The Cause of Procrastination
I was on an 8 hour drive into the mountains for a holiday/work trip today and my brain cells were juggling and making desicions for 3 work projects and a couple of personal home and fitness projects. Then I realized that there were times where I am extremely productive and can easily get all these things done in no time. But it also reminded me of times were I am equally UNproductive. And it seems that these UNproductive times caused alot of stress to the people around me and to myself.
Well, instead of just brushing that thought out, I decided to reflect, track down and pin-point the reasons why I do that. The easy question to ask is: How do I feel on days where I get nothing done for a prolonged period of time?
The answer is:
One of the biggest bad habits that I have is LOSING FOCUS. And most of the time, it is because I am worrying about too many other unrelated things while I am trying to get one thing done. I would be standing in the middle of the kitchen, wanting to clean out the stove but have cleaning the toilets and landscaping my backyard in mind. I would then end up spending 50% of that timeslot standing still doing nothing but wonder if there is a ninja technique to temporarily multiply myself.
Then I came across the idea of prioritizing and saw good examples from the many successful people around me. And I found that prioritizing is not done on a paper or calender but is more of a state of mind.
First Things First: Give Unproductive guilt and stress the flick!
It is important to understand that there is only one of you. There is no need for you to actually feel guilty about not being able to do 10 things at once! If you are always stressed, it will only get in the way of what is important: Getting 1 thing done at a time. This stress will greatly contribute to procrastination by muddling up your mind and make you lose track of making progress.
Second Things Second: Do something about it right away!
So the best way to remain focus is to prioritize on the more important tasks. But most people can’t keep a clear mind while the other stuff that are equally important is floating at the back of their mind. The way to work around your brain to stop it from worrying is to schedule the other stufff so that you can genuinely not worry about them.
Take Action
For the next week, think of one simple thing that you have been putting off for weeks and go do it. This could organizing the magazines that have been piling up next to your bed, throwing out some old clothes or simply giving the dining table a quick wipe with the cloth.
Think of just ONE thing that is simple and that you have been putting off for more than a week and do it. Don’t stop until the task is complete and once you’re done, you should feel your stress levels come down by a notch.
Every unfinished task that we hold in our mind is a thought that takes up our attention. The more of these unfinished tasks we complete, the less our mind feels like it needs to remember and the more relaxed you will feel as a result.
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Yasuo Long believes that all employees should have the right to design their lifestyle according to their needs in order to maintain their health, their relationships and their happiness. In pursuit of this, he quit the 9-to-5 and became a telecommuter to give himself the time and mental freedom to discover what it really means to live with direction and purpose.
