It can actually have a surprisingly high toll on your life, causing stress, financial problems, poor health and low self-esteem. Procrastination can most certainly keep you from attaining your goals and fulfilling your dreams. Generally, people who regularly procrastinate tend to do so in 2 areas. The first is Self Development - which includes things such as changing job, seeking a new relationship, developing an exciting social life, losing weight and seeking opportunities for growth. The second is Personal Maintenance - those tasks which actually make daily life easier such as housework, paying bills, repairing the car, correspondence and admininistration (e.g., doing your taxes!).
So how do we overcome it? First of all we need to understand that the root of procrastination is actually hard-wired into our DNA. Our brain is tuned to keep an eye out for danger and the negative in order to survive. In other words, when you are avoiding or delaying a task it’s often because your brain strongly associates some sort of “threat or perceived danger” with the task. What is stopping us from taking action is often just fear or discomfort of some sort which shows up as negative emotions. Typically when we procrastinate we think that taking action will be more painful than actually following through even though in the longer term we might intellectually know it makes sense to take immediate action. What’s more real to you in the moment is the pain you will have to go through to get the job done. To start shifting the balance within your brain it’s helpful to try to think longer term and a great question to ask yourself is "What is the ultimate cost to me if I don’t take action?"
How often have you completed a task that you have procrastinated on and then thought "that wasn't so bad, why did I put it off?"
And remember! By taking action today new opportunities can open up for you tomorrow!
© 2006-2011 Simply Zest!
