Do you make excuses when you miss deadlines? Do you tend to look for excuses to explain why you didn't do something, rather than take action to finish the job?
Is there a good reason why you didn't finish the job?
How important is finishing the job? Have you written down a plan for finishing it as soon as possible? Stop blaming failures on the circumstances around you. The next time you hear yourself making excuses, it may help to remember what the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said about the predicaments procrastinators get themselves into: "It takes less time to do a thing right than explain why you did it wrong."
Do you see yourself as a victim of events and circumstances? Do you complain more than other people? What do you do when you procrastinate? How do you spend your time when you've decided not to do something you should do? Are you serious about wanting to change? Are there hidden causes of your procrastination that you need to discover?
Procrastinators are always able to find reasons for not getting started. To take control of your life, you have to accept responsibility for everything that happens with your projects. When you fail, analyze what happened and ask yourself if you could have produced a better outcome by doing something differently. This will improve your ability to successfully complete the next project, and you'll be ready to take the first step to get started on it. Identify what needs to be done and do it now-circumstances will never be perfect for starting the job.
The only way to break out of the vicious circle of procrastination is by asking hard questions. We are not victims of our circumstances. You can do the things that need to be done. And you can learn to distinguish between the things that need to be done now and the things that can wait. Whenever you consider delaying a project, ask yourself the following questions:
- What are the benefits of waiting?
- Do I have a justifiable reason for postponing this project?
- Do I want to go on living with the consequences of leaving things undone?
Look in the mirror and ask yourself if you're delaying a task for a justifiable reason. Put all your reasons for wanting to delay the project under a microscope; consider the possibility that your reasons are merely excuses for not getting started. Think about the last time you delayed a project. What benefits did you expect to receive by waiting? Write them down. Now ask yourself how the project came out. Did the project benefit from the delay?
Justifiable reasons-or if you're just making excuses. What would have happened if you had pushed forward on the project anyway? And always remind yourself of what Napoleon Hill said about waiting: "Do not wait. The time will never be just right."
The following quiz will help you identify areas where a negative attitude has been keeping you from taking charge of your life. Answer "yes" to the statements that describe you.
1. I get discouraged when I think about all the problems I have.
2. I often wonder why my life is not as rewarding as it could be; many people around me seem to be living more satisfying lives than I am.
3. I have trouble focusing on my goals; I'm easily distracted at work.
4. I tend to put off getting started on projects because I'm always thinking about the things that can go wrong.
If you answered "yes" to any of the above statements, make a commitment to start retooling your attitude today. Read motivational books, listen to inspirational recordings, and associate with positive thinkers.
We cause our own feelings; I am the major cause of my own problems. Don't let a negative attitude stand in the way of your happiness in life. Never make an important decision when you're feeling down. What is your best time for making decisions? What is your worst time? What is your best time for working on difficult tasks? Is there a time of day when you tend to procrastinate more? Is there a time of day when you tend to procrastinate less?
Here are some tips for improving your attitude that can help you take the first steps toward overcoming the procrastination monster:
- Focus on the result you want to achieve. The more you focus on problems, the more discouraged you're likely to get. If you're not getting what you want out of life, you probably suffer from a lack of focus. This is why procrastination is such a dangerous demon-it prevents us from focusing on our goals. Procrastinators focus on all the reasons not to move forward, instead of focusing on the goal they want to achieve.
- Give your full attention to whatever you're doing. When you concentrate on the things that can go wrong, you can't stay focused on the job you're doing. Failure is the inevitable consequence of a lack of focus; if I think I'm going to do a bad job, I probably will-or I may never get started at all.
- Don't focus on all the things that can go wrong. Focusing on the hazards involved in trying to do something will almost always convince you to give up before you start.
I'm not advising you to throw caution to the wind. Every task we undertake has things that can go wrong. Simply said, it's enough to know what the dangers are, be prepared to respond to them, and then move ahead with the project-confident in your ability to handle whatever comes up. People who dwell on all the things that can go wrong never get anything done. Productive people have learned to focus on opportunities-concentrate on the benefits of successfully completing a project and you will have won a major battle in the war against procrastination.
This website uses cookies that are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the privacy policy. By accepting this OR scrolling this page OR continuing to browse, you agree to our Privacy Policy