There are many crutches I use when I’m avoiding work that also help me avoid feeling guilty about not accomplishing my goals.

For years, I’ve been using procrastination in this way to get things done.

I love to learn. I know that doesn’t sound like something I should limit, but more often than I’d like, I procrastinate by learning something new. These things that I learn are usually important skills for the work I do (and for the hobbies I pursue).

However, I can spend 70%-80% of my day looking for and reading information online about whatever it is I’m working on. Continue reading this article »

Can’t get anything done because of email? You’re not alone. One of the most popular (and easiest) ways to procrastinate is to check email, I don’t know, like 300 times a day.

Maybe this is an exaggeration, then again, maybe not. Either way you look at it, if you can learn to shut off all the notifications of email and the auto checking functions, you’ll be that much closer to not having an instant procrastination pal. Take heed, so you don’t end up at the end of the day wondering just where the heck your day went.

Shut off all the email interruptions that could pull you away from what you are doing and send you spiraling out of control. Continue reading this article »

Procrastination is a character trait that isn’t likely to go away and if you’re hoping it will disappear one day, you’ll probably be hoping for a very long time. Once a procrastinator, always a procrastinator. Unless…you become action oriented.

What does action oriented mean?

It means to be oriented toward, or focused on, action.

Do it, do it now. Don’t batch tasks for greater efficiency, and don’t put off something because there’s a better time for it. Just do it now. Take action whenever and wherever you can. You might suffer inefficiencies, but aren’t inefficiencies better than not doing it at all?

The truth is that procrastination is most prevalent when we put something off, because then we just want to put it off longer, later, and sometimes forever. By becoming action oriented and training ourselves to do things without even thinking about them first, we stop procrastination before it has time to take over.

And to me, that’s what becoming action oriented means.

Here are some resources to help you learn about a technique for dealing with procrastination called Structured Procrastination. This method uses your ability/desire to fool yourself as a stepping stone to  do what needs done. It’s definitely one of the more useful methods I’ve come across. Continue reading this article »

Most people aren’t going to want to hear this, but here goes. You can’t change. You can try. Just don’t expect it to work out.

When I was younger, I used to believe that people could change everything about themselves if they just tried. After years of watching the people around me, some whom I love very much, and others who are just acquaintances, not to mention all that I know about myself, I’ve concluded that people can’t change those things about themselves that make them who they are—the procrastinator, the excitable talker, the whiner. You see, these characteristics are driven by personality traits. As a procrastinator, every time you complete a goal or task, you’ve overcome procrastination—but you’re still a procrastinator, otherwise you wouldn’t have to work to overcome procrastination. You haven’t changed. You’ve only changed an event. Continue reading this article »