How not to put off life until later. He who dares wins. Enjoyment in the process is the best way to get results
Translators G. Sultanov, R. Zhumagaliev
Project Manager A. Derkach
Corrector O. Ilyinskaya
Computer layout M. Potashkin
Design S. Timonov
Photo bank illustrations used Shutterstock
© Leo Babauta, 2011
© Publication in Russian, translation, design. Alpina Publisher LLC, 2013
All rights reserved. No part of the electronic version of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including posting on the Internet or corporate networks, for private or public use without the written permission of the copyright owner.
© The electronic version of the book was prepared by liters company (www.litres.ru)
This is just a quick guide. Because a good guide shouldn't be long. Here, in a few short chapters, all the most important things you should know about one of the most pressing problems - the habit of postponing things, the inability to bring what you started to completion, i.e. procrastination, as well as my time-tested methods for solving this problem.
Several key principles are repeated often enough in the text so that you won't miss the most important things.
By the time you finish reading the book, you will be well on your way to achieving your goals.
Will you read this now or put it off for later? (Joke)
Let's start with a common joke among procrastinators about books on overcoming procrastination.
I need to buy this book... Maybe next time.
I bought a book... I'll read it tomorrow.
I read the book. It's time to start fighting procrastination, but...
Seriously, even if you are a habitual procrastinator, you probably would like to break this habit. However, instead of doing something, you continue to put things off. The first possible reason is fear.
You can start reading the book from the chapter “Fear and Procrastination.” If you're still hesitant after reading this, at least you'll know why.
The story of my relationship with procrastination
Hello friends! My name is Leo Babauta, I am a website creator ZenHabits and mnmlist.com, author of Focus and The Power of Less. I'm a typical procrastinator. I have struggled with this problem almost my entire life, like many others. It is familiar to each of us to one degree or another. And I'm no exception.
At school, I often procrastinated: I never did my homework and, despite the excellent grades I received on tests (the night before was usually devoted to cramming), I was generally a mediocre student. Later, working for a newspaper and then in politics, I was good at my professional responsibilities, but I always finished things at the very last minute and I barely had enough energy. I had a million goals I wanted to achieve in life, but I wasn't even close to the starting line.
Does this sound familiar to you? If the same thing happens to you, then this book is for you.
In 2006, after many attempts, I found a solution to the problem. A year later, I became a different person, more active than ever before. In the end, I conquered procrastination!
To be honest, I still procrastinate sometimes. I surf the Internet like anyone else. But I still find time to complete important tasks, and that's what makes the difference.
Here are examples of what I have achieved using the simple methods described in this book.
Created a blog ZenHabits, included in the top 25 among blogs according to the magazine Time, and successfully ran it for four years (at the time of writing this book in 2011).
Wrote (but decided not to publish) two novels as part of the NaNoWriMo challenge. While working on one of them, I wrote over 110,000 words in one month.
My efforts led to the creation of Write To Done and mnmlist, two more successful blogs. The number of subscribers on each of them exceeds 10,000.
Participated in several marathons and twice in triathlons.
Created a successful business (with a wonderful partner, Mary Jaxch): A-List Blogging Bootcamps.
I wrote this book in three days.
I did all this, of course, not alone, but surrounded by six children and my wife. If I achieved this with six children on my hands, then you certainly cannot have an excuse for inaction.
How exactly did I manage to do this? I simply followed the simple principles outlined in this book. I share them with you in the hope that you too can overcome procrastination and finally do what you have always dreamed of.
Why is procrastination bad?
What's wrong with procrastination? To be honest, there are some positive aspects to this phenomenon (see the next chapter, “What's Good About Procrastination?”). Sometimes she gives us pleasure. But more often than not, it still causes harm, which is why I wrote this book.
Let me list some of the negative consequences of procrastination.
It prevents us from completing things, negatively impacting our productivity.
Even if we find the strength to complete the work, we either do it in a hurry or carelessly and therefore get a poor-quality result.
It forces us to work longer than necessary, to devote almost all our time to business, which is almost not left for other areas of life. We have to give up, for example, sports, hobbies, and spending time with family.
It consumes the precious hours we have in this life.
It contributes to increased stress levels as things left unfinished cause anxiety and restlessness.
It prevents you from achieving your goals.
It negatively affects our self-esteem. If we put things off for too long, we begin to believe that we are lazy, incompetent, undisciplined, perhaps even a failure. It's very difficult to stop when you're going downhill.
She doesn't let us get closer to our dreams.
In my opinion, the last two points are the most unpleasant. Perhaps your case differs in details, but the book will help you with the main thing - to finally get off the couch and take a step towards your dream.
What's good about procrastination?
It is the puritanism of our culture (at least in the US) that forces us to perceive procrastination as evil. During the heyday of Puritanism, laws were even passed that directly interpreted idleness as a crime punishable not only by God, but also by human courts.
It’s scary to imagine how thick a book called “The Complete Collection of Human Excuses” would be. The resourceful mind every now and then finds remarkably compelling reasons on the topic: why I can’t, why not now, and why it probably won’t work out.
Sometimes it seems that it’s easier to just take it and do it than to come up with a new excuse every time, but no! Anyone who has taken the path of searching for reasons finds it very difficult to find direction towards searching for opportunities. One thing is sad: life is so fleeting and no one knows how much longer we will have to breathe - so is it worth hoping for a wonderful tomorrow, in which everything will be 100% different?
Today, as usual, you are giving yourself the last chance to live your old life, well, in order to enjoy its last minutes, of course. Therefore, you can eat your fill for the last time before going on a diet, lie down in front of the TV for the last time instead of jogging, spend the last time with this bored person, bury yourself in your kennel for the last time before super-active activity, because TOMORROW everything will change!
How many of these tomorrows have not come in your life? Do you seriously believe that the next tomorrow will surely be fateful? Wake up!
The mind is full of flexibility and rudeness,
when he is in a struggle with his conscience,
we don't lie to anyone that often
and as luckily as you like.
I.Guberman
If you are 100% happy with your current state of affairs, and don’t want to change anything, and don’t even think about it because you’re happy with what you have - congratulations! You are an enviably lucky person and you are done reading this article, because you won’t find anything useful in it! If you imagine a wonderful life and passionately desire it, but now, to put it mildly, you are not happy with the current situation - I assure you, the matter will be fixable!
Do not look for attachments for your own joy, happiness and satisfaction in specific future events
Graduating from college does not automatically bring you your dream job. Having older children does not guarantee that you will finally start devoting time to yourself. The long-awaited purchase of a subscription does not necessarily entail regular training. Yes, in the end, any goal that you so hope to achieve and after achieving which you think everything will change does not necessarily lead to the desired changes in your life, and most importantly - in your inner state.
The most correct step is to learn to receive joy, happiness and satisfaction from specific current events! Is it easy to say? Have you tried it? It's actually very simple! Hug your gray-eyed child instead of getting angry at him for the mess in your tiny apartment. Of course you will be happy with it in your new big home! But you will be happy with him!
Go for a leisurely walk with your loved one, enjoy their presence, the fresh air and the surrounding nature. Breathe joy deeply! Right now! Not later, when something important happens. Smile, smile wider and wider - the world will soon begin to smile at you with its smile that brings wonderful changes!
Never! Remember: never feel negative emotions about what you have!
Running out of money again? And when you pay your next bill, do you literally feel terrible discomfort from within? Or is the nasty weather outside driving you crazy again? Well, yes, if it were sunny today, you would definitely go for a walk.
Are you again nervous about not getting anything done? How are you fed up with so many difficult tasks! Yes?
If you literally hate what is happening to you, you are in an unconscious pursuit of two nasty hares: firstly, the feeling of constant discomfort, increased nervousness and destructive emotions did not bring anyone any good (take care of your health after all!), and secondly, this funnel draws you deeper and deeper: the more often you are negative, the more similar situations you get in your life that do not stop getting worse. Alas, in such cases these nasty hares are often caught at the same time.
A small but very effective exercise: ignore everything that you don’t like and immediately think through how you would like it to be now. Join in some interesting game: CHOOSEER.
The boss undeservedly attacked you again. And you immediately: I don’t choose this! I’m not interested in this and it wandered into my life completely by accident. Zero negativity, you can even smile to yourself, like, what a funny situation, and how did THIS get here? I would like it like this: and you imagine how your boss pounces on you with hugs and gratitude for a job well done by you. Well, isn't that great?
And so you play the chooser with any unpleasant situation: an angry passerby, a car that has splashed out of a puddle, a decreased salary - that is, with everything that previously grabbed you and brought you into internal discomfort.
Play around like this for at least a week - it will most likely not be easy, you are used to acting differently, but it will definitely be exciting and interesting. And most importantly - the consequences! Troubles will begin to disappear somewhere. You don't choose them anymore!
Realize a simple truth: in order to realize your plans, all you need is one super-secret ingredient - your decision to realize your plans.
Well, you don’t seriously think that if you had a couple of million more, a different education profile and more insightful relatives, life would necessarily have been a fairy tale from the very beginning? Read about millionaires who started from scratch, and sometimes from a big minus. About champions in sports who were previously confined to a wheelchair. Such stories are very motivating and, most importantly, allow us to conclude: to become different, you just need to become different. This transformation depends very little on external circumstances, but directly depends on the internal decision to fulfill what you want.
If there is something that you really want to achieve, start right now, don’t wait for the right moment: more experience, knowledge, what else are you missing? Otherwise, in 10 years you will still be waiting for a special moment, or you will completely lose interest in your goal. Everything you need for implementation, you will only get in motion!
Here are simple but mandatory 2 rules:
- Imagine how you want to be when you reach your goal: super active and organized? Or maybe calm and reasonable? Think over the image in great detail. And become like this right now! Include this image in yourself every day: walk more smoothly, smile more often, give compliments, start a conversation with interesting people first - and so on, whatever you want in detail. You can already be like this! And if you are missing some skills, record them all and plan to acquire each one gradually.
- Every day take small steps towards your big goal and record the result. A very simple rule: act every day! Even if the tasks are very difficult, a little bit every day - and you will overcome the elephant! Even if you don’t really know what to do, take it and act: look for information, communicate with people. Even if you are not sure that this is exactly what you need to do, think for 5 minutes and act, otherwise you will lose extra time thinking (people can spend years thinking about what they should become, weighing the pros and cons, analyzing - and still not become anyone in in the end, you’re not like that?) And be sure to record the results. The 365 system helps me: I make sure to hang a piece of paper in a visible place, where every day I record: what did I do today to achieve my goal? For example, day 19 out of 365 - I wrote an article that will go into the chapter of the book. If an empty space appears for several days in a row, your hands begin to itch, you urgently need to do something for your favorite goal.
Don't put off your life for later. She's so beautiful! And you can make it even brighter and more beautiful right now!
Don't rely on a promising tomorrow. We can feel life to the fullest only today!
Leo Babauta
How to stop procrastinating in life
Translators G. Sultanov, R. Zhumagaliev
Project Manager A. Derkach
Corrector O. Ilyinskaya
Computer layout M. Potashkin
Design S. Timonov
Photo bank illustrations used Shutterstock
© Leo Babauta, 2011
© Publication in Russian, translation, design. Alpina Publisher LLC, 2013
All rights reserved. No part of the electronic version of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including posting on the Internet or corporate networks, for private or public use without the written permission of the copyright owner.
© The electronic version of the book was prepared by liters company (www.litres.ru)
This is just a quick guide. Because a good guide shouldn't be long. Here, in a few short chapters, all the most important things you should know about one of the most pressing problems - the habit of postponing things, the inability to bring what you started to completion, i.e. procrastination, as well as my time-tested methods for solving this problem.
Several key principles are repeated often enough in the text so that you won't miss the most important things.
By the time you finish reading the book, you will be well on your way to achieving your goals.
Will you read this now or put it off for later? (Joke)
Let's start with a common joke among procrastinators about books on overcoming procrastination.
I need to buy this book... Maybe next time.
I bought a book... I'll read it tomorrow.
I read the book. It's time to start fighting procrastination, but...
Seriously, even if you are a habitual procrastinator, you probably would like to break this habit. However, instead of doing something, you continue to put things off. The first possible reason is fear.
You can start reading the book from the chapter “Fear and Procrastination.” If you're still hesitant after reading this, at least you'll know why.
The story of my relationship with procrastination
Hello friends! My name is Leo Babauta, I am a website creator ZenHabits and mnmlist.com, author of Focus and The Power of Less. I'm a typical procrastinator. I have struggled with this problem almost my entire life, like many others. It is familiar to each of us to one degree or another. And I'm no exception.
At school, I often procrastinated: I never did my homework and, despite the excellent grades I received on tests (the night before was usually devoted to cramming), I was generally a mediocre student. Later, working for a newspaper and then in politics, I was good at my professional responsibilities, but I always finished things at the very last minute and I barely had enough energy. I had a million goals I wanted to achieve in life, but I wasn't even close to the starting line.
Does this sound familiar to you? If the same thing happens to you, then this book is for you.
In 2006, after many attempts, I found a solution to the problem. A year later, I became a different person, more active than ever before. In the end, I conquered procrastination!
To be honest, I still procrastinate sometimes. I surf the Internet like anyone else. But I still find time to complete important tasks, and that's what makes the difference.
Here are examples of what I have achieved using the simple methods described in this book.
Created a blog ZenHabits, included in the top 25 among blogs according to the magazine Time, and successfully ran it for four years (at the time of writing this book in 2011).
Wrote (but decided not to publish) two novels as part of the NaNoWriMo challenge. While working on one of them, I wrote over 110,000 words in one month.
My efforts led to the creation of Write To Done and mnmlist, two more successful blogs. The number of subscribers on each of them exceeds 10,000.
Participated in several marathons and twice in triathlons.
Do you tend to put off important things until later? Think something like this: will I start on New Year’s Day (or, at best, on Monday)? Very soon (although we still have a whole month at our disposal!) the New Year will come, and those who are prone to such procrastination have probably already come up with not just one, but a whole list of things that they will begin with the New Year. And it also happens that year follows year, and the same things remain on our list, which something prevents us from starting. Moreover, most often, these things are truly important and significant for us, it’s not for nothing that we return to them in our thoughts again and again! It’s just that everything ends with thoughts, things somehow don’t go beyond reasoning and plans... Why does this happen? And how can you learn to move important things forward easily and joyfully? I decided to deal with this.
Enjoying the process is the best way to get results.
First of all, I began to remember when such procrastination manifested itself in my own life. I used to think that I would start doing fitness or losing weight in the New Year. Then she put it off until the beginning of the next month, then until spring, summer, and so on in a circle. Until I realized that if I don’t find a “two in one” activity, that is, for the body and soul at the same time, these procrastination will never stop. Yoga became such an activity for me. After meeting her, the topic was losing weight and “starting fitness classes on the New Year, month, etc.” ceased to be relevant to me. So I concluded that love for the task, for the process itself, is the best recipe for postponing it until later. After all, when you love to do something, you don’t want to put it off until later!
Enjoying the process became my recipe for procrastination. This understanding helped me quit smoking at one time. I asked myself the question “how can I start to enjoy the “non-smoking?” My answer was this: I like it when my hair, skin, and clothes smell of my favorite perfume, and not of cigarettes. And the opportunity to constantly smell my favorite perfume can become an incentive for me to give up a bad habit, making a choice in favor of what I like - the smell of freshness and perfume, the feeling of cleanliness on my face when my skin is not covered in cigarette smog. True, there were several other factors at work here - I understood that sooner or later I would still have to do this (after all, one day pregnancy would come, and I did not consider the possibility of smoking during pregnancy at all), but it was better sooner than later, because “the sooner , the better,” the longer you wait, the more harm there is to the body.
The lack of choice eliminates doubt.
Therefore, the second point that helps to overcome inertia and finally do what needs to be done is understanding of inevitability. If there is no way out, and you still have to sooner or later, then sooner is better than late. Moreover, this feeling when there is no other way out very effectively eliminates delays and doubts. So some even deliberately create such conditions for themselves, when what needs to be done becomes the only possible, not just desirable, but necessary. Thus, one information businessman said that when he launches a new project, he first “burns all the bridges,” that is, he blocks all other sources of income for himself, so that the promotion of the new project becomes the only way. Then all efforts are directed towards promoting the project automatically, unnecessary doubts go away by themselves, simply because there is no turning back. And the desire to make the project profitable becomes a necessity; other options are simply not considered. Therefore, the feeling of the inevitability of many things helps to cope with procrastination. Be it visits to the dentist or other things that are not pleasant to do, but necessary.
The main thing is to start.
It also helps in most cases breaking a large case into smaller ones, a large task into subtasks. This helps because we humans are generally characterized by inertia, a certain resistance to change. It’s difficult to move a mountain in one fell swoop; it’s easier to take it apart stone by stone. And it is often difficult to start, to take that very important first step from which any path begins. Overcoming inertia by leaving your “comfort zone” is what is sometimes most difficult. Therefore, sometimes this attitude “I’m just starting now, but if I suddenly feel extremely scared or unbearably difficult, I’ll quit” helps a lot. This attitude helps to get started, and then, as you know, “the eyes are afraid, but the hands do.”
Leave yourself the right to make mistakes!
Oddly enough, the desire to do something very well often prevents us from doing it in principle. So-called perfectionism, the desire to prepare for any task as best as possible, to think through everything down to the smallest detail, to take into account and predict even those factors that are simply impossible to predict in advance, and the underlying fear of making a mistake is often what holds us back from great things.
So you can work on one article for months, refining it again and again, and then never publish it, believing that it is still not ideal and you, as an author, have room to grow. You can study the theoretical aspects of gender relations for years, but still not risk opening up to another person, entering into live interaction, which is partly risky and unpredictable. Not giving yourself the right to make mistakes means tying yourself hand and foot, holding you back from any important and meaningful activity. Allowing yourself to be less than perfect means giving yourself the opportunity to grow, because only practical experience, sometimes learned from mistakes and failures, gives us the opportunity to become better. Sometimes, in order to start something without delay, we just need admit your right to make mistakes.
I hope this article will help you realize what is holding you back from important things and realize what you once planned, now, without waiting for the New Year!
Current page: 1 (book has 4 pages in total)
Leo Babauta
How to stop procrastinating in life
Translators G. Sultanov, R. Zhumagaliev
Project Manager A. Derkach
Corrector O. Ilyinskaya
Computer layout M. Potashkin
Design S. Timonov
Photo bank illustrations used Shutterstock
© Leo Babauta, 2011
© Publication in Russian, translation, design. Alpina Publisher LLC, 2013
All rights reserved. No part of the electronic version of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including posting on the Internet or corporate networks, for private or public use without the written permission of the copyright owner.
© The electronic version of the book was prepared by liters
* * *
About the book
This is just a quick guide. Because a good guide shouldn't be long. Here, in a few short chapters, all the most important things you should know about one of the most pressing problems - the habit of postponing things, the inability to bring what you started to completion, i.e. procrastination1
English procrastinate, from lat. pro (in favor) and crastinus (tomorrow, future). – Note ed.
And also my time-tested methods for solving this problem.
Several key principles are repeated often enough in the text so that you won't miss the most important things.
By the time you finish reading the book, you will be well on your way to achieving your goals.
Will you read this now or put it off for later? (Joke)
Let's start with a common joke among procrastinators about books on overcoming procrastination.
I need to buy this book... Maybe next time.
I bought a book... I'll read it tomorrow.
I read the book. It's time to start fighting procrastination, but...
Seriously, even if you are a habitual procrastinator, you probably would like to break this habit. However, instead of doing something, you continue to put things off. The first possible reason is fear.
You can start reading the book from the chapter “Fear and Procrastination.” If you're still hesitant after reading this, at least you'll know why.
The story of my relationship with procrastination
Hello friends! My name is Leo Babauta, I am a website creator ZenHabits and mnmlist.com, author of Focus and The Power of Less 3
Babauta L. Focus: A simplicity manifesto in the Age Distraction. N.Y., The Editorium, 2010; The Power of Less. N.Y., Hyperion, 2008.
I'm a typical procrastinator. I have struggled with this problem almost my entire life, like many others. It is familiar to each of us to one degree or another. And I'm no exception.
At school, I often procrastinated: I never did my homework and, despite the excellent grades I received on tests (the night before was usually devoted to cramming), I was generally a mediocre student. Later, working for a newspaper and then in politics, I was good at my professional responsibilities, but I always finished things at the very last minute and I barely had enough energy. I had a million goals I wanted to achieve in life, but I wasn't even close to the starting line.
Does this sound familiar to you? If the same thing happens to you, then this book is for you.
In 2006, after many attempts, I found a solution to the problem. A year later, I became a different person, more active than ever before. In the end, I conquered procrastination!
To be honest, I still procrastinate sometimes. I surf the Internet like anyone else. But I still find time to complete important tasks, and that's what makes the difference.
Here are examples of what I have achieved using the simple methods described in this book.
Created a blog ZenHabits, included in the top 25 among blogs according to the magazine Time, and successfully ran it for four years (at the time of writing this book in 2011).
Wrote (but decided not to publish) two novels as part of the NaNoWriMo challenge. While working on one of them, I wrote over 110,000 words in one month.
My efforts led to the creation of Write To Done and mnmlist, two more successful blogs. The number of subscribers on each of them exceeds 10,000.
Participated in several marathons and twice in triathlons.
Created a successful business (with a wonderful partner, Mary Jaxch): A-List Blogging Bootcamps.
I wrote this book in three days.
I did all this, of course, not alone, but surrounded by six children and my wife. If I achieved this with six children on my hands, then you certainly cannot have an excuse for inaction.
How exactly did I manage to do this? I simply followed the simple principles outlined in this book. I share them with you in the hope that you too can overcome procrastination and finally do what you have always dreamed of.
Why is procrastination bad?
What's wrong with procrastination? To be honest, there are some positive aspects to this phenomenon (see the next chapter, “What's Good About Procrastination?”). Sometimes she gives us pleasure. But more often than not, it still causes harm, which is why I wrote this book.
Let me list some of the negative consequences of procrastination.
It prevents us from completing things, negatively impacting our productivity.
Even if we find the strength to complete the work, we either do it in a hurry or carelessly and therefore get a poor-quality result.
It forces us to work longer than necessary, to devote almost all our time to business, which is almost not left for other areas of life. We have to give up, for example, sports, hobbies, and spending time with family.
It consumes the precious hours we have in this life.
It contributes to increased stress levels as things left unfinished cause anxiety and restlessness.
It prevents you from achieving your goals.
It negatively affects our self-esteem. If we put things off for too long, we begin to believe that we are lazy, incompetent, undisciplined, perhaps even a failure. It's very difficult to stop when you're going downhill.
She doesn't let us get closer to our dreams.
In my opinion, the last two points are the most unpleasant. Perhaps your case differs in details, but the book will help you with the main thing - to finally get off the couch and take a step towards your dream.
What's good about procrastination?
It is the puritanism of our culture (at least in the US) that forces us to perceive procrastination as evil. During the heyday of Puritanism, laws were even passed that directly interpreted idleness as a crime punishable not only by God, but also by human courts.
I'm not a puritan. I love idleness. In my opinion, laziness is a positive quality. I am not a supporter of hyper-productivity; I do not strive to fill every free minute with some useful activities.
Not at all. Some of my favorite activities are purposeful idleness. I love to slowly eat great food, take long walks, lie in bed with my wife Eva, watch movies, read good novels, communicate with my children, just doze. Yes, I love naps! So procrastination is not such an evil thing after all.
It's okay to procrastinate if you're tired and need a break, if you want to spend time with loved ones, if you decide to take a walk and collect your thoughts, if you think it's time to call a friend, meet up for a cup of coffee.
And the list goes on.
The tendency to procrastinate can help you find a pleasant and comfortable rhythm for your work, carve out time to think and observe, and maintain relationships with other people. So, I wouldn't try to break this habit completely.
However, as I noted in the previous chapter, procrastination can also have various negative effects, including preventing us from achieving our goals. Therefore, do not try to use what is said in this chapter as an excuse for putting off today's tasks until tomorrow and doing so day after day.
Why do we put things off until later?
Let's figure out what makes us put everything off until later. There are several explanations for this.
1. We want instant gratification. Relaxing on the couch is more pleasant and easier than going for a run. Reading blogs doesn't require as much effort as reading a classic novel and provides instant gratification. It's easier to spend time checking email or scrolling through Facebook than working on a project that's been put off repeatedly, and receiving a new email or feedback from a friend has instant gratification. Eating chocolate cake right now promises more pleasure than cooking vegetables.
2. We are afraid/afraid of something. We don't start working on our book because we can't decide on a style (most likely because we're scared of the prospect of discovering that we don't have a style of our own). Perhaps we are afraid of failing, of appearing ignorant or stupid. But most of all we fear the unknown. This fear has enormous power over us, even though we have not yet faced it directly and it is simply hidden somewhere deep inside us. Fear or fear of anything makes us put things off until later (and not only things, but even thinking about them) and instead find easy and safe activities (see chapter “Fear and Procrastination”).
3. We know that there will be no negative consequences right now. When we were in school, teachers watched us and scolded us if we did not complete our assignments. But when we came home and knew that no one was standing behind us, nothing stopped us from watching TV or playing computer games without any immediate negative consequences. Of course, most likely, tomorrow we will get bad grades, but that’s tomorrow, not now. The same principle applies when we immerse ourselves in the Internet or come up with other activities, succumbing to our weakness - we will pay for it later, but not today, now no one will be angry with us.
4. We overestimate our future. Many of us have a long list of things we plan to do because we think we can do a lot in the future. The reality is usually not as favorable as we expected. But this does not prevent us from assuming that the future will still be different. For the same reason, we think that it is normal to put things off until tomorrow. Because tomorrow, of course, we can do it. Our future looks incredibly productive and dynamic. When in reality our future will be the same as our present. Although (surprise!) there are just as many chances that it will still be different. This is our damn future.
5. We are not motivated. Procrastination can signal to us that we don't really want to do something. Maybe we don't enjoy it, maybe we have some concerns, maybe we just forgot what we were aiming for when we took it on. Motivation and procrastination are inversely proportional. All you have to do to overcome procrastination is motivate yourself (see chapter “Manage your motivation”).
6. Inertia. Starting something new can be very difficult, especially if you don't feel confident that it's worth it. Maybe you prefer to do something more familiar. I would suggest either giving up on a new goal if it doesn't appeal to you, or increasing your motivation (see the chapter "Manage your motivation").
Simple method
This method always helps me. Honestly, it has never let me down since the moment I decided to use it for the first time.
The most important thing is to take the first step, decide to try this simple method. If you master it, it won't let you down. Procrastination is stronger the less we are aware of the fact that it harms us.
Most of these steps are described in more detail in other chapters. Here I suggest familiarizing yourself with the “avoiding failure” method in general.
1. Choose an important task. Make sure this is actually the task you want to complete. Determine what exactly attracts you to her and causes excitement. I'm absolutely serious, don't skip this step. To choose a task that is important to you, see the next two chapters - “Managing Your Motivation” and “Choosing Important Tasks.”
2. Focus on this task first. Start doing it before everything else you do today, before checking your email or anything else (see also the chapter “Find the best time”).
3. Keep it simple . Don't complicate things by choosing tools, formatting style, etc. Don't get caught up in the details, just get started. Put aside all the preparatory stages, mark everything that stands between you and the immediate process of completing the task. Get rid of everything unnecessary, don’t even open the browser (see the chapter “Create an optimal workspace”).
4. Just start. Get past the initial hurdle by diving in without hesitation. Tell yourself that you are only going to work for 10 minutes. Forget about perfection. Just start, polish later (see chapters “The One-Task Method” and “The Advantage of Simple Tasks”).
5. Reward yourself for 10 minutes of work. Take a few minutes to do something you enjoy: have a cup of tea, stretch, go for a walk, check Facebook or news sites - whatever you want. Set a timer for these 3-5 minutes that you decide to reward yourself with, otherwise they will drag on for an hour!
6. If you keep putting things off, re-evaluate: is this really what you want to do? Consider other options: not doing it at all or postponing it until better times.
If all else fails, just take a nap or go outside, enjoy the weather, just laze around. Life is not just about productivity records. You can do less.
Manage your motivation
Motivation is the main remedy against procrastination. The battlefield of these two forces is our workspace, and what is at stake is the completion of everything that we have not been able to complete in our lives. If we don't have motivation, we will put everything off until later. If we find something to motivate ourselves, we will defeat procrastination. This is often done very simply, with the exception of cases when we experience fear (see the chapter “Fear and Procrastination”).
If you leave a task or project until later, it can often be a sign that you are not motivated enough to complete it. The conclusions would seem obvious. However, it is amazing how many people there are who know about this but do nothing to increase their motivation.
The first question you should ask yourself is: Do I really want to do this?
To your surprise, you may find that you are not interested at all. If so, then ask yourself: can I give up this business? Maybe this is a problem that should be solved anyway?
Second question: is there something important that I would like to do instead? Something that generates more interest?
You may have the feeling that you would rather take on another task, but don’t mind leaving this one for later.
In any case, find a task that seems more important and interesting to you. It should be something that you are really, really motivated to do. Ask yourself: why are you interested in this? What images does your imagination draw in this regard? Is it related to the task itself (do you find it attractive in some way) or the result you expect to get?
It's good to think about these questions because they will help you understand the motivations and reasons why you procrastinate.
Take responsibility
Once you have chosen a task that interests you, take responsibility for completing it.
Publicly made commitments can be a great motivator. If you can tell someone about what you're working on, you'll have an extra reason to follow through. Even better if you tell a group of people about it. The best option is to tell the world about it through a blog or Facebook. Knowing that people are watching you is amazingly motivating. Be sure that at the meeting you will not forget to tell about the achieved result.
So, say that you are going to write a book, for example. If you don't tell anyone, you might fail, but no one will care. If you tell everyone, then you will have to write this book, whether you like it or not. Tell them that you will update them daily on the progress of the case, and you will be motivated to write at least a little every day. This way you will always have a reason to try to tell people something nice.
Think long term
If the thing you're currently doing can help you achieve your long-term goals, this will also help keep your motivation high.
My friend Tynan was able to overcome procrastination by realizing with great clarity that unless he did something soon, he would never achieve his goals. He really got a good push and started moving. Now he has no problems with procrastination.
How badly do you want to realize your goals?
Enjoying the process
As for me, the best motivation is enjoying the process and being in a state of pleasant excitement. I focus on the process; it is more important for me to be in the present time than to look into the future.
The good thing about this approach is that it doesn't require any additional motivation. It's enough that I always enjoy the process. I loved working on this book not only because I thought it might help other people, but also because it was a great creative outlet for me. When you focus on an aspect of the activity that you enjoy, you are able to enjoy the process as such.
Choosing important tasks
We often put off serious tasks while focusing on unimportant ones. This helps us feel productive, but in reality we can do a million small things and not get any significant results in the end.
At the same time, if you get a couple of important things done, you can say that the day was not in vain and feel like you accomplished something great.
Important things are what allowed me to achieve so much while leading an ordinary, measured life. I concentrate on the big projects and skip the small ones.
How to choose
Now you know you need to focus on the important tasks, but how do you choose them? You have a long to-do list, but you don't know where to start.
There are no strict recommendations here. I generally recommend starting with the thing that interests you the most, or the thing that you think doing will have the most significant impact on your work and life in general. Both methods are good, but if you can find a case that meets both criteria, this is ideal.
What matters is how much doing this or that task will affect your life. You can spend time on tasks that have very little impact on your overall business, or you can do things that will bring you real satisfaction and recognition, help you find new clients, make you a hero in the eyes of your wife... you get the idea.
Reflect on your to-do list, try to predict which items are routine and cannot change anything, and which ones can have a significant impact. For example, for me as a blogger and writer, drafting a text for a blog or a chapter for the next book is an example of a priority task.
In general, there are no clear rules here. Choose the most promising option and start implementing it. It's not the specific choice that's important, but the fact that you've at least narrowed your list down to a few important things. Ultimately, if you follow the simple method described in this book, you will still get them all to completion.
Too many tasks
What if you have a long task list? In this case, you will have to reduce it. Just select three items from your list and get short list. Everything else will remain yours long list, which you can forget about for a while. You need to concentrate on short list, only on three important matters.
There will be fewer things to do after you finish with short list. This method of dividing all the tasks facing you into two lists is a great way to put things in order and in your head, concentrate on the main thing and get rid of the feeling of being overloaded with work. I recommend setting aside time for small tasks at the end of the day. Set aside an hour (or more) to complete routine tasks for the evening.