Well, there is that word-procrastination.  For many people procrastination is a natural part of their life. Do you knock things off your list or do you hope you will get around to accomplishing those things someday? You have great intentions, but you never seem to get to the bottom of your “to do” list. Well, procrastination may have taken hold of you.

The Webster’s dictionary defines the word, procrastination as  “to delay, defer, or postpone”.  Have you delayed, deferred, or postpone things that you would like to accomplish in your life? Now is the time to stop procrastinating and work toward your goals.

First ask yourself, why do you procrastinate? Maybe you really do not have the time to complete the project. Or the task is so difficult that the thought of it just makes you cringe and you just put it off for another day. The thought of getting your tax information, receipts, searching for deductions, sends you into a tizzy, so it is easier not to do it. Or the emotions attached to the task are just too difficult to process or you are just not ready to handle it.

Some Suggestions:

Make the time to work to towards your goals-schedule it on your calendar. For example, you need to get all your tax information to your accountant or tax preparer to file your taxes. Decide on a date and  how much time it will take to gather the information. Schedule the day and the time with no interruptions to gather your information. Let the answering machine take any messages and return them later. Same goes for email.

If you are unsure about how long it might take to accomplish a task-double the time you estimate. If you think it will take you an hour to gather your tax information, schedule two hours. If it takes less than two hours, great! You have more time to do other things because you gave yourself ample time to accomplish the task.

Do the thing you dread to do, first. It probably will be difficult, however if you schedule that dreaded  task as the first thing to do in your day, it will make your day go smoother. Instead of thinking about “I need to do…”, it is done. It can also be empowering to complete an dreaded task.

Elevate if the task is important enough to you to keep on your to do list. Maybe it is something you feel you should do, however but out of guilt. Decide if it is really worthy of your time.

For example, you decide to knit a sweater for your dog because he would be warm and look so cute! You bought the supplies, started the project, but other things came up and you put the pile in the basket six months ago and have not touched it since then. Consider letting the project go and purchasing your dog the sweater instead. Instead of walking past the sweater and feeling guilty knowing you must get to work on the sweater, consider letting it go. After elevating it you may feel it is just not worth your time, let it go without the guilt and move on to something else.

Reward yourself for accomplishing the task. Usually the job done is reward in its self!

Procrastination can be a difficult process to overcome, but making a plan and taking the steps to get there, you can become a part of the procrastinator anonymous group!