While trying to sit down and write my content on procrastination, I procrastinated! Why? Why do we all procrastinate about certain things? Why do we procrastinate on one thing but not on another? There is research that tries to explain different types of procrastination and why we do it. So, what is procrastination? The Oxford Dictionary describes it as “The action of delaying or postponing something; to be slow or late about doing something that should be done; to delay doing something until a later time because you do not want to do it.”
Mindtools website suggests that procrastination is often confused with laziness, but they are very different. “Procrastination is an active process: you choose to do something else instead of the task that you know you should be doing. In contrast, laziness suggests apathy, inactivity, and an unwillingness to act.” Whatever procrastination is defined as, whatever professionals say it is, we all live with it daily. Here are four tips for overcoming procrastination that you can start TODAY.
Tip 1: Do the 1-5 minute things consistently
Even small events of procrastination can make us feel guilty and all of these small events turn into BIG time events. Here are some examples for perspective: Every time you leave your car without picking up the empty water bottles or trash, it only adds to your time later when you have to clean up the car because now you can’t find that receipt you need or you’re picking someone up for lunch and they can’t fit in the passenger seat. Another example is checking email. As emails come in, you can quickly decide if they need to be deleted, or moved to a folder or quickly responded to. Put the toothpaste back into the drawer and hang up your bath towel.
I’ll never forget one time when my adult son called me one day out of the blue and said, “Thank you, Mom,” something every mother loves to hear. I asked why he was thanking me, and he proceeded to tell me about a friend’s car they were taking to an event and he couldn’t get into the passenger side because of all of the trash in the floorboard and scattered throughout the car. I didn’t realize I had subtly (or by example) taught my kids to clean out their car every time they get out. Thinking back to when my boys were younger, we did try to make sure that everyone picked up their trash and belongings before we even exited the car on the way into the house. As we entered the house, the kitchen trash was available and then their belongings were taken to their rooms. This only takes a few minutes and then it is completed to mark it off your to-do list.
Tip 2: Start with the little routine things, and do them every time.
It is all of those little things we often take for granted, like hanging the towel back up or putting it into the dirty clothes or rinsing your dirty dishes and putting them in the sink. These things only take a few seconds when completed as they happen, compared to going all over the house at the end of the day collecting dirty dishes with dried and stuck food. All the little undone things add up to big things and at the end of the day, making your life much harder. Start with the little things each day and work your way up to bigger action items. If you’re already doing the small organization things, work on refining those each and every day. Organizing never stops; there’s always something to organize or clean…that’s just how life is and life gets busy and there are days we end up throwing everything into that catch-all drawer because company is at the front door. It does seem overwhelming, but if you keep working at it you will find what works best for you and get into a routine. Why put off organizing something now when it will only be there tomorrow and the next day. Mark it off your list today!
When my children were small and I was leaving to go to the grocery store one day I asked my husband, “When does this stop? Having to buy so many groceries and cleaning supplies for everyday living and so much cleaning and organizing?” His response: It stops when you die. Ha! Yes this is a rather harsh reality, but let’s face it, I would rather live with a little mess than not have the opportunity to experience life. So this is all about trying to manage the chaos our lives bring–in the happy times and the busy times. In the middle of dinner with family, in the middle of the kids’ football season, school, practice, appointments, and homework–let’s be thankful for getting to have these moments.
Tip 3: Seek to understand why you are procrastinating. You need to understand the why before you can begin to correct your behavior. Isn’t 90% of fixing something first admitting you have the problem? For example, are you avoiding a task because you find it boring or unpleasant? When researching how to help with overcoming procrastination, several suggested that people who are organized overcome procrastination better because they prioritize and they have tools to organize by priority. I know that when I was in college, my dorm room or apartment was always neat and tidy because schoolwork was the last thing I “wanted” to do. There are times we procrastinate because we don’t know where to start or just don’t feel we have the skills to do it correctly. This is where “just start” comes into play. Again, 95% of getting something completed is just starting. Observe yourself and see how true this is. Just to move in the direction of completing the task and once you get your momentum going, it just falls into place. The other tendency about thinking you don’t have the skills is also very true, but again, just start it. You have to start somewhere and not doing anything is not going in the right direction. I worked at a job where several projects would take an excruciating amount of time to start because they wanted everything perfect before implementation. But how do you know everything is going to work and be perfect the first time? Adjustments are going to have to be made along the way. An example would be the mold made for my TAGit product. I worked for months with the plastics manufacturer, engineer, and patent agent. We didn’t really know where to start and we had to make several adjustments along the way, but if I had waited for it to be perfect, it would never have happened and I would still be saying I “should have” started that.
Tip 4: Mind your internal dialogue. It will make a significant difference. Change the phrase from “have to” to “choose to”. When you think, “I have to” about something, it implies that you have no choice in what you do, which can make you feel disempowered. However when you think, “I choose to,” it gives you more ownership of the task and it doesn’t feel as overwhelming. Try this! It is such an important part of everyday life if you want to feel less stressed and get more accomplished. People who can master positive internal dialog are more motivated and productive. It influences how you feel about yourself and how you react to experiences in your daily life. Having an internal dialog is something we do naturally all day long and we often don’t even realize we are doing it. Make positive internal dialog part of your everyday routine. Start your day off with an uplifting podcast or listen to music that motivates you.
I hope these tips give you some things to think about when it comes to your own tendencies and mindset around organizing your life!