Lucille, your face says it all for me!
The all too familiar dilemma: to procrastinate or to be productive
I have to admit that I am a natural procrastinator. On a daily basis, I am having to make the hard decision of whether to procrastinate or take action with my time. When I manage to get over that tall thick wall of procrastination, the amazing feeling that I am rewarded with on the other side is outstanding. It could be something as simple as when I am sitting on the couch after a long days work. I think to myself instead of being a couch potato, I could be putting away my pile of laundry that has been sitting there for 5 days as well as put my framed photos up in the spare room that I’ve been meaning to do for months now.
The constant daily struggle that I think many others can relate to is struggling to wake up as soon as the alarm clock goes off in the morning. I even give myself a pep talk the night before, “OK Ash, you are going to wake up right away so you can take your time getting ready in the morning, play with kitties before work and even have time for breakfast at home!” But then morning comes and the snooze button is taken advantage of way too many times and I’m left with a scarce amount of time to get ready.
Whether its having to study for a school exam, start a long report at work, or do the laundry, I always end up feeling frustrated with myself when choosing the procrastination side. We all know how much better it feels when we choose to be productive with our time, so why is it that we still choose to procrastinate??? It could be that in the moment, it feels worth it for those extra 20 minutes of in-and-out sleep, or it could be that we are having to do things we don’t enjoy and therefore we try to avoid it as long as possible.
I think where my irritation really lies with this predicament is that most of the time when I choose to get over those excuses running though my head that paralyzes me from accomplishing what I need/ should do, I feel so good once I get started on the task and feel even better once its complete. It is a this point when I think to myself, why don’t I always decide to get off my derriere and just get er done? Then I shake my head in disgust at the procrastinator devil sitting on my shoulder. Whenever I manage to get up straight after my alarm goes off the first time, I feel like like I can conquer the world and walk out of the house with my sassy pants on and a big smile for all to see.
OK so for all those that can relate to me, here are a couple of inspirational tips to get us across the line from procrastination to productive living.
- Block out the negative irrational thinking – Whenever you have those negative poor excuses running through your head 1) block them out STRAIGHT AWAY 2. instead stop thinking all together and just get up and start doing the task at hand. I guarantee within minutes you’ll begin to feel in the groove.
- Think of the end result – If the above fails and you continue to make up irrational justifications of why you can procrastinate, start imagining how it will feel once your done the task. For example, if its a big essay due in a few days, visualize yourself completing it a day early and that awesome feeling once you’ve printed it off and its ready to be submitted. You may even get time to go out with your friends to that concert the night before its due since your a day ahead!
- Make a “To-Do” List – sometimes we have too many things running through our heads that we feel overwhelmed and confused. This causes procrastination to kick in because in the moment its easier to just turn it all off, isn’t it? Chances are by writing out your tasks/responsibilities, it takes the stress away from your brain, makes you feel more organized and ultimately makes doing the tasks more easy and realistic to achieve.
- Set a time goal – What I try to do every Saturday first thing is write down all the house chores, crafts, cooking, etc. that I need to do in order, and then I set a time estimate for each task. This motivates me to start right on the mark and stay within the timeline of each task. I always feels good once it is all complete and almost always finish in the time I challenged myself to do it.
- Reward yourself – Make sure you give yourself a pat on the back when your in super productive mode. This is a big motivational tool for me to start a task. For example, lets say that I am hosting a 5pm dinner for friends and there’s a lot to be done beforehand. But its only 11am and therefore my procrastinating thoughts begin to roll. This is where I tell myself that if I start now, I will get everything done with 2 hours to spare which will give enable me to treat myself to sitting back and reading a few chapters of my most recent book I’ve been wanting to catch up on.
Does anyone else have any tips they can add? I’d love to hear them.
Ash
eyecpeachystuff 