“In the dim background of mind we know what we ought to be
doing but somehow we cannot start.” - William James

In this day and age we are so inundated with choice and opportunity that you might even say that we are spoiled for choice. There is just so much that we could do that we often end up not doing anything at all. Procrastination is one of the biggest dream killers. In a world where there is so much demand on your attention it is becoming ever more difficult to stay focussed and act on the things that would truly give you an extraordinary quality of life. Time is, was and will always be your most valuable asset and the way you use it will determine what you create or fail to create with and for your life. Having an effective strategy for overcoming procrastination is critical if you truly want to push past short term obstacles to create a life of fulfilment.

The abundance that modern life offers us tends to overwhelm us which leads to an emotional overload that will distract you and scatter your effort and concentration. There simply isn’t enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time for the most important things in your life. Success at anything in life, whether it be your finances, your relationships or your body, requires an investment of time and effort from you. You need to focus and concentrate your physical and emotional resources on creating a desired result.

The first step in overcoming procrastination it to get really clear on exactly what you want from every area of your life. This clarity will give you the power to look past distractions that may throw you off course. It gives you a direction and a target and will help to build a mental picture for your life. One of the most destructive effects of procrastination is that it makes you feel out of control; like the events of your life is controlling you. If you don’t know what you want it is all too easy to jump from the one task to the next. Apart from knowing what you want you should also develop some strong reasons why you want it. This will give you a sense of purpose and motivation that is critical for staying focussed long term.

The truth is that most people know what they need to do to create their life the way they want it. The challenge is not with knowing what to do, but in doing what you know. The only way you will create any result in your life is by taking action and procrastination is what prevents you from acting on the very things you know would give you a greater quality of life. The reason why people procrastinate is primarily because of fear, especially fear of failure. By not taking action and postponing important actions you avoid the potential for failing. The only reason why you procrastinate about anything is because at some level you link more pain to taking action than to not taking action. The ridiculous truth is that these “links” are mostly conjured up (by you) in your mind and they are not even real. When you make a task too big in your mind it will overwhelm you and it would seem too difficult and too big and you will end up procrastinating.

One of the most powerful strategies for overcoming procrastination is to learn how to break your tasks up into bite size pieces. Any task, no matter how big can be broken down into small manageable tasks that is easy to do. If you focus on climbing Mount Everest it will probably put you off immediately, but if you focus on climbing seven small mountain sections it becomes more believable. The power of chunking down your “big” tasks empowers you to take back control of any overwhelming situation – you cut it down to size. Your size.

One of the quickest ways to overcoming procrastination is to learn and utilize the power of immediacy. What can you do immediately? What action can you take right now that will move you closer to your goal? Doing something, no matter how small, will immediately break your mental pattern of procrastination and put you back in control. Taking the first step, even if it is small will create momentum and you will almost automatically be driven to take another step. Don’t wait for everything to be perfect before you take the first step. Just do it. Just get it going. Often you will only know what to do next after taking that first step.

There are many strategies and skills you can use for overcoming procrastination. You don not have to be stuck or spinning your wheels. Like any skill you need to learn and practise it until you get good at it. Eventually it will become an automatic response and you will develop the habit of taking action despite your fears and apparent limitations.

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How do you define procrastination? For many people procrastination is something that they associate and identify themselves with far too easily. The challenge is that once you identify with a behavior (positive and negative) it becomes part of who you are and your experiences and actions are filtered through this identity.

We can define procrastination as “task aversion” which is the irrational delay of an intended course of action. Translated from the original Latin meaning, procrastination quite literally means ‘in favor of tomorrow’. As human beings we are always pursuing ways of being better off – everything we do, we do with a positive intent. Although procrastination seems to contradict this fact, it actually illustrates a very important point. What we do, or fail to do, is not purely the result of our conscious choices, but often the result of factors we are not aware of consciously. When you procrastinate, at some level of your unconscious thinking, you believe that taking the action will leave you worse off than actually taking the action.

To change this negative tendency, you need to do two things. Firstly you must remove the association and ‘attachments’ that you might have with procrastination. Realize that you are NOT a procrastinator. Although you might procrastinate at times, you cannot afford to limit yourself by defining yourself by your behavior. Secondly, you must redefine procrastination in such a way that it will motivate and empower you instead of limiting you.

The way we define things for ourselves will determine the way we interact with it. If you see procrastination as a chronic problem that you were born with, then it is likely that you will struggle with it all your life. If you define procrastination as a bad habit that you need to deal with at some point in the future, then it will control you. If you see procrastination as something you cannot overcome then you will probably be right.

If you define procrastination as a negative tendency that you choose to put aside, then you will be empowered to take action despite procrastinating. Whether you CAN do something is rarely the result of your ability. It’s almost always a case of motivation.  Motivation is nothing but an inner drive that compels you to action, and gaining leverage on yourself is a powerful way to find the necessary motivation.

There is a definition of procrastination that can do just that. I choose to define procrastination as the thief of time. When you think about it you will realize just how true it is because procrastination is what keeps you immobilized and stuck in inaction. Time is your most valuable and your most precious asset. People go to extreme measures to protect their money and their possessions, but do very little to ‘protect’ their time – the one thing that money can never buy. Learning to value your time, is a powerful strategy for overcoming procrastination and getting the most out of your life. When you value something you will look after it and protect it.

Your time is limited. Have you ever wondered how many days you have in your lifetime? At first blush you might guess that it is a hundred thousand or even a million. In fact, if you grow to be 70 years old your entire lifetime will only have 25 550 days. If you are 30 now, then you’ve only got another 260 000 hours left – and a third of this will be spent sleeping.

You have just as much time as Bill Gates, Mother Theresa, Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey or any other person on this planet. The only difference is in the way you use your time. Don’t allow procrastination to steal your most precious asset.

Instead, see procrastination as a call to action. It is likely that what you are procrastinating about is something that you ‘must’ do. See, what we don’t do and what we don’t face controls us. But when you face it and you do it, you liberate yourself and it no longer has any control over you. If you have this sense of urgency and awareness that your time is precious, then you won’t allow the thief of time to hold you down. What you get out of yourself does not rely on your ability. It relies on how much of your resources you can get access to and this is almost exclusively a psychological exercise. By changing how you define procrastination for yourself you can start to change this internal conversation and empower yourself to take action and make things happen.

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