Just Do It - ProcrastiNOT

“Procrastination is the bad habit of putting off until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday.” – Napoleon Hill

I like many of you often find myself trying to finish a project the day, hour, minute or second before it is due and although it is well done, it would have been even better, had I not been rushed.  We all say, “I do my best work under pressure and that’s part of the reason I procrastinate.”  No, we procrastinate because we do not plan ahead.

My procrastination started when I was in college, partly due to my hectic non-stop schedule.  My course load was average and I worked on campus, but my involvement in student government as well as being an active member in several organizations aided in the mismanagement of my time.   A typical day for me began at 7am and ended between 9pm and 11pm. 

My schedule…

At 7am I started my work-study job, which ended at 8am and I followed that with a quick bite eat on my way to the first of 3 back-to-back classes that started at 9am. At 2pm when my classes ended I would eat lunch and check mail on my way to my second work-study job at 3pm.  I finished working at 6pm and headed to dinner before one of my organization meetings that met at 7pm.  My social/ study group meeting time was 8pm -11pm depending on the projects for that semester.  At about 11 pm I would head back to my room to begin my homework at 12am, that was due the next day, NOT the work due a week or so later.  Please understand that I ALWAYS completed my work and did it well, but it started a pattern of me filling my days with everything else and leaving my homework for the last minute…literally the morning it was due.

The word “procrastination” comes from the Latin word procrastinatio, meaning, “to put off for tomorrow.”  As I stated earlier, I deferred everything until morning or tomorrow. Leaving me to do the best with the time that I had left, which I believe was not my best work.  Had I put a schedule together with all of my deliverables and worked on it little by little… I would not have been pulling all-nighters trying to finish my work.

In my junior year in college I began trying different methods that enabled me to stop the bad habit of procrastination.  Now that I am an entrepreneur working primarily from home it is essential that I complete my tasks not only on time, but also to the best of my ability, so that I can retain clients and gain the trust of new ones.  Over the years I have developed a 7-step system, which has helped me to eliminate my procrastination. 

Just Do It - A Mayartis J.  7-Step System 

1. Get started - On Sunday night while you are watching your favorite show(s), create a to-do-list for the next day and week.  This will help you to plan your week and more importantly develop a system that keeps track of projects in-progress as well as projects you have completed.
• Seeing this up-to-date list helps me to determine how to budget my time throughout the week 
2. Create reminders – Set-up calendar reminders that mirror your to-do-list.  These alerts will prompt you, when specific tasks are due, which if scheduled properly, will be days before the project is actually due.  Ensuring you are giving your teacher, client or customer the best work ahead of schedule
3. Take action - It’s amazing how taking one step to accomplish a goal brings you one step closer to finishing that goal.  Completing a task on your list creates mindset shift.  You feel instant relief, so you can move onto the next task.
• Every time I finish a task on my list I cross it off (if I wrote the list) or delete (if I used my computer), so I can actually see your list getting shorter
4. Relocate - Working in a different environment sometimes inspires creativity, but it also gives you a fresh start, that will motivate you to keep working on your list. 
• Instead of working in my home office, I some times go to a leased office, coffee shop or even a library.  The drive to the new location helps to clear my head and get me focused on the task(s) at hand
5. Wave the white flag -  It is often hard to ask for help, because many of us feel we are either being a burden on others or the people around us are incapable of doing it as well as we would.  In order to be efficient, it is important that we delegate to people who are proficient in the area that we need help. 
• I created a list of possible people I can delegate some of my work to in order to complete the projects.
6.  Shut down  - In this day an age it hard to go even an hour without checking, email, text messages or voice mail and as an entrepreneur you do not want to miss an important call, but sometimes it is vital to turn off and complete your project.  You can always return a phone call, email or text, but if you fail to hand in a project on time you could lose business or even worse… ruin your reputation.
7. Cross the finish line.  Anyone can start a project, but it is the person that completes the project that gets the grade, client or customer… especially if it is finished on time and to your best ability.

STOP your procrastination TODAY!  If you continue to procrastinate, how will you get your business off the ground, secure your first client, satisfy your first customer or get the best grades you possibly can.  Develop a “Just do it” mentality instead of I will do it later frame of mind.

God Bless

A. Mayartis J.