Overcome the procrastination habit by ....

We think it can't be "THAT" easy, we think overcoming the procrastination habit has to be hard, else why are we having the problem in the first place. But what if I were to tell you it can sometimes be easy to overcome the procrastination habit if you do a few things on a regular basis - would you believe me? Or would you read what am I about to tell you and say - but I know ALL THAT - you're not telling me something I don't know.

You see the people who seem to have all the luck and those who always seem motivated to do things, really do some if not all of the following on a regular basis. They are easy to do, they are also easy NOT to do. You've heard the phrase - an apple a day keeps the doctor away - well what if that were true? It's easy to eat an apple a day, it's also easy to forget to eat an apple a day - we dismiss it as being too simple.

Well as I say, it can be simple - the biggest problems we tend to have is getting our minds to believe it. So my suggestions to overcome / end / cure procrastination are as follows. Try one suggestion, try all of them - remember, some may work well for you and some may not. But don't throw this list away thinking it's useless and nothing new ... after all one day you may thank me for it.

Overcome the procrastination habit by:

• Choosing a task and sticking to it until you finish it
• Avoiding the negative
• Getting around positive people
• Turning off the internet and email if you need to concentrate
• Turn the phone to silent and close your office door if you are plagued by interruptions - it has been said that every interruption costs us about 8 minutes of productivity - 8 minutes PER interruption
• Decide to be better in the next 5 minutes than you were in the last
• Getting enough sleep - if you plan to work hard tomorrow your body needs to rest and recover from today's exertions. Most of us simply don't get enough sleep.
• Do the important things first (important means those items that bring you the most reward / money), leave the admin for those sluggish times when you can't think properly because you've hit a slump (usually straight after lunch)
• If you can't do without your daily fix of soaps and news ( WHY???) then sit on the floor and do your filing, or better still - move the exercise bike in front of it and get some benefit from filling your mind with negativity and way out and totally unbelievable drama
• Smile - believe it or not if you smile often your body makes the assumption that you are "happy" and happy people tend to get more done and far faster than grumpy people or neutral frames of mind. So - a case of fake it until you make it if you can't find anything worth smiling about today
• Don't let problems overwhelm you - in fact don't look at the problem at all - write down 20 off the wall suggestions and then take your own advice
• Don't let defeat slow you down - so you fell over, so what - get back up and go again.
• Enjoying what you do - again - fake it if you have to, but always leave a job better than when you found it
• Sticking to your diet and exercise program - even when you don't feel like it. It is the consistent application over time that yields the best results.
• Cut back on those things that you know are slowing you down. Chocolate, sweets, sugar, alcohol, cigarettes, talking too long to people who offer no results or ways to improve your results / are too negative.
• Find others who can help you / move you forwards - mentors, coaches etc
• Read a book that challenges you to do more / be more
• Not settling for average - average is not you, average is everyone else - you are not a sheep so don't follow the flock.
• Learning something new
• Use waiting time more effectively - carry notebooks and plan your next project steps.
• Being in the right frame of mind - if you are at work then work, if you are supposed to be "playing" then make sure you do. Others call it being in the now....
• Being happy with what you have while you work towards those other things you want
• Enjoying the process and journey that is change. If you don't - then you probably won't be happy with the goal / outcome
• Focussing on one thing at a time. If it needs your undivided attention - then give it.
• Turning your car into a place to learn

And finally for today - although I will give you some more ways to overcome the procrastination habit tomorrow

• Lead by example, you can't motivate others if you have trouble motivating yourself.

With many thoughts
Elle

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