Procrastination is My Enemy

In Nine Reasons Why Done is Better Than Perfect from Planning Mindfully, Rachel shares,

“Do you find that perfectionism holds you back from being successful in life? You get that done is better than perfect. But despite your desire to do the very best work on anything you complete, trying to make it perfect actually ends up backfiring majority of the time.”

I really fight Procrastination!

I really want to keep doing this blog and I only post on Monday through Friday, but I tend to put the writing off. I have some great ideas, but I need to get the ideas written down and posted.

I even thought if I knew why I procrastinate, it would make it easier to fight it. I can list the reasons why but that only gives me more reason to procrastinate. Knowing the reasons doesn’t seem to help me.

I want it to be perfect. Many times, this would be the reason if I had gotten my rough draft done first.

I feel I should be doing other things instead of writing. I need to set my priorities.

I’m not in the mood. This is a common emotion when I really want to avoid any task.

I feel guilty. This is a vicious cycle. I feel guilty, so I don’t write and I don’t do the other things I should be doing because I feel guilty that I should be writing.

I don’t have a good topic that I think others might be interested in. This is just an excuse. I have many topics come up in my head when I’m not ready to write.

More importantly, despite the reasons, how do I fight the urge to procrastinate?

·      I think about what the main reason for why I don’t want to do a task. Then I try to overcome that obstacle. Once it is out of the way, I should be able to finish the task.

·      I make a list of all the things I need to do for the day. I love checking each thing off as it gets done.

·      I try to do the things on the list in order of the least desirable first. Once I get them out of the way, the easier the rest of the list gets done.

·      Sometimes, I will give myself a fun break for 10 minutes in between the things on my list. I don’t do this too often because they I find it harder to get back to the things on my list.

·      I try to come up with a reward for accomplishing all of the things on my list.

·      Sometimes I just have to bite the bullet and get started. Getting started is one of the hardest things for me to do.

How do you fight procrastination? Please share.