Overcoming procrastination

How many times a day do you berate yourself about all those things still sitting there on your to-do list: "I should... make that phonecall... prepare for next week's presentation... put the washing on now... do the banking... finish editing that report... catch up on reading some articles... put my suit in for drycleaning... shop for dinner tonight..." We all do it! But it can be pretty wearing, can't it?



And that's just all the stuff that is yet to be done. Even more insidious, is continuing to dwell on all the things that aren't finished: "I should have done this... or I didn't get that done as well as I'd have liked..." Spending a lot of time focusing on the past - especially worrying about whether or not you've got everything done 'perfectly' - can really sap your energy.

What often happens when you're constantly directing your attention to the past or the future, rather than focusing on where you are right now, is that it all begins to feel like it's too much to handle and you start procrastinating about doing any of it - it feels too big or you don't know where to start.

Do one thing at a time...
So what to do about this? Well, the best strategy is to concentrate your energy and focus on the present, which is truly the only place you can directly impact. Instead of incessantly running through in your mind all those "I should do this..." or "I should have done that..." items, ask yourself:

"What is the ONE thing that I need to do right now?"

Try this for yourself - it feels much more powerful. Your mind actually helps you to sort your priorities and choose one to work with. This is a great approach to take whenever you're feeling overwhelmed. After all, you can't do everything at once, can you? So, simply by selecting one thing to start with, you draw in and concentrate your attention - and you'll find you can be far more effective with your time. You actually get more done by tackling things one at a time. It doesn't matter which one you start with - by beginning to generate some momentum, you'll find you naturally flow onto the next one and then the next one.

Reward yourself as you go...
Sometimes it's good to start with an easy thing, so that you can achieve it fairly quickly and give yourself a pat on the back for it. Then when you go onto something harder, you can remind yourself that you can do this - after all, you got that other one done, didn't you? It's far better to be kind to yourself and congratulate yourself for each and every little thing that you do get done, than to constantly beat yourself up for all the things you didn't.

Be patient and gentle with yourself, and just keep taking care of that one thing that you need to do in this very moment, and you'll be amazed at how you do end up getting through all those things that really matter...