Practical Steps to Overcoming Procrastination: 5 Essential Tips

Overcoming procrastination is no easy task for anyone to accomplish due to our natural human tendency to take the easy way out. We all fall victims of procrastination at certain points in our life but it is our ability to recognize the negative consequences of procrastination and resolve to do away with it that makes us eventually rise above procrastination. You cannot overcome procrastination by merely wishing alone; if you want to stop procrastinating, you have to be willing to learn and let go of old habits.

So what is the way out of procrastination?

Keep Things Simple

Many times we put off important tasks because we feel that they are difficult and cumbersome to accomplish. When tasks are simple, you can accomplish them easily without feeling the need to procrastinate. Don’t crowd your schedule with so many unnecessary activities and don’t blow a task out of proportion. Determine the things that are most important to you and do them first.

Manage your Time

We all get the same amount of time to work with everyday. Why then do some people accomplish more than others in a day? The answer lies in the concept of time management. When you learn how to manage your time properly, you would be able to maximize your time and accomplish more in a short period of time.

Don’t try to do everything

If you have a lot on your plate, it is important that you delegate to lighten your workload and keep you focused on what is most important. You can learn to avoid procrastination by letting someone else handle these tasks for you.

Celebrate New Heights

Breaking the habit of procrastination is no small task. As such, you should reward yourself for any new height you attain. When you make progress in overcoming procrastination no matter how little it is, learn to reward yourself. When you know there is a reward for completing a particular task, you are less likely to procrastinate on it.

Tune Out Distractions

Today more than ever social networks and TV shows constitute a huge source of distractions for most people. Decide in advance to invest your time in activities that would give you maximum satisfaction in life and learn to avoid distractions.

Unlimited

‘‘Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure……’’ Marianne Williamson

Most of us are ignorant of the unique potentials that lie within us. We all have our diverse gifts and abilities, there is no one born without a talent. Some people think they are not talented simply because they cannot sing, dance, write poems and books or perform one kind of sport or the other. Most of us feel that only a few people on earth are talented. In reality, we are all gifted differently, only some of us have not come to the realization of our potentials. 

Many a times, we think of talent only in terms of what we can see a person express, but the abilities of every individual goes far beyond such expressions as singing or dancing; it extends to the wealth of treasure hidden in our minds.

Your greatest asset is your mind. The mind is a realm where anything can be conceived and no limitations exist. The energy and capacity of the human mind is unquantifiable. Everyone with a functional mind is not just talented but wealthy because the mind has enormous ability to produce great things.

The mind is a place where anything is possible. Your mind has an eye; it can see what even your optical eye is not equipped to see. Depending on how it is utilized, your mind can be a tool for progress or regress. The mind is filled with immense wealth that a man cannot totally exhaust throughout his life time. There is a popular saying that ‘‘the grave is the wealthiest place on earth’’, this is because of the number of people who die without tapping into the enormous potentials of their mind.

Every man with a functional mind is fully equipped for greatness because all a man needs to change his life is an idea, and ideas are born in the mind. The mind needs to be constantly stimulated and equipped with relevant knowledge to function at its best. Knowledge empowers, emboldens and helps you discover your abilities. You can get the right knowledge from reading books and listening to people that have achieved success in life.

Do you know how much you can achieve if only you engage your mind? If you continue to look at the things you cannot do in life, you would not go very far.  The one thing you have at your disposal is your mind, take time to look inwards and don’t be afraid to dream or create anything in your mind because you can achieve anything that your mind can conceive as long as you are willing to pay the price.

For those who have trained their minds and are brave enough to pursue their dreams, nothing is impossible to them. Remember, you have no limitations except the ones you place on yourself.  You are responsible for the outcome of your life, you and only you. You are great and amazingly talented; don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. It is up to you to determine how much of that greatness you want to express.

Everyone Needs Someone...

                           

Life is a journey that began the day we were born. We did not decide to be born and I have this weird feeling that if people were to make a choice, some would have preferred not to be born. We live in a world full of ups and downs, pains and pleasures, wants and wealth, sickness and health, and everything seems to have its cycle. It is impossible to take this journey of life alone; indeed it’s the worst thing that can happen to anyone. At some point you will need a shoulder to cry on, someone to talk to and a friend to lean on. Even if you have so much money but no one to share it with, it soon becomes meaningless.

Life is meant to be shared, not lived in isolation. This can be clearly seen in the bible in the book of Genesis. God had to make a companion for Adam because He observed that ‘‘it is not good for man to be alone’’. No matter how independent you think you are, someday you will need someone. The worst feeling in the world is the feeling of loneliness, it can be very depressing. Everybody needs to feel loved and valued, without this life has no meaning. The only place loneliness is permitted is in the grave. Have you noticed that no two people (no matter how close they were) are buried in the same casket? It is because companionship is for this realm.

 The knowledge that you need others to survive on this journey of life should affect the way you treat others. Don’t scare people away. You should value and love the people in your life because they won’t be there forever, it’s just for a season.There is a popular saying that ‘‘you don’t know the value of what you have until you lose it’’.  This should not be so when it comes to the people in our lives .Never miss an opportunity to tell those you love that they mean the world to you. Appreciate them every opportunity you get.

 There is a popular saying ‘‘give a thousand chances to your enemy to become your friend, but don’t give a single chance to your friend to become your enemy’’. Don’t live like you deserve all the good people in your life; know that they are a gift to you and treat them as such. You would never know how important that person is to you until you have to live without him/her. What have I been saying? Everyone needs someone at certain points if not all the time, so cherish the people that make your life work because believe it or not you could never make it on your own.

Mix made in hell

                          Have you ever been in a crowded place, maybe in a market, a room or a car? It’s certainly very uncomfortable to say the least. The noise, coupled with the lack of space in such an atmosphere is not encouraging. I was unfortunate to find myself in that situation recently. My experience was in a bus which I boarded to school one morning. It was an experience I would never forget. At the time I boarded the bus it was already half full and all the available seats were taken, so I had to stand which is the norm. What I did not know was that the driver had planned to literarily carry the entire city in his bus.

                         It wasn’t long before the unpleasant episode began. As we approached each bus stop, the driver stopped to pick up more passengers. The bus driver kept picking passengers, and since no one was alighting, there was only entry into the bus and no exit. I really don’t know if it was greed or the driver just couldn’t see, but before I knew it the bus was filled with people and we were packed in like sardines. I couldn’t move from where I stood because there was someone pushing me from behind, left and right, it was terrible. All I could think of was alighting but then I had to reach my bus stop which was still up ahead.

                         It was an unpleasant journey, the worst I have ever had. I just kept asking myself why I boarded that particular bus. Since I was already late for class, I couldn’t afford to alight and take another bus or even a cab, so I just had to remain in the crowded bus and pray for my bus stop to be in sight. In the meantime, I was in a dilemma. There was barely any fresh air left in the bus considering no window was open due to the harsh weather outside. It wasn’t long before the little air left was replaced by a variety of odors.

                        Words would fail me to adequately describe the odor in the bus. It smelled of different body creams mixed with colognes and perfumes. In addition there was the stench of alcohol mixed with cigarette that came from the mouth of some passengers. It wasn’t long before the bus smelled like...(words cannot describe) and I felt nauseous. It was a mix made in hell. I prayed silently to reach my destination so I could breathe fresh air again. It was a long drive and as we passed each stop, few passengers would alight only to be replaced by some more passengers. This continued until finally my prayers were answered and I reached my bus stop. It was a big struggle to even alight from the bus as I had to push my way through a crowd of people. Eventually I alighted, fresh air and freedom greeted me.

                        I vowed never to be in such a situation again, but sooner or later it’s bound to repeat itself again except of course I decide to buy myself a ride. One way or the other, at  certain points we all find ourselves in a ‘‘mix made in hell’’. Mine was in a crowded bus, yours could be anywhere or it could consist of anything. What is important is realizing that no situation is permanent. No matter how unpleasant and uncomfortable it may be, it would end some day and it’s the knowledge of this that keeps you going in that situation. At such times all you have to do is forget about where you are and focus on where you want to be. Soon you would be out of your ‘‘mix made in hell’’ and it would become a story like mine is today.