Top 7 Tips For Taming The Procrastination Monster

As the former queen of procrastination, I understand how important it is to curb it. Consider the following tips to taming the procrastination monster.

1. Know yourself and have realistic expectations of yourself. Having goals, recognizing your past failures, and understanding your moods will help you ward off procrastination and negativity.
   
   
2. Confront and conquer your fears. Statistics show that 90 percent of what we worry about never happens. If you don't address your fears and move through them, they hang over your head forever. Fear of public speaking and fear of going to the dentist are good examples. Until you get through them, they will always be lurking in the back of your mind.
   
   
3. Learn to effectively reward yourself. Make it simple, positive, and motivating. Not food, but perhaps a movie or letting yourself sleep in. To make rewards effective, be consistent with them.
   
   
4. Subdivide your tasks. There's an old saying: The best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time (some ketchup wouldn't hurt either). Divide larger tasks into bite-size pieces. Commit to giving it your undivided attention for 15 minutes, then work on something else for a while. Repeat until the task is finished. Maybe your better at getting things done if you sandwich the undesirable job between two things you enjoy. If you love gardening, work on the unpleasant task between two rounds of gardening.
   
   
5. Set your priorities. Your approach can be planned more effectively once a hierarchy of importance is established. This also empowers you to turn down tasks that distract you from more important projects.
   
   
6. Delegate. Learn to divide and conquer, but be sure that the task and desired outcome are clear to all involved. If the people you delegate to are constantly needing clarification or information, you won't get anything done.
   
   
7. Be happy and positive. Take steps to ensure a more joyful and positive life. Do happy things; see positive movies, read good books, practice affirmations, be around positive people, etc.
   
   BONUS TIPS
   
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   • Develop a plan and get organized. Organizing goals and plans is important in reaching a desired outcome. You can't hit a target unless you know what it is. Make the outcome viable and measurable. The more you pre-plan, the less time you'll spend doing and re-doing.
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   • Learn and practice effective time management skills. Lost time can never be regained. Using your time effectively means no regret for wasted time or misspent time. It helps to recognize the difference between being late and TOO late.
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   These tips should help you put a stop to procrastination. Unless, of course, you put off using them until tomorrow. :-)

Kimberly Goodwin, The Achievement Architect, is a speaker, writer, and consultant who specializes in helping groups and individuals Find Their Niche & Market Their Talents.

Tom Goodwin is a freelance writer.

Kimberly and Tom Goodwin publish the e-newsletter Momentum.

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