Hey Everyone,
Last article we spoke about procrastination the silent killer, silently but consistently killing your time. So today I wanna talk about how you can fight back in the fight against procrastination.
Now I’ll start off by saying this, before you can beat your procrastination into a pulp it’s important to understand what you’re going up against. So if you haven’t read the article before this one make sure you do!
Now presuming you’ve followed this simple advice let’s move on and talk a bit about the roots of procrastination, I mean how does it come about?
Well ladies and gentlemen, procrastination grows from deep inside of people. Procrastination isn’t an action but rather a name given to the act of rationalizing an emotional decision.
So what do I mean by that? Well think about this …
When we start a new project, article or website we’ve got high hopes right from the beginning. But it’s when the road gets tough that we start to wonder whether we can make it, will it be worth it and shouldwe go on.
Keep in mind that these are 3 of the major factors in procrastination but they are not the root of the problem itself, in fact I would say that these are nothing more than aggravators of procrastination.
And I’d say that 90% of people are stuck with at least one of these problems plaguing and clouding their heads daily. But if nobody wants the problems or procrastination then how does it form?
Well, I think the best way to start thinking about how procrastination forms is to see how it doesn’t.
You ever think about this? People who are motivated do NOT procrastinate.
But why is that? The answer? It’s because they are excited to be creating, working and productive.
And it’s not hard to get enthusiastic about work when you have an interesting job, project or assignment but what about for all of those who don’t?
Well for those of us who don’t let’s take a quick trip down memory lane. Remember when you went and applied at that burger joint? It doesn’t matter whether it was McDonalds, Burger King or just a ma’ and pa’ operation. Once you got hired and came in to work correct me if I’m wrong but it was RIVETING to be there right?
You we’re part of something new, something you’d never tried and it was almost (dare I say it) … FUN!
You we’re eager to do things right and time FLEW by. However it wasn’t for long that this new found love of working stuck with you, in fact after the first time it started to dwindle and dwindle until finally you couldn’t stand work anymore.
So what leads to procrastination? Well here are our top 5 reasons why people procrastinate.
1. Poor work habits, this one is self explanatory.
Some people never established proper work habits, these are the people who are always putting things off to the last possible minute. The reason for this is because once they are close to the deadline the task seems more important (because it’s due sooner) to them.
2. Overwhelmed. Often the sheer thought of having to do an unknown task is enough to make us anxious and uncomfortable.
However it’s important to realize that there are no defeats in life (and especially not in internet marketing) but only challenges which must be overcome.
Don’t allow yourself to be overwhelmed by the sheer thought of your tasks, instead write them all down and check them off as you finish. Try working in 10-20 minute chunks until the task is done with 5-10 minute breaks. You’d be surprised at how much you can accomplish within such a seemingly short amount of time.
3. Perfection. For some people it truly is ‘Go Gold or Go Home’.
And there’s not much I can say in regards to this because I am NOT one of these people. Not even close, in fact I’m quite the opposite, I’d rather get in some sort of work then none at all (even if the work isn’t my best).
So that’s my only advice – get something done. If you’re trying to set up a blog but you can’t find the perfect header that doesn’t matter, get your blog up and start working on getting it perfect (even if it takes forever).
We should always aim for perfection simply because we always want to progressing, aim for anything else and you’re seriously hurting your own chances at success but don’t let perfection blind you!
4. Not interested in the task. Ever had to do something you just DID not wanna do?
This is a HUGE one all across the board. And probably the simplest to solve.
The thing to keep in mind here is that you HAVE to do the task. So whether it’s now or later it has to get done, so it really makes no sense to put off a task when you will have to complete it eventually anyways (right?).
If only it were that easy though. Remember that no matter what the task at hand if you’ve got to do it, do it as SOON as possible. I can’t count the amount of times I procrastinated my own work and it ended up biting me in the ass.
You never know what’s coming up in the future so get your work done ASAP and you will never have to worry about what’s coming in the future cause you’ll all ready be set J!
5. Lack of learning.
A lot of people don’t realize this but learning is essential to keeping yourself motivated and interested. Even if you’re not going to be using what you learned directly it’s still vital that you expand on what you do know to keep it interesting.
So to explain a little more concisely what I mean. Article writing is but a small part of article marketing and article marketing a small part of internet marketing.
It’s important to challenge yourself and learn something new (even if the task doesn’t interest you) because doing the same task over and over becomes boring, and boredom as we all ready established is a HUGE cause of procrastination, so make the task interesting through learning and you’ll find yourself on the flip side.
Hopefully having these 5 causes of procrastination listed helps some of you figure out whether you’re being affected by them and help you fight them off.
In the fight against procrastination however there is one quote which simply trumps any logical advice I can provide. “Take Action, See Results” and with that I wish you all a good day!
