I’ll do it later

If it weren’t for the last minute, I wouldn’t get anything done!

We’re all guilty of it. We’ve all dragged our feet on something until the last moment.  Not necessarily out of laziness, but perhaps lack of time or lack of inspiration or the task makes you anxious. Nearly everyone procrastinates about something every day. Some people just procrastinate better than others.

Think about it. How often have you put off something small, so that you could focus on something else?  Who hasn’t left the dirty dishes in the sink for later or put off taking out the garbage or even leaving a blog unwritten until the day before its deadline?

So how does one procrastinate better? It’s not nearly as hard as you would think.

• Break it down – If you have a large project – even if it only seems large to you – break it down in to several smaller tasks and work on those tasks one at a time. Having several manageable pieces of a project is less overwhelming than one big one.
• Don’t focus on finishing the project, focus on starting it.  Looking at a big project can be scary enough when the end is not clearly in sight, you don’t need to put yourself in panic-mode thinking about how to finish it. Keep the end game in the back of your mind, not on the front burner.
• Buddy system – If you really want to stay on task, but know that you’re going to procrastinate, ask a friend to encourage you. Bounce your ideas off your buddy, it may just give you the kick in the butt you need to get that project started.
• Start now. Right now. Make a conscious decision to get your project started and do it. The instant you acknowledge to yourself that you are procrastinating is the instant you should get moving.

So is the world going to end if you procrastinate? Probably not.

But if it does, it’s not like anyone can say “I told you so.”

– Crystal Litzau