Procrastination - No laughing matter

People often laugh about their habit of putting things off. You know the old joke - "Why do today what you can put off till tomorrow". That is okay for awhile or on minor issues, and then wham! all of a sudden you are under pressure to perform, or lifestyle issues are at stake. This pressure or stress is not good for your health, amongst other negative impacts.

Of course, a little bit of pressure can be good for performance, it can motivate you to get that job done, get that essay written etc. However, when a 'little' bit of pressure becomes a 'lot', and not getting things done on time becomes a habit, that's when things will start to go downhill. You may need some intervention strategies to change these habits.

Or maybe you are one of those people who procrastinates so much that decisions are made for you? Eg. someone else steps in, or the passage of time takes over and you miss out. So, you've missed a deadline, missed an opportunity to date someone, failed an assessment, and then you say "See, I'm no good anyway". This is called "self-defeating" justification. 

Dr. Tim Pychyl, professor of psychology at Carleton University, USA, says: "Procrastination is an emotion regulation problem, not a time-management problem".

Brain coaching can help you identify what is blocking your ability to make decisions - why are you sabotaging yourself? The next step is to help you move on to a more calm, less stressful, more productive life. You will come up with some strategies to put in place that will reinforce your new habit of getting jobs done, making decisions, achieving results. Just imagine how good you will feel, once you have a list of accomplishments and the flow-on effects of that.

Call Helen at Australian Brain Coaching to see how it can it help you. The first 30 minutes is a free introductory session.

What have you got to lose? What have you got to gain? Think about it ........

4 Things you can start doing straight away, to stop procrastinating and boost your productivity and self-esteem:

1. Start! - just do 15 minutes of the task you are working on (rather than attempting to do the whole lot)
2. Small steps - easy things first (this is called 'positive procrastination - where you put off doing the big things but at least you are getting something done). Or some people just prefer to get stuck in and do the hardest things first)
3. Reward yourself - plan small rewards for each step that you achieve. eg, play your computer games once you've done say 1 hour of your task, or plan a walk as a reward, or a cuppa.
4. Set Specific goals - as opposed to "vague goals equals vague efforts".

Now you are on track to improved self-esteem and confidence. If you are still having trouble with procrastination, give me a call and we can figure out what is blocking you.

Procrastination Guide: