Welcome to Day 6 of 31 Days of Mom Mojo – Tackling Time Management.
If you’re one of the few people who isn’t plagued with the problem of procrastination then you’re blessed beyond all measure. This thief of time can quietly rob you of precious minutes, hours, or even days before you realize they’re gone. You search for them and wonder where the time has gone, but it’s too late.
Do you wait until the last minute to start things, do you let things pile up? Are you constantly apologizing for not finishing something when it “should” have been done.
“Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.” William James
Do you have those, uncompleted tasks or the list that never gets started? That task you intended to complete today was put off until tomorrow and there was good reason to do so, but you can’t remember why just now. Yep, I know that exact feeling. I often procrastinate sitting down and making appointments – I hate spending time on the phone calling around!
Procrastination comes in many disguises. It’s called rationalization sometimes. You say, “I didn’t get started on that task because the weather was too hot or I didn’t have time..” One can always come up with many ‘seemingly’ good reasons to delay, but truly, they are never really good reasons, because the guilt often comes so quickly that it hinders other areas of our life.
Procrastination can become a habit and if you keep putting off getting new habits then procrastination will be your constant companion. We find ways to delay a task because there are other things more important to do or we fear the idea of changing. Many times we merely have an excuse to rationalize why we didn’t start a task or push forward.
You must recognize a real logical reason to delay as opposed to just an excuse not to do something you don’t want to do. Be honest with yourself, we can almost rationalize anything! Ask yourself if that task really needs to be done and if your answer is yes – then get it done. Follow it up by rewarding yourself for a victory over procrastination. When the job is complete, step back and assess what you’ve done to see if it was worth the time and effort. Perhaps you were procrastinating for good reason, but that’s rarely the case. We often feel relief, exhilaration and a huge sense of accomplishment when we can see progress.
Lack of direction can cause you to procrastinate because you’re not sure what to do next.
Disorganization could be the father of procrastination. Get organized with a to-do list with the most urgent at the top. Make a deal with yourself that you cannot do anything else until you accomplish at least one thing on the list. You can make giant strides with tiny steps.
I know for me, I often feel paralyzed when all my ‘to-do’ items are floating around in my head. I keep a small notebook handy so I can write down any projects, tasks or notes so I can refer to them later. This way I am not overwhelmed with these thoughts consuming my mind. I am free to move on and know that I have them written down to refer to later. Tomorrow I will share another great idea for managing your to-do list.
Huge projects can be daunting whether you’re writing a book or building a house. You can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel because the elephant is standing in the way. Cut a slice out of that elephant one day at a time and soon it will be gone. By breaking large tasks into ‘do-able’ size bites, you will see success and feel accomplishment. So often we just see the big project and cannot break it down into smaller action steps. A small manageable task is much more palatable than trying to swallow the entire project. No matter how small the success it’s another step toward completion.
Make a decision on what needs to be done and do it. Even if it’s wrong at least you’ve done something. Indecision can cause major delays in both caring for your home, your business and in your personal life.
Fear of failure can cause procrastination. The failure lies in never getting started. Difficult and dreaded tasks are rarely as bad as they seem at the beginning.
Be careful of self talk. Is it positive and encouraging or critical, judgmental and harsh? Even if it feels “true,” recognize it’s not serving you.
If you are wanting to start a project, begin a work-out program or just get more organized at home, get a plan. Stop procrastinating today. Don’t put it off until tomorrow. Keep these questions in mind as you move forward and examine what needs to change:
What is the final objective, the end result?
What are the steps to get there?
What have you done so far?
The longest journey begins with a first step. Hopefully in this series on Tackling Time Management, you will get some eye-opening wake-up calls to see how you’ve resisted changing habits that are producing negative results.
“If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it.” ~Olin Miller
What have you been procrastinating?
