Mpho Bosupeng
The following is
a summary of the main arguments of my book titled: Procastination Solved: Getting It Done Right
Away! by Mpho Bosupeng. The book is currently available on Amazon and other major online book
stores. Be sure to get yourself a copy.
Truthfully
speaking, quitting procastination cannot be eliminated overnight. Think of procastination
like smoking. You definitely cannot expect to quit smoking now and immediately
if you are a heavy smoker. The length of time it will take for you to quit will
of course depend on the severity of the addiction and your own will and effort.
I believe this is the same with procastination. You cannot eliminate procastination
directly completely but you can develop some habits that will control it. Here
are some principles of success for eliminating procastination.
1. Create a checklist.
My first rule is create a checklist of everything that you know is important to
you. You can now order the tasks depending on which one is more important.
People apply this principle in their daily lives yet they forget to use it in
their own time management issues. For example, when you buy groceries, women
usually write down the most important item of the house first and some other
stuff later on. This principle can be applied in your own life as well. A
student who has a test next week and has a friend’s party on Saturday can write
down something like this:
1. Study
for the test
2. Help
wash the car
3. Attend
Joy’s party
The
beauty of ranking duties like this is that you know clearly what is important
to you. For instance, if you have ranked your tasks above, it is not reasonable
to go to a party without having studied first. The other reason why a checklist
is important because you can cross of completed tasks and you will see your
progress. This will give you the motivation to move on to another task, and
have it done altogether. You will feel like you are achieving a lot and your
efficacy and esteem rises. More importantly you will be happy to continue.
2. Stick to Your Goals. Even
though creating a checklist can motivate you to complete your goals, sticking
to them is another task. Whether you complete a task or not is just a matter of
how long and when you are going to stay attached to it. There is absolutely no
way of completing any important task without setting some time to do. It is the
same thing with your dreams and ambitions. If you do not follow them, there
will be no outcome. People usually reason that they are afraid to fail and that
makes sticking to their goals a challenge. You cannot be afraid of the outcome
if you have not even begun the task. My suggestion is roll up your sleeves and
commit time to complete your objectives.
3. Maximize Your Calendar Use.
How many of us use the calendar frequently? When we see a calendar all we see
is just days forming months and years. But we can use the calendar to our
greatest advantage. I call this method the “The
Calendar Effect”. Think about how your perspective changes when you see all
the months left for you to accomplish your goals. You begin to feel that you
have to work harder and longer to accomplish what is important to you before
the year ends. Even though you may fall out of the calendar by a day or two due
to circumstances beyond your control such as illness, you somehow feel directed
and your effort intensifies. It is unlikely that you will miss out on your
goals when using this technique.
4. Share Your Goals With Loved Ones. One
of the techniques which I suggest in eliminating procastination is to tell your
loved ones about your goals and dreams. Even though the work is going to be
done by you, you have no idea how supportive loved ones can be. Even if they do
not give you financial support but having someone to remind you of your goals
is really nice. I know a friend of mine who said he wanted to stop smoking so
every time he put a cigarette in his mouth I will just say, “I thought you said you are done with
smoking”.
Amazingly,
he will just throw the cigarette pack away. I don’t know what he did beyond my
sight, but reminding him his goal of quitting really had an effect on him. I
think everyone can relate to gestures like “honey,
get up you are going to be late” or “hurry
up you will miss your interview”. Any of these gestures are very supportive
and can help eliminate procastination. Apart from that it is nice to know that
you’re not alone in your endeavors.
5. Break The Work into Stages.
Procastination often has everything do with enormous workloads. The trick is if
you do not see any progress, you want to quit altogether. However, you cannot
complete a gigantic workload overnight. You have to break it into small bits
that will be manageable. By completing each task you will be confident and have
courage to continue moving forward. It’s the same principle they use in the
entertainment industry. Movie directors do not shoot the whole movie in one
day. They schedule the scenes until all the work is done.
6. “If not me, who? If not now, when?” Another
technique I suggest is to ask yourself who will do the work if it is not done
by you. It has already been highlighted that people like to loaf around when
there are in a group as all and sundry feel it will be at their expense to do
any given work. It does not matter how important the work is. Social loafing
always surfaces when people are in a group. Only the bold and courageous will
break the ice by not shying away from the work. You have to develop this habit.
Hiding away from important work because somebody else is watching TV at the same
moment will not help you in the long run. The simple step is to ask yourself
this question: if I don’t do it, who will? If not now when? That will push you to
complete the task. You will also develop a reputation of hard work among you
associates. You will have all the important tasks completed and your reputation
will also be remarkable. In addition, to eliminating procastination, you need
to develop a habit of finishing up everything you started. It is simple, when
you start something, you start to finish.
Don’t stop on the way because that will create excuses for procastination. Ask
yourself if not you, who? If not now, when?
7. Make Your Work Enjoyable and Fun To Do. If
you are going to do something that you don’t like, why don’t you make it fun and
enjoyable? For example, how about washing your car and playing your favorite
music? In my home, I don’t like washing the dishes, but I know it’s important
to clean them up. So when it’s my turn I take my laptop to the kitchen, put it
safely away from the splashing water, and play my favorite songs while doing
the cleaning. I know a couple of my classmates who always played their favorite
songs when studying. However, when studying, you don’t want to put the music
too loud. I suggest you keep it low so that you are not completely taken off
course. In short, make your work fun to do. You will spend more hours on it and
you will be happy with your progress.
8. Avoid Group Think. If you are going to think everything with a
group mind you are going to be left behind. My principle is everyone has a
life. What you do with that life is entirely up to you. I will give you an
example of thinking in a group. Your friends have not started their business
projects. You have your ideas clear and ready to be realized but because your
friends have not started, somehow you feel obligated to wait for them. They
have their own projects, right? Why do you have to wait for them? If you wait, that is a nice gesture but you
will not be pushing the project forward. You could be far by now. So avoid
thinking too social. The other factor is toxic friends who will tell you to
procastinate on something that is important to you. Beware of people who like
to say “don’t worry about it, it’s
nothing to be worried about” to something imperative to you and your life.
Congratulations,
on attempting to end your procastination streak. Remember you have to adopt
these skills for them to work for you. You need to be practical. Don’t just
talk about them, live them.
Talking about something recurrently will not get
the work done.
.
Thanks
for reading.
