The Do it Now Factor
Procrastination is certainly a malaise that afflicts the vast majority of people from time to time in all areas of life.
Some people find procrastination more difficult to overcome at work, some others in dealing with home chores, financial and organizational matters or just about anything that entails a little effort to sort out.
A lot of stuff has been written about the subject tackling it from different angles such as:
1. Defusing counter-productive beliefs that sabotage your efforts
2. Being aware of those inner fears that immobilize you into action and
3. Practical approaches that help you overcome procrastination such as positive self-talk, visualization, affirmations, etc.
These are all valuable and effective methods to deal with procrastination as has been proven time and time again by people from all walks of life.
However the truth is that there is a mission key without which the above methods are rendered futile and ineffective. This is the element of readiness or the do it now factor.
It took me some time to appreciate this. What was frustrating me before that, was the fact that I had grasped the methods but was still not translating them in practice. Something was missing.
If you want to do something– Do it Now
It’s a small easy step really but a critical one. You can have the right knowledge, the best planning, the right goals and the right motivation but if you do not have the readiness to start now sometimes all those things turn to nothing.
I had learnt that the most effective way to beat procrastination is to start doing something even if you feel a lot of resistance towards it. This is because the biggest resistance and inertia stands between you not doing the action and you taking the action. Once that gap is closed, by taking the first step, the resistance drastically drops down and your willingness and motivation shoots up.
We all know what this means. How many times did we put off doing a particular task but then once we put our hands to it, we happily pushed through it like a breeze?
Sometimes we keep putting off things and bringing up excuses. Some other times we even understand our unwillingness to do something and know what are the problems causing our procrastination. But even more often we overlook the fact that it is our readiness to start off the deal that is the biggest hurdle.
Once we set things in motion, the rest flies
So next time you procrastinate about doing something and find yourself struggling hard to start off something, just bring to mind that it all gets easier once you start doing it.
The mind creates an illusion of how difficult, boring, distasteful and unrewarding the task is, but that bubble is burst once the task is initiated.
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About Gilbert: Gilbert Ross also writes about inner development, mindfulness and conscious living on his blog Soul Hiker. You can subscribe to his feeds here or follow him on Twitter here. |
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absolutely love you point about starting even if it feels like a lot of resistance towards it.
I would say doing those this has had a huge impact for me. Like when it comes to blogging I know the things that I hate to do the most seem to have the most reward too.
Also like when I do those things like you said its smooth sailing from there. Good stuff Gilbert this should help at least 50% of the 95% of people that procrastinate everyday
Thanks Wilson! Glad you mentioned blogging because having a blog requires the fun part which is basically writing about what you love and responding to your readers, but also the those maintenance tasks in between that we sometimes tend to procrastinate on. So again, there’s nothing better than just clear them away first thing and make time for the part you love.
Gilbert,
Once again–as usual–you have contributed a brilliant post. Thanks. Let me share a personal story about procrastination.
I used to find it difficult to drag myself out of bed in the morning. Still do, as a matter of fact, well, sometimes anyway..
It’s much easier just to snuggle up in your warm blanket, karate chop your alarm clock when it starts buzzing, turn over, pretend the world doesn’t exist and go right back to sleep. Ah, procrastination.
Help, but I have work to do, people! I can’t afford to sleep in!
So, what’s the solution? Ah, the plot thickens, folks…well, I used my pint-sized brain to figure out a solution.
Jump out of bed and hit the shower ASAP. Don’t wait for even one second. In fact, don’t even think about it. Just go for it.
Once all that water comes streaming down your face, I am awake!
No more sleepy-head. Get with the program, I persuaded myself.
We cannot afford to let down our guard against the demon of procrastination. Else, it will rear its ugly head and devour us.
That’s a good one Archan! I have exactly the same system to fight off that morning inertia….I rush straight to the shower because I know that once in it I’ll break free from the sleepy spell. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Gilbert. I really like this post because I can relate to it. I used to think that we needed a “perfect plan” before getting something done. I did a lot of planning and one day realized that I was avoiding action because of fear. On top of that, I was getting nothing done.
It was very distressful feeling, and I told myself that if I wanted to ever achieve a goal I had in mind, I would have to take action and do it now. After I did something (anything related to towards my goal), I felt a lot better. I felt motivated again and proud of myself. And I think the message your sending out to people here is a simple message – but a profound one.