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Do It Now! 5 Steps to Tackle Procrastination

Procrastination and Productivity

Good may be the enemy of great, but procrastination is just the enemy. Procrastination is one of the biggest time wasters in life and its cycle of delay-avoid-panic-produce enables us to live the reactionary life of a "firefighter", putting out proverbial fires and doing work only when it has to be done.

What are you procrastinating with right now? Have you ever thought about how it affects you?

Procrastination contributes to stress, emotional energy drain, lack of creativity and reduced quality of work, all of which reduce productivity. Revisit the last time you put off doing something important for a long time. Picture in your mind how your body felt once the deadline approached and you weren't even close to completion.

As you reflect, consider the following:

  • How many times before the work was done did you think about the "thing" when you weren't working on the "thing"?
  • When you remembered your undone project, how much energy drained out of you?
  • What else could you have done with all that wasted time and energy?

We need to just do "it". Nike was on to something with their slogan. I wonder if they knew that this mantra could be the solution to many people's productivity woes.

For an increase in productivity, pay attention this week to how many times you say to yourself "I'll do it later" or "I need to do that". If the task is one you can do in less than two minutes, do yourself a favor by telling yourself "Do it now"...and just do it. Changing your mantra might just change your life.

What is your favorite way of procrastinating? How do you beat it? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think!

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