Combating Procrastination

Procrastination is something I think everyone has experienced. It’s a very common productivity problem, and on my list of top time wasters (with solutions.) See also “Why We Procrastinate.”

I’ve thought about selling used books on Amazon as a possibility to earn a little money for a long time. I finally got around to taking a look at it, and discovered there’s a lot of competition there. Is it really worth the amount of time it would take to post items and ship them? I’m thinking probably not. Too many people have already jumped on that wagon. I’d better think of something else for my retirement plan. Sometimes, if you procrastinate too long, you miss that window of opportunity and it will pass right on by.

So what can we do about it? One thing is to pause, review and evaluate what we’re spending our time on. Are the projects we’re working on really effective for reaching our goals? Is the idea we’re thinking of a good one to pursue or not? Take a close look at the Return on Investment (ROI) and Find the Sweet Spot. ROI is frequently used in terms of financial return, but on a personal level we really need to consider the investment of our time and energy (both of which are resources available in limited amounts) and the likely outcome or results. Life is too short to not being doing the things that support our top priority values.

Once you’re very clear about what it is that you really want to do, the next thing is to get yourself motivated to TAKE ACTION. Like this Nike advertisement says: “Yesterday you said tomorrow. Just do it!”

I did get one thing done this week that I’ve procrastinated about for a long time.  On the Daily PlanIt website, I have now added a link to The Daily PlanIt Amazon Store. Here you can find links to my favorite books and products for productivity and personal development.

Here are several articles and inspiring pictures about procrastination I’ve seen recently:

• Entrepreneur article: “The 80/20 Rule and Listening to your Inner Procrastinator” by Perry Marshall.
• 12 Steps to Beat Procrastion from Productivityist
• 6 Steps to Be a Productive Procrastinator from Success Magazine
• “35 Things You do that Waste Your Time” by prolificliving.com.
• Get Motivated to Get Things Done at iamhappyproject.org.
• Beth Kantor has useful ideas for anyone at “Five Methods for Avoiding Procrastination for Nonprofits.”
• Overcoming Procrastination at MindTools.
• Why We Procrastinate with the require/desire grid

The Daily PlanIt Overcoming Procrastination Board at Pinterest.

Get your copy of 25 Quotes and Affirmations to Finally Defeat Procrastination based on strategies from Alex Vermeer.

How do you combat procrastination? Let me know if you get around to it!

About dailyplanit

I seek to create order from the chaos of complex information. Join me at the Daily PlanIt to gain insights, inspiration, and information to increase skills for a better life. I unlock the power of teaching reading with phonics in the pursuit of literacy at www.phonicspow.com. In my spare time I explore books and movies, often choosing titles available on both screen and page.