Procrastination is a major problem for a lot of people, one that keeps them from doing many great things. It’s a horrible habit that needs to be hit in the head. Hard. Without procrastination, your life will drastically improve in every area. To follow your dreams, you must quit the habit.

The Problem

“Huh? Aww… come on mom… 5 more minutes… don’t make me get up yet…”

As humans we have the great desire to enjoy ourselves in the present moment. We get home, lets say, and we know that there is some work left to do for school/work. We figure: hey, I can do this within an hour! I’ll just get a start on this at 8 PM, then I’ll do it for 9, and be in bed at 10! Hey, it works great!

The problem, of course, is that it does work. But if this is how you conduct yourself, great is as far away from your grasp as can be, and gaining distance on you at every moment. What can one achieve with these kinds of work habits? In order to achieve anything of any value, one must have the self-motivation to reach their hand out when they get the opportunity! Don’t sit and wait as the seconds tick away, seize the day and seize your life.

So what is so bad about procrastinating a bit?

• You will have less time. Although it seems like you’re just shifting the amount of time that you have around, in fact you reduce the amount of total time that you have to make something of yourself. Think about it this way: if you do something now, you are ahead of the game. Anything extra that you accomplish after this moment is a step ahead, beyond the average, the expected, the normal. If you wait for a while to begin, then there is no way that you can get ahead. You’ve set up a strict life for yourself, and you’d make a great 9 to 5 worker that does things before the deadline. If that’s what you’d like, that’s great. If you want to excel and be better than that, work now and relax when you need to.
• You run into the problem of running out of time. Is it not good to avoid problems? After all, if it is all just shifting time around, then shift it in such a way that will cause less problems. What I mean is that if you do not procrastinate, then you will certainly have time to take care of the unexpected problems that come up as you are doing whatever it is that needs to be done to accomplish whatever it is that you need to do.
• You construct a poor work ethic for yourself. After procrastinating a lot, it is very easy to get into the habit of doing that all the time. This means that you never get around to doing the extra things that you always wanted to do, learn the things you always wanted to learn, or do the things that you need to do to help your relationship.

On the other hand, if you get into the habit of always doing tasks as soon as you get them…

• You impress your friends. “Oh man… this project sucks, and its due tomorrow. How are you doing with it?” “Pfft, I did it a month ago when we go it! I’m watching a movie tonight!” “Oh man… you’re so cool, I wish that I could do things as efficiently as you in an effective manner…” (Ok, maybe they won’t say the last bit, but they certainly should be jealous )
• You get around to doing the extra projects that you wanted to do. Perhaps projects that will lead you to starting your own company and making millions of dollars. Wikipedia was certainly an aside project for Jimmy Wales. Now, though, it is getting to the point where he could put on one little ads by google box on each page, and make millions. Furthermore, there has been consideration in the past for a published Wikipedia. Those books would sell quite well, some would buy them simply to support the organization. Wikipedia could transform into a full encyclopedic company, with paid writers doing the work to check facts, write good articles and in general spread the good ideals of Wikpedia. (I don’t see Mr. Wales doing that any time soon, though. He has always believed in a very free Wikipedia.) Even without monetizing wikipedia, though, the organization is capable of getting 10,000 $ worth of donations per day. (Which goes towards the high operating costs of the project.)
• Everything that you do will be of better quality. You won’t do it last second and try to get a “passing grade,” you will finish it to a level that you are satisfied with. Even if you just work for someone else, improving the quality of your output is always a good idea. I think that many companies would give generous bonuses and raises to their best employees. Perhaps even a promotion.
• You can always relax later. Even if you are happy with where you are in life and have no desire for further self-improvement, you can always just make sure that your work is done (and done well) and then take time off. It will be a large weight off your chest to know that the time that you are currently enjoying is your own time, and that there is nothing more that you are obligated to be using it for.
• You could make time for self-improvement. Perhaps you could get your life form a 7 to a 10 in every aspect — health, intellect, fitness, business, and relationship. Your life is what you make it, after all.

The Solution (Hi, my name is Bob and I have a procrastination problem…)

So, first admit to yourself that you could to better with your life an that you are capable of making that changes to your life that will allow you to stop putting off things that you don’t want to do. After that, there are a few things that can be done to improve your situation.

1. Attitude Change When you think about it, the work that you put off is not really all that bad. Your mind makes it out to be worse than it actually is. You are handed a piece of work, and your mind goes, “Ping! Work! Wooop Wooop Wooop! Avoid at all costs!” When you actually look at what it is that you are given, you will find that a lot of the time it is the kind of thing that is (on some level) fun. If you weren’t forced to do it, you might actually enjoy it. Well, then. Forget about the bit where you are forced to do it, and skip to the enjoying bit. For example, I always hated learning French in school (I am Canadian). I hated how we had to learn parts of speech, I hated grammar, I hated how the language sounded, and I hated how it smelled. However, now that I am out of having to take it, I have gained a thirst for learning new languages. I think it is cool that I can communicate with people in a few different ways. I realized that really, what we were learning was useful, and moreover fun. I then went on to try and learn Esperanto. Interestingly enough, I found it fascinating to see how words were modified, how grammar was put together to make new sentences and how the language is useful! If you can change how you look at your work, you may find it more appealing.
2. “Fake it ’till you make it” Method (This is also a method that can be used to start enjoying sex with your partner more .) The idea is that you can train your brain to adjust to a variety of lifestyles. Basically, you use sheer force of will in order to get a result, then repeat until it is so strongly ingrained that you begin to do it without thinking. Funny enough, the “fake it ’till you make it” method is the one that schools prefer to teach students. This means, though, that you will likely be proficient in this one.
3. Get Someone To Help Just get someone to help you with the progress that you are trying to make. Someone dedicated. Someone that cares enough to spend their time trying to improve you for you. Someone that will hurt you if you do not get yourself in gear. Then, repeat until it sticks.

And then there is my idea for an anti-procrastination system… If it seems too odd for you, feel free to use one of the above methods. They are all fairly good, and it is a matter of finding out what works with you. In any case, you will need some level of dedication and will power.

Anti-Procrastination Via Distraction

So, the goal is to stop getting distracted from the task at hand? Well, simply distract yourself back from whatever it is that is distracting you to begin with! Distract it back! This sounds silly and like a sheer force of will exercise all over again. Please read on…

So this is how one goes about ‘Anti-Procrastination Via Distraction:’

1. Get some kind of timer. Something that can ring a bell every once in a while. Something annoying is preferable .
2. Set it to ring every 30 minutes or so.
3. When the timer goes off, STOP. Stop whatever it is that you are currently doing. Go no further.
4. Now relax. Think to yourself… is this what I really want to be doing with my time? Is playing this game what I should do? I remember that I once had a dream, a real dream, a goal. I wanted to help put a stop to poverty and starvation. Is what I’m doing now really helping? Would it not be better to work hard at this point and accomplish something?

To clarify the last point, what you want to have prepared is a speech that is very convincing and powerful, something that can motivate you to do work. For example, lets say that you have a real passion for wine. Making wine, drinking wine, selling wine… you want to run your own winery, go to theater productions, and live in France. This is your dream. So, then, you ask yourself: what is it that I need to be doing to achieve my goal? Then you answer: I suppose I should be reading a book on how to make wine, and working hard with my current career in order to make the money that I need to start my business, my passion — making wine.

Your goal can be anything, but it must be something that you are passionate about. Something that can trump your passion for laziness. For example, your goal could be as simple as desiring to make a lot of money. This is a good goal for this particular example since it motivates you to: learn about business, work hard to make money (you need money to make even more money), and get off your arse.

The timer is a good system since it is an auditory reminder. Eventually, you may get good enough to not need a reminder, but you need to remember to consider what you are doing every 30 minutes or so. I realize there are some impracticalities to the timer, but it is a good idea for stubborn procrastinators.

Ultimately, though, everything needs a start. You need that initial flash of inspiration to get the whole system to a start. If you’re too lazy to start, I can’t help you. That bit is up to you. Remember, though: you control your destiny. What will you make of the life that you have been given?

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 7th, 2007 at 5:27 am and is filed under Life Improvement. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.