Do you defer tasks, feel buried by work or lack the follow-through to complete tasks? Yes..?
Welcome to the world of the procrastinator!! :)
Procrastinating can result in anxiety, loss of productivity and worse, it adds up the longer it goes unchecked. Often procrastinators spend a great deal of time thinking about tasks, but lack the ability to follow through and implement their plans.
Sounds familiar..?
So how do we combat procrastination and ensure it doesn’t affect our life?
1-Lets set some goals!
One of the surest ways to motivate oneself and avoid procrastinating is to set goals...and stick to them! Goal setting helps us clarify the direction in which we want to head to...especially in life. It is important to think carefully about our goals and remember that it’s impossible to achieve everything at once. Someone once said...we should be patient with ourselves but strive!
2- Get smart principal:
One effective method of setting goals are:
- Specific: Goals need to have measurable actions and outcomes. What, why and how are these goals going to be achieved?
- Measurable: Set goals that you can easily measure.
- Achievable: Whilst it’s tempting to dream up whimsical goals you need to ask yourself honestly “can I realistically achieve this goal”? If the answer is no, then you will need to go back to the drawing board.
- Relevant: Ensure that the goals you set are relevant and will benefit you.
- Time related: Set key milestones and deadlines for achieving your goals. Doing this helps to keep goals on track and will help keep procrastinating in check.
3-Stay on track:
Once you have set your goals and outlined a plan to achieve them, the next challenge is to stay MOTIVATED!
One good method is to make your goals public. Sharing you goals with others helps them become more tangible.
Visualising the end point of your goal is another successful strategy used by many professionals. Take the time to think about how achieving your goals will feel like or visualise how your ending goal will look like.
Finally, reward yourself for achieving each key millstone as you work towards your goals.
*this blog entry gives credited to ANZ Bank - business planning solutions*
