Eliminate Procrastination—NOW!

The truth is, most of us procrastinate about things we dislike or find difficult. When you procrastinate on projects or chores that you dread, how do you feel when the deadline is approaching? Even more paralyzed? So your procrastination has taken a tough situation and made it even tougher.

Next time a tricky project is looming, instead of putting it off and increasing your stress, try these suggestions instead:

Ask for help. Sometimes we procrastinate because we don’t have everything we need to complete the task. Is there a friend or colleague you can ask for help or advice? Is there a book or article that you can get from the library to guide you? Gather the resources you need and the task will be less overwhelming.

Just do it. Sometimes getting started is the hardest part, but once you’ve hurdled that obstacle, you can keep up the momentum and push through. Cast out the judgmental perfectionist voices and just do something.

Take baby steps: Once you’ve broken the ice with that first step, remember that the Taj Majal was built one stone at a time. Handle your overwhelming project in the same way. Don’t try to take it all on at once. Identify the next small step and take it. And another, and another, and another. Before you know it, you will find you’ve built your masterpiece, 15 minutes at a time.

Celebrate: Every step forward is a cause for celebration. Every time you move closer to your goal, pat yourself on the back with a party moment! Ta Dah! That moment of self-affirmation will release additional positive fuel to keep you moving forward.

Use these tips the next time you are tempted to procrastinate. Complete that difficult job and enjoy the benefits of not waiting until the last minute. You may find the feeling of accomplishment so appealing, you’ll never procrastinate again!

About djwlifecoach

I am retired from 40+ years of helping individuals and teams build lives and organizations they love. One of the great joys of my retirement from professional practice is having greater bandwidth to donate my professional and creative talents to support and promote animal and social welfare charities. During my 30 years as an organization transformation consultant, I served as a senior partner in four of the world’s largest, most prestigious global professional services firms. In 2005, I took a five-year sabbatical to find healing and peace because non-stop work had taken its toll. My recovery from burnout led to finding my purpose guiding others on their journeys. As a board-certified coach, author, consultant, radio host, Reiki Master and EFT/tapping practitioner, I share hope, possibilities and empowerment with the world. 111419 DJW Sid CH Pet Corner Photo ShootI help clients achieve rapid, extraordinary, sustainable results by connecting who they are with what they do, a connection often lost through stress and the sheer busy-ness of daily life. Courageous self-awareness and unconditional self-love lead to honest choices based on priorities that nurture you and those around you on a journey to wholeness. Decades in coaching, consulting, change management, organization development, human resources and mixed media artistic expression honed my business sense, professionalism, creativity, intuition, leadership and communication skills. The result? Practical tools that help you become more insightful, creative, committed, productive and fulfilled. Even the most dedicated and hard-working individuals can shift from frustration to a sense of futility when their values, passion, work, and lives become disconnected. One of the problems with not taking care of our health is that the effects of ignoring it are often slow to show up. We continue to juggle family responsibilities, work and finances until we lose ourselves, waking up one day 50 pounds heavier in body and soul—no good to ourselves or anyone else. I love working with people who are ready to take life-changing action to make their dreams a reality. At each moment, you have inside you all the wisdom you seek to choose your life and your way of showing up. Limiting thoughts, beliefs and feelings can block you from moving forward. An absence of love and concern for yourself can result in negative head talk that holds you back with discouraging messages about who you are and what you can do. By listening and caring deeply, I guide you in connecting with your own inner wisdom. We identify the way you’d like to live. We determine what’s blocking you and release you from the hold those blocks have over you—unleashing the positive energy that will fuel you forward. Together we develop a plan to move you closer to your heart’s desire. My books, blog, radio show and signature coaching programs help individuals and organizations harness the transformative energy of love to turn unexplored possibilities into fulfilling realities and step into their greatness. What’s love got to do with it? Everything! My book, Choose Your Energy: Change Your Life! (Hay House/ Balboa Press 2013) shares my story and the stories of 10 of my clients along with my signature Discovery Framework. For fun, I love reading, sewing, knitting, yin yoga, afternoon tea, opera and movies. I live in Williamsburg, Virginia with my spouse, Wilson Abney, and the cat who runs our life, Maisy Jane.

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