Overcoming Proscratination

To get all possible work done either in your career, work, family, life etc. you need to put an end to every form of procrastination in your life. In achieving peak performance, procrastination is one of the subtle killer obstacles to accomplishing our tasks. Normally, it appears to be friendly but deadly in all ramifications. To be honest, how many times in the last few weeks have you kept postponing to do a task that you know you should have done much earlier? A lot of us are guilty when it comes to the issue of procrastination.

What then is procrastination? It is the avoidance of doing a task that demands immediate attention to be accomplished thereby putting it off to the last possible minute. As Napoleon Hill said, “Procrastination is the bad habit of putting off until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday.” Procrastination usually results in sorrowful regret. Today’s duties put off until tomorrow gives you a double burden to bear; the best way is to do them in their proper time. Remember, waiting is a trap. There will always be reasons to wait. The truth is, there are only two things in life, reasons and results, and reasons simply don’t count.

Procrastination has been proven to be a major problem in both career and personal life of majority of people. Personally, I have been a great victim of procrastination for many times, and it has dearly cost me a lot until I learnt my bitter lessons. Procrastination has a high potential for painful consequences—it is opportunity’s natural assassin. Missed opportunities, stunted potential, unfulfilled dreams, sorrow, regret and guilt are some of the many outcomes of allowing procrastination into our lives. Most organizations have lost millions, missed opportunities, lost valuable assets due to procrastination of things that need to have been done. Their inability to take a risk, quick action, lack of decision making, and postponement of tasks that needed to have been done has made them transfer their valuable business opportunities to their competitors. As Theodore Roosevelt said, “In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing to do. The worst thing you can do is nothing.”

Remember, procrastination is a habit, not a fatal flaw. It takes persistence to change, but you can overcome it and unleash your potential to the maximum. To overcome procrastination, you should recognize your self-defeating problems such as unnecessary personal recreation, poor time management, unhealthy relationships and other negative influences that are hindering you in accomplishing your tasks and deal with them accordingly. We are almost half-way of 2010. Even though the year is fast running, there is still a lot we can achieve when we keep our eyes on the goal and get rid of any procrastination that would want to slow us down in achieving our goals.

See you at the Top!