We’re going to go out on a limb here. You’re probably reading this article because you’re concerned about your chronic procrastination habits.
And hopefully, you’re also here because you want to do something about it.
Let us tell you now — severe, chronic procrastination is a serious issue. As serious as it is, however, you are far from alone in experiencing it.
But despite its commonality, severe procrastination has a dramatic effect on our physical health, mental health, finances, and our self-esteem. It’s a habit that has a serious snowball effect on our lives.
The less you aim for achievement and the more you procrastinate on your goals, the more this reality will set in for you. Unfortunately, it adds up in often subtle ways that you don’t realize until you’ve changed your habits.
If you procrastinate on going to the gym or starting a new diet, it will negatively affect your health. If you procrastinate on finding a new job, it will affect your finances. If you procrastinate on telling someone close to you something that’s on your mind, it will affect your mental health.
Plus, chronic, severe procrastination will seriously damage your self-esteem. When you procrastinate all the time, you simply don’t feel good about yourself. This has a serious effect on your mental health and your self-image and will spill over to virtually every aspect of your life!
Additionally, if you are a severe procrastinator, you are less likely to take initiative and start new projects. You’re more likely to be overweight and unhealthy. You’re more likely to suffer from some degree of depression. And you’re more likely to have negative relationships with others.
Have we scared you enough yet? If this sounds like you, you need to take action immediately!
The first step is to educate yourself on how to stop procrastinating. The second step is to act upon it.
Our article, Three Actionable Tips to Stop Procrastination Now! will give you three actionable tips on how to stop procrastination that you can start now. And if you like that article, our book, The Sexiest Book On Smashing Procrastination You’ll Ever Read is loaded with tips on how to stop procrastination forever. You will agree that if you’re a chronic procrastinator, this is indeed the sexiest book you’ll ever read!
The book is very inexpensive and gives you a whole list of procrastination destroying tips that you can start immediately. And of course, you can use the book as a reference forever any time you need to revisit it. We highly recommend you pick up a copy. It’s incredibly useful and dirt cheap!
With that said, let’s talk about the easiest way to reduce procrastination for most people.
The Easiest Way to Reduce Procrastination and Significantly Improve Your Productivity and Mental Health
You must start by asking yourself exactly what your goals are. They can be one-day goals, one-week goals, one-month goals, or even longer if you want.
So first, figure out what you want to do, then ask yourself a reasonable timeframe to do it.
If you want to slim down, for instance, commit to eat fewer calories and go to the gym at least four days a week. With basic research, you know that approximately 1lb a week of weight loss is considered healthy for your average person, so you can start with that when setting your time frame.
Next, ask yourself how you will accomplish it in a reasonable manner. Figure out how you can split the tasks required into digestible steps that you can do every day. Make it a measurable goal that you can easily determine when it’s done.
With the gym example, let’s say you want to lose ten pounds in three months. You promise yourself to go to the gym four days a week, and you will measure your weight in the beginning, then several times a week until three months are over. You keep track of your progress until you reach the goal you intend.
If you’re procrastinating on a huge project, ask yourself how long it should reasonably take to complete. Break it into digestible pieces and commit to work on it the first thing every morning (another time may work best for you, but most people find that forcing themselves to do what they don’t want to do the first thing in the morning is the best!). If you think it will take two weeks to complete, then divide the project accordingly and work on it in divided segments every day.
Or maybe you want to clean your entire house, one room at a time until everything is spotless. Or perhaps you just want to read that book you said you’d get around to, or make that important phone call you said you’d make. All of these goals are easily measurable and you can set a reasonable time frame on them.
A word of caution: make sure your goals are realistic and healthy. If your goals are fitness or weight loss related, make sure you have spoken to a weight loss expert and/or have done your appropriate research first. Do not attempt to do anything unhealthy just to reach a number that you arbitrarily set.
Once you’ve done the above, the next step is just to get to work!
And if you want to really kick yourself in the butt, commit to a goal publicly. Tell your friends and family exactly what you’re going to accomplish. Psychologically, you’ll be significantly more motivated to accomplish your goals because you put your skin in the game!
We have talked about the importance of accountability buddies in the past. Whether you know them in person or you meet them online, they need to hold you accountable for your goals. See tip #2 in this article for a lot of information on how to find an accountability buddy. The right accountability buddy will be a very powerful motivational tool.
You must have goals, and you must commit to them. When you are inspired and dedicated to your goals, procrastination tends to go down dramatically.
It might not disappear entirely because even the goals you are most passionate about often have tasks within them that you do not like to do. But with this in mind, having goals you are passionate about will seriously help you escape the procrastination cycle.
You’ll see that when you set goals, it starts to have a serious improvement on your mental health, self-esteem, and your overall well being! Productivity towards worthwhile goals is an incredible feeling, especially when you’re used to the exact opposite!
Conclusion
We will conclude with one final thought.
We know this is a touchy subject for some people, but we’re going to talk about it anyway. Antidepressant use in the United States is skyrocketing. We’re not saying that these drugs do not have legitimate uses, but do we all honestly believe that approximately one-sixth of the United States population should be on anti-depressants?
It takes more effort to smash bad habits, eliminate procrastination, and work on your physical and mental health, but it’s infinitely more rewarding.
Destroying your procrastination habits is an essential first step to feel better about yourself and your life as a whole. Many people report that they feel dramatically better every day after they’ve improved their procrastination habits. Procrastination has a huge effect on your life!
Want More Information?
If you found this article useful, make sure you read our article Three Actionable Tips to Stop Procrastination Now!
And if you like the tips in these two articles (there’s a great chance you will), check out The Sexiest Book on Smashing Procrastination You’ll Ever Read. It has many actionable tips that will help you stop procrastination immediately. It’s an excellent resource that will give you real-world steps to jump-start your life and productivity, and it’s dirt cheap!
You owe it to yourself to accelerate your life, improve your daily well-being, and stop procrastination forever. Give it a shot. Read the book and apply just a few of the tips within, and we guarantee your life will dramatically change for the better.
Good luck!
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