Overcoming Procrastination - You Can Achieve Success

Procrastination is not just a word, it can be a way of life. Many people suffer from damaged relationships, poor health, or financial stress, which can often put off their responsibilities.

But what is procrastination? How do you recognize whether or not you have a problem with it? How do you go about understanding whether the negative experiences that you are having in life are the result of procrastination?

Procrastination comes from the Latin words "pro" and "cras" which means "for tomorrow". When a person procrastinates, they are making a conscious decision to put off something that they will have to do later. They may decide to keep putting it off indefinitely or wait until the very last minute to begin the job. Either way, life becomes stressful because of these choices.

If you are a member of the procrastination club, then you more than likely have a big list of responsibilities that you have not gotten around to or at the very least have made it a habit of beginning certain jobs and activities at the last minute, in which the damage is more likely already done.

Procrastination is a problem for you if you have a regular habit of telling people that "I have too much to do now, I will try to get to it next week", and so on.

Why do we ignore such responsibilities?

Every person has their own personal reasons why they choose to put aside their responsibilities. For some people, the item that needs to be attended to may appear to be too difficult or endangers their comfort zone.

Take smoking for example. This habit is one that literally kills people every day and thousands of men and women have promised themselves they would quit, yet they procrastinate on actually doing the things that help to stop. But quitting smoking would be just "too hard". Even though they want to quit, and must quit, they would rather put it off after "just one more cigarette" or "I'll quit after this pack of cigarettes is finished" or "I'm really stressed right now, and the cigarette will calm down, so I'll quit tomorrow when I feel better".

Does any of this sound familiar to you? Do you understand now what procrastination is and why your life is suffering from making these choices? Not everybody is faced with life-threatening decisions but if you are reading this the chances are high that there is something in your life that you wish to change for the better and can be turned around if you can just end procrastination, change your habits, and live the life you deserve.

Procrastination kills, literally!

By being prey to the terrible habit of "putting things off" in life, you jeopardize your career, you ruin relationships, your health declines, and stress levels rise to the point where you are in a constant state of anxiousness. Your mind is always worried about the things you should have done, the activities you need to do, and worst of all you fear the consequences of all of our past inactions combined.

Do you want to continue living like this? Of course not! But on the other hand, perhaps there is some psychological attraction to all of this grief. Maybe subconsciously you invite these negative feelings because there is something about procrastinating that makes you happy.

Are you confused by this possibility? Allow me to explain...

First of all, let's take a break for one second and know that before you come down too hard on yourself because you're one of the same people that have used procrastination all of your life, it is important to note that "putting things off" is very human.

At one point or another, every person alive has that natural instinct to avoid doing something that they would rather not be doing. It's only normal. In fact, it is a battle that most of us face everyday, especially for people like myself who are self-employed. You are not the only one. Everybody faces this challenge in life. Some just have more self-control and motivation to do what they should be doing. Other people do not.

Write this quote down...

Brian Tracy, a great motivational speaker and author, sums up beautifully in one of his audio seminars when he said "success is doing what it is you should be doing, whether you feel like it or not".

Write that quote down and place emphasis on the last part. Reread over and over the part where it says "whether you feel like it or not". People who have overcome procrastination are those that do what they have to do even if it's the last thing on earth they want to be doing at that time!

Getting back to the addiction...

Now let us get back to understanding why you may actually be "attracted" to living life stressed out due to procrastination. You see, like a drug, procrastination can actually give you a temporary feeling of power. In other words, whenever you decide that you can ignore a job or an activity that you have to do, you have the power to choose not to do it and in a strange way this actually "relieves you of your responsibility". However, this is a false relief and the responsibility never actually goes way. It just gets worse.

Procrastination also allows a person to drop everything and to "take a break from the real world". For example, instead of saving up money on payday like you have been planning to in order to pay off your debts, it would be more fun to spend it on a night out at the movies. Instead of studying for that test that you must take in order to move ahead at work, procrastination gives you a "reason" to drop it and do something fun instead.

If improving your health and fitness is a goal of yours which you decide to put off getting rest early each night, this gives you a reason not to get up early in the morning to work out.

Can you see the pattern? Can you understand how using procrastination can actually "feel good"? Is it starting to make sense now why procrastination can feel so good, but be twice as disastrous to your life?

Before you can make changes in the right direction it is important that you realize exactly what attracts you to making the decisions of putting off your responsibilities. You must come to an understanding and embrace the fact that you do these things in order to achieve temporary relief. And lastly, it is vital that you come to terms with the fact that these decisions are only making matters worse.

Is procrastination preventing you from being the successful person that you should be? Is the statement "I'll get it done tomorrow" becoming your daily mantra? Although it seems harmless to put off activities until you feel like doing them, the problem is that they all add up and before you know it, procrastination becomes "hardwired" as a long-term mindset

If you are the type of person that takes action and creates time to handle your responsibilities, then procrastination should not be an issue. However, for most people who become stressed and seem to never be able to catch up, they are the ones that never really "get back to it" when the time comes. You will find another reason to put the job off and once again that same old habit of "I'll get it done tomorrow" kicks in.

Newsflash: Tomorrow Never Comes, Does It?

As soon as you recall the thing that you decided to put off, what happens next? You guessed it - you decide that it can still wait for a better time. Procrastination habits like this can have extremely negative consequences on both your life and the lives of others around you. Most of us who have a problem with putting things off never stop to realize that this is a serious negative habit pattern that can impact your family and friends who depend on you.

What is worse is that procrastination is one of the most highly noted character flaws that prevents individuals from increasing their income and providing abundance for themselves and their loved ones. This alone is a good enough reason to enter into a program that will help break the habit of procrastination. What more motivation do you need in order to handle your responsibilities on time? Don't you deserve to move ahead in life? Doesn't your family deserve to live a life of abundance?

It's Tough To Admit...

I realize that you are reading this article and answering these questions to yourself and getting that "light bulb" moment. In other words, unless you truly look at yourself and are totally honest about the problem you have with procrastination, it is extremely easy to overlook the issue and never consider for once just how much further ahead in life you would be if you paid closer attention to your habits. Sometimes all it takes is one simple little article like this one that opens your eyes to an entire possibility you never knew existed.

Let me further give you some more questions to think about in order to help you realize that you are shortchanging yourself from living the life you should be due to procrastination. Below are a few more questions that should give you enough reason to start changing your bad habits and start taking responsibility today:

1. How many times did you put off a project at work that could've gotten you a raise in pay, more admiration from your colleagues, or the opportunity to move up the ladder of success?

2. When you look at yourself in the mirror and are unhappy with your physical shape and health, what daily habits could you have started months, or even years ago, that would have drastically improved your well-being? Why not start today?

3. Take stock of your atmosphere. How does it make you feel? Is your house cluttered because you keep putting off organization tasks? Is the inside of your car a mess? If these things do not seem important to you, I dare you to spend just one day cleaning and fixing everything up in your atmosphere. You'll be surprised by how much energy and motivation a neat and organized surrounding can give you.

Procrastination is like an addiction. What does that mean?

Well if you are unfamiliar with what an addiction feels like, just imagine feeling powerless and without control over a behavior pattern that does nothing but hurt you, yet at the same time you feel unable to make changes. No matter how hard you try to stop the addiction, it is so much easier to quit the attempt progress, and before you can make a difference. Instead, you fall right back into your old habit patterns.

If you have a problem with procrastination, there is a powerful force within you that seems to control your every action. Yet you cannot figure out where this force is coming from. Although being a habitual procrastinator is not a disease, the effects are the same as the case with drug addiction or alcohol dependency. You end up giving in to the very impulses that create the problem.

When it comes to the men and women who constantly put things off and ignore their responsibilities, the results are equivalent to any other addiction: stress, money problems, relationship issues, and lack of self confidence.

People who habitually procrastinate tend to display the same verbal signs. In other words, they are "all talk and no action". You will hear them constantly talking about how much they have to do and talk about the reasons why they can't get anything done.

Professional procrastinators talk a lot about how stressed they are and complain that nothing ever goes good for them. Obsession over what they should be doing is very common as well, and they like to let people around them know it.

Sometimes Procrastination Is Necessary.

Let's stop for a moment and not be too hard on those people that are extreme procrastinators. We don't want to give you the impression that you are a bad person just because you have a problem with responsibility. Instead, it is important to try to be as realistic as possible. And at the other end of the spectrum, there are actually times when procrastination is not such a bad thing after all.

When it comes to certain situations in life, sometimes the best action is to take no action at all. Consider for a moment that you have a handful of important items that need to be done all the same time, but by choosing to delay a few of them and by spreading them out over a longer period of time, the results will be more effective and with higher quality. You will also experience a lot less stress.

Another example of positive procrastination would be if you needed to delay something to an anticipated change of plans or events. For example, you may have promised to give your best friend a ride somewhere but the drive is an hour-long and you just heard on the news that is probably going to snow. Although your friend may be disappointed, it's best to put off the drive until when the conditions are much safer. Of course your friend may be disappointed at you but sometimes you just have to "put something off" until a better time.

The hardest part about kicking the habit of procrastination is developing the purposefulness and drive to do the tasks at hand. And the key ingredient here is to understand and change your thought patterns. An all too familiar scenario that occurs in the mind of the procrastinator is "Okay, I know I need to do this project right now, but for some reason I just can't get moving!"

Do you see what is happening here? Your thoughts know exactly what needs to be done, but you never really take action afterwards. Why? Because a person who procrastinates is consciously or subconsciously allowing obstacles to get in the way.

The result is a break in the flow and a lack of results. You might not like to hear this, but the truth is that you are sabotaging yourself so that you do not have to handle the responsibilities in which you are supposed to be undertaking.

Self sabotage is the procrastinator's number one enemy. The good news is that it is an internal enemy and one that can be easily defeated. One of the first steps to recovery is taking a long hard look at yourself and figuring out what types of obstacles that you are allowing to get in your way which keeps you from handling your responsibilities.

Below are a few examples of obstacles that may be keeping you from moving ahead in specific areas:

1. Avoiding exercising: Many people are guilty of procrastinating when it comes to starting an exercise program. It is such a healthy endeavor, but one that takes a lot of personal work. This is the perfect activity to "put off" until you feel like doing.

What is stopping you? Perhaps you use the excuse that you do not want to unpack your exercise clothes from the closet. Maybe you use the excuse of not having enough energy to work out. You know... "I'll start tomorrow, after I have rested more".

2. Avoiding cleaning up your house, car, and other areas of your environment: Keeping a clean and tidy area is important for overall sense of well-being and studies have even reported that a neat and clean environment can give a person more mental and emotional energy.

So what is stopping you from clearing up your clutter? Why haven't you cleaned the inside of your car? What is preventing you from packing up all the belongings you do not need anymore and either storing them or give them away to charity? Think about these questions for a moment and write down what you really feel is keeping you from starting. Be honest with yourself. Are you afraid of dirt? Do you feel that you just do not have enough energy to take on the mess? Be totally honest!

3. Avoiding work-related activities: Putting off projects and personal commitments to work can be the most detrimental procrastination habit a person can have. This can keep you from making more money, cause failure for the self-employed, and hold you in a lower-position and pay if you work for a company. So ask yourself, why do you keep putting off your projects at work? What is stopping you from putting in the extra hours if you're self-employed? Again, be totally honest with yourself when you answer these questions because it is these answers which can give you the key to free your mind from procrastination and to start taking action.

This lens now contains parts 1 to 5 of my ten pat course on overcoming procrastination. Parts 6 to 10 can be found here.