole vault, taking up Spanish, cleaning the darn windows — whatever it is — all we really have is today. If it’s important, really important to you, make it happen. If it’s not important, don’t sweat it, just cross it off the list and clear it from your mind. That way you free up your energy to deal with taking action on the stuff you really value.
Aahh — now doesn’t that feel better?
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Louise Thompson is a life coach, author and corporate escapee. Read Bite articles from Louise or visit louisethompson.com for more.
