Hi, it's Paul here from selfhelpforlife.com.
In this video I'm going to talk about why we procrastinate, some of the effects of procrastination,
and then some great ideas to help you overcome procrastination.
Procrastination really is a kind of resistance feeling that's created within you.
It's created by you, not by the activity itself.
It's sometimes a feeling you get after setting goals.
So you set these goals and you start working on then, and you notice this resistance coming
up from inside.
The resistance is like a hidden fear, so sometimes there's some kind of fear you don't want to
acknowledge.
That could maybe be a fear of failure or another kind of fear, so it's worth watching out for
that.
It can also come because you don't like to be told what to do, so if someone says you
should go to the gym, inside you feel you want to rebel and not do that.
That can even happen when you're telling yourself you should do things or must do things, as
well.
You also procrastinate when the task is boring or not motivating, so a task like doing your
tax return.
Also, if your self-esteem or self-confidence is quite low, that means that more tasks seem
harder to do or outside of your abilities, so you're more like to procrastinate.
That's a bit of a tricky one because the more you procrastinate, the more that affects your
self-esteem and self-confidence.
So that can be a vicious circle, as well, so watch out for that.
We also procrastinate when we associate pain to doing something.
That pain could be effort, it just feels uncomfortable.
It could be that the thing is stressful.
But all those things, they're all just meaning and perception that we give to that particular
task, and oftentimes we make that task much bigger than it really needs to be.
So, I believe there are three types of procrastination.
The first one, and probably the most common, is putting off starting things, so starting
to do things.
The second one is putting off finishing things.
This is where you actually start something, but it seems to take a lot longer than it
needs to take, okay?
The third one is putting off making decisions.
I think this one's probably become bigger over recent years with the internet.
Because now when you're looking to book a hotel or something like that, or you're looking
at researching a new product to buy, there's so many review sites and places you can go
now that it's very easy to want to get the most information possible.
But sometimes you just have to draw a line and make your decision.
Okay, so the effects of procrastinating.
I want to just talk a bit about these, because these will give you the motivation to not
do it anymore, okay?
The first one is, obviously, you lose precious time, time when you could be doing fun things,
spending time with family, friends, those sort of things.
Over time, if this goes on for months or years, you look back and like two or three years
has gone, or five years has gone, and nothing in your life has really changed.
It's the same as it was five years ago, and that's going to leave you with that sense
of regret.
So that's not great.
As I mentioned, it lowers your self-esteem, and this leads to that vicious circle I was
talking about earlier.
It can lead to poor decisions.
If you have to make a decision right at the very last minute because you've been putting
it off, that can often be the wrong decision, or it can be an emotional decision.
The quality of your decisions affects the quality of your life, the level of your happiness,
and also the results that you make, as well.
It can damage your reputation if you promised that you would have something for someone
by a certain time and you don't deliver it.
You keep doing that, that's going to affect your reputation.
It could risk your health, as well.
Procrastinating creates additional stress and anxiety and extra pressure on yourself,
so that's not good for your health in the long term.
Also, people who procrastinate often procrastinate on things like getting checkups and exercising,
as well, so that will directly affect their health.
So what's the cure for procrastination?
Well, the cure is taking action, but that's easier said than done.
I mean, if that was the case, you wouldn't be watching this video now.
You'd be doing the things that you're procrastinating on.
So what I'm going to do and help you in this video is I'm going to give you lots of ways
to help you take action, okay?
The first one is to do the most challenging task first.
So, think about what that task is, and do it first.
Now, why would you do that?
Because once you've done that task, everything else that you're going to do during the day
is going to seem less distressing and less challenging, okay?
Also, completing that difficult task early on will give you a motivation boost, and that
will help you with your other tasks, as well.
Typically, in the mornings you have more willpower, so you're more likely to get into the task,
anyway.
However, this comes with a bit of a caveat, and that is when you do the most challenging
task first, set yourself a time limit.
Because what can happen, because it's challenging, is you can procrastinate while you're doing
the task, and it can take longer then it needs to take.
So just watch out for that.
Okay, the next one is to limit distractions.
So what you're doing here is creating a distraction-free environment, and the kind of distractions
I'm thinking mainly are really around the internet.
So mobile notifications, notifications on your computer, things like turning off your
email notifications.
All those things are important because when you're doing something that you don't really
want to be doing or is hard, your brain will unconsciously look for reasons to pull you
away from that important and demanding task.
It does it unconsciously.
You'll notice a notification, and before you know it, your brain's looking at something
else.
So what you need to do is consciously prevent that from happening by having a distraction-free
environment.
So turn off notifications on your phone, on your computer, and those kind of things.
Okay, always keep your desk tidy.
This one was from Robin Sharma.
He says that, get rid of the mess, because mess creates stress.
Okay, the next one is don't try to be perfect.
So, don't try and be a perfectionist, because perfectionism is the partner in crime to procrastination.
This one is different because perfectionism happens when you've started the task, okay?
So this is more around it taking longer than it needs to take, so something that should
take six hours ends up taking 12 hours because you want it to be just perfect.
Now, remember that good enough is fine, and you can always improve it over time.
The extra time you're spending making it perfect, you could be doing something else.
If this is something you're doing in a job, then that's the employer's time that you're
wasting, so that time is worth no money for them.
If it's your own business, then the same thing goes, as well.
If you're doing something else like studying, then know that extra time could be spent with
your family and friends, as well.
Also, don't try and be a perfectionist when making decisions, okay?
There's having enough information and having too much information.
So when making decisions, get as much information as you can, but at some point you've just
got to make that decision.
Okay, the next tip is to reward yourself, so celebrate when you complete tasks, okay?
If it's a small task, then have a little celebration like having a chat with a colleague down the
corridor or having a little snack or a tasty treat, something like that.
For bigger projects it could be going out to the movies, going for a night out, something
like that.
What gets rewarded gets repeated, and we are creatures like animals.
We like rewards.
That's important thing for us, and again, that gives that kind of motivation to do that
next time.
So remember to reward yourself.
That will really help.
The next one is a really interesting one, really simple actually.
Came from Brian Tracy, and he says, "Just say the words, 'Do it now.'"
So when you're about to start a task, just say, "Do it now.
Do it now.
Do it now."
Keep saying, "Do it now," until you start the task.
The more you keep saying, "Do it now," the more your unconscious mind and your motivation
will start to increase, and you'll just start to naturally do the task.
If you keep doing that regularly, then that will send a message to your unconscious mind.
That will become a new programme and a new habit, and that will help you to take action
more quickly and procrastinate less in the future.
The next one is to change your thinking.
So if you keep thinking about how your chronic procrastination gets in the way of your motivation,
your goals, your dreams, then this will become a subconscious belief and that's how your
life will continue.
However, if you start thinking about how brilliant you are at getting difficult and important
tasks done straightaway and how incredibly organised you are with your time, then your
unconscious mind will start to accept that as a truth, instead.
You'll then overcome procrastination and get more things done faster.
I think, also, when you notice thoughts about not wanting to do a certain task, instead
put the same energy into planning to do that task, instead.
Once you do that, that motivation will start to come.
Okay, the next one is to do the 30-day procrastination diet.
This was an idea from Robin Sharma.
The idea is you create a list of 30 things that you've been resisting, and you do one
of them each day, okay?
By doing that, you'll be building up willpower in your brain, and also habits as well, of
doing these things.
What's also important is that those things that you've been procrastinating on are taking
away your power, so by doing one each day, that power is coming back to you.
That will make you feel better, and that will increase your motivation and self-esteem,
as well.
So give that one a go, the 30-day procrastination diet.
Okay, the next one is don't make the activity a should, a have to, a must, or a need to.
I talked about this a bit earlier in the video.
When your mind, your brain, doesn't like being told it has to do things, it should do things.
It prefers to have an element of choice, okay?
So again, when a friend or family or a colleague tells you you have to do something, you should
do something, even if it's something you know you should be doing, there's a tendency sometimes
to rebel against that.
If you say that to yourself, as well, again, another part of your brain will tend to want
to rebel against that.
So how do you get round that?
Instead, say things like, "I could do," because that gives you a choice.
Now, we know there are consequences if you don't do certain things.
But just giving yourself that choice helps reduce that resistance, reduce that feeling,
and so you're more like to go ahead and do the task.
So saying things like, "I could do," instead can really help.
Okay, the next one is to feel the resistance.
Notice the tension in your body, and just allow yourself to feel it, okay?
Just take a couple of deep breaths in, and really feel that feeling.
What will happen often, then, is your mind will start to calm down.
Your thoughts will go more into perspective, and you'll start to have a more realistic
thinking about that particular task.
It won't seem quite so big anymore when you do that, okay?
You can also release on those feelings of resistance, as well, using the Sedona Method
questions.
Now, I covered that in a video recently, so I'll put a link to that video in the description,
if you want to go and check that out.
But that can be a really good way of just releasing any kind of negative feelings, as
well.
Okay, the next one is to ask questions.
The great thing about questions is when you ask yourself a question, your mind feels compelled
to answer it, okay?
So that's the key thing about questions.
It's directing your mind to try and answer it, okay?
Questions could be things like, "If I don't do this task, what will it cost me in my life?"
Now, this question is linking more to the pain of not doing it, so it's more of an away
from type of motivation.
For some people, and you may be like this, you need more pain.
There needs to be more pain to not doing the task than the pain of doing it, and once you
get that, you'll have the motivation to do it.
Or it could be more of a positive benefit type motivation.
So you could ask questions such as, "How will doing this task improve my life?" or "What
will doing this task give me?"
So again, those sorts of questions will help you get much more clearer on the benefits,
and that will give you more motivation to do the task.
Okay, the next one is to focus on completion, okay?
So rather than focusing on the effort involved, focus on what it's going to feel like when
you've completed the task, okay?
Really quite an easy one to do, and by doing that you'll just start to get different feelings.
You'll feel more motivated, and you'll just start to naturally take action.
Another one is to make the future seem more immediate, and the way you do this is by using
a different way of measuring time.
For example, if you've got something that needs to be done in a day, then you think
of it as needing to be done in 24 hours, okay?
If you've got something that needs to be done in two hours, then think of it as needing
to be done in 120 minutes.
If it's something that needs to be done in a year, think about it needing to be done
in 12 months time.
For some strange reason, using those smaller time units seems to make the future more immediate,
so give that a try and see if that works for you.
Okay, another one is have an accountability buddy.
That's someone else that you will say, "I'm going to do this by this date," by, and they
will hold you accountable, okay?
I remember when I used to have a fitness trainer.
I used to go to the gym a lot more frequently because I was accountable to that person every
week, and also because I was paying that person good money as well.
I felt that I needed to do the exercises, so I actually was benefiting from what he
was teaching me, okay?
So accountability buddy can be a really good way, and you don't have to pay someone.
It could be a friend or a partner, someone that you can be accountable to and that will
help you make sure that you do that thing.
Okay, and the reason accountability buddy's important is you will feel let down if you
have to tell that person you've not achieved something, okay?
Next one is to break the task into smaller chunks.
So maybe you're procrastinating on writing a book, okay?
So what you could do is you could decide, okay, today I'm going to come up with a title
for the book.
Then tomorrow I'm going to come up with maybe the topics for the first three chapters, and
then the next day I'm going to come up with the topics for the next three chapters, etc.
Then maybe when you start to get into writing the chapters, you can break those up into
smaller sections, as well.
Say like, "I'm going to write 500 words a day," or something like that, okay?
So that can really help, as well.
Okay, the next one is to not beat yourself up.
There will be times when you will procrastinate on things and things will take longer and
you'll feel frustrated as a result.
In those situations, you want to be kind on yourself.
Because if you beat yourself up or be overly hard or critical, then that's just going to
mean that you're like to procrastinate more because you're scared and you're associating
more pain to the whole thing about procrastinating.
So being kind on yourself means that you're less likely to procrastinate over time.
Instead, just reevaluate your goals.
Maybe do some self-reflection on the times that you seem to work best, the times when
you don't procrastinate as much, and then try again.
Okay, the next one is to have a power hour, okay?
So what do I mean by that?
This is where you're identifying the time of the day when you tend to be most productive.
For a lot of people, that's first thing in the morning when your willpower is highest,
but maybe it's not for you.
Maybe it's in the afternoon.
Maybe it's in the evening.
Maybe it's even late at night.
But work out when's the best time for you to do things, and then do the hardest things
in that time.
Then the final one is to just do it, okay?
This seems really too simple, but sometimes really it's just a case of just ignoring all
that mental noise that's going on in your mind, ignoring those feelings, and just getting
on and doing it, okay?
So just do the task.
Even if you just do it for a few minutes, just see what happens.
So that's a good one.
If nothing else works, just do it, okay?
It seems so simple, but it can really work.
So there are my tips.
Quite a few tips there on how to overcome procrastination, and also I talked about why
procrastination's an issue in your life and some of the effects it can have on your mental
and physical health, as well.
So I hope you enjoyed this video and found it useful.
I do encourage you to practise many of the ways that I suggested for overcoming procrastination.
See which ones work best for you, and see how you notice yourself getting more done,
feeling more productive, and feeling happier and more fulfilled as a result.
Do give this video a thumbs up, and leave a comment.
I'd love to hear what you think.
If you haven't already, please subscribe to this channel so you receive future videos
just like this one.
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as well.
I look forward to talking with you again soon in the next video.
Bye for now.
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