9 Tips to Stop Procrastinating

By Peggy Stefan

Raise your hand if you are procrastinating.

It’s that time of the year: getting your taxes done, losing weight in time for swimsuit season, fulfilling any one of a number of New Year’s resolutions or “things I’m going to do differently”. We’ve all been there, time and time again.  And, some of us are worse than others.  According to Joseph Ferrari, author of “Still Procrastinating? The No Regrets Guide to Getting it Done”, 20% of the population of the world are chronic procrastinators, complicating their lives and probably shortening them, with their incessant delaying and task avoidance.  Ferrari says that procrastinators are less wealthy, less healthy and less happy than those who don’t delay. Not a pretty picture.

Now, raise your hand if you’re ready for something new.

Try these 9 Tips to Stop Procrastinating*

1. Remind yourself that there’s more to be done than can be done.  Then ask yourself if you’re getting the right things done.
2. Make a smart to-do list by including only the items that you’re avoiding, not the ones you know you’ll do anyway.  Then set deadlines.
3. Break the task down to lessen the sense of being overwhelmed.  Once you start to enjoy a small accomplishment or two, you’re more likely to finish.
4. Eliminate temptation to do something else.
5. Bargain with yourself.  If you finish the business plan now, you can go to the movies later.
6. Focus on the success you will achieve and the joy you will feel.
7. Come up with a consequence that will deter you from avoiding the task.  If you don’t exercise two times a week, you have to give up talking on the phone with your friends.
8. Ask someone to help you complete the task.
9. Make your intentions public.  This will add pressure, but for some of us, avoiding embarrassment is the mightiest motivator.

* From www.unstuck.com

I’ve been talking about starting this blog for weeks.  I have started a few times, and somehow … well, you know. So, as someone once said, “The best way to get something done is to begin.”

This is the beginning.  The first of what we at The Commons hope are conversations, not just postings, of interest to the Lake Minnetonka community.