A Simple Solution to Procrastination
A while back I shared a motivational technique I’ve successfully used when I needed to get myself highly motivated. However there are times even when we are highly motivated that we will experience a bit of a slump. Your energy may be low. You may feel as if inspiration and creativity have left the building.
At times like these one simple piece of anti-procrastination wisdom can solve all your problems – Just start.
Yup, you read correctly. Whatever the task is at hand, just start it. Too many times to count I’ve found myself bereft of inspiration when I had a task such as writing an article before me.
However, time and again I’ve found that if I just make a start with whatever it is I know I do want to write about soon I become absorbed in my task and the floodgates of inspiration and creativity open once more.
It doesn’t matter whether what I first write ends up being somewhere in the middle or not used at all. It doesn’t matter that what I first write may be far from perfect. Often times if I just write down some bullet points and begin to expand on each I enjoy a flow on effect. New bullet points come to mind and what a moment before was work becomes effortless.
So, whatever task it is you have before you, however menial, simply take action and start it. Your mental anguish that arises through procrastination is not a product of the task itself. It is the product of your attitude towards the task.
Start the task in whatever imperfect manner and soon it will consume your attention. Your procrastination problem will then be resolved.
What are some ways you’ve found help you overcome your procrastination?
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November 7th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Hey Stephen, I love posts that get to the point quick. You raised a commonly overlooked solution to this age old problem. If you don’t feel you are making any progress, just start walking and you’ll certainly make up some ground.
Thanks for the reminder.
Eric.
November 7th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Those split seconds when we decide to start a task or put it off are the most crucial in life. Once you get some momentum, it is easy to continue. Sometimes getting yourself to past that threshold can be the incredibly challenging though. When I am happy and motivated, it is easy. When I am sad or tired, it is more difficult. Getting in the habit of doing it even when you feel like crap is the way to go!
– Jack Rugile
Simple Sapien
November 8th, 2008 at 3:04 am
@Eric – Good to see you here and thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. I’ve been reading your blog over at Motivate Thy Self for a little while now and am loving it thus far.
As it is famously said, a journey of 10,000 miles begins with a single step. No one said it had to be in any specific direction!
@Jack – They certainly are crucial. Often I find myself at the cusp of taking action on a sudden idea I’ve just had. I feel at times that the action I’m about to take has the potential to deeply impact my future life. Building some self-discipline always helps us to, as you say, get us through those difficult times.
November 10th, 2008 at 10:25 am
The easiest way for me to bust procrastination is to simply commit myself to doing one of something. Do one push up, write a new blog post for one minute, edit one paragraph of an article. I know that I can always stop after doing that simple task, but most of the time since I’ve already started, I keep on going until completion. I find this is always more motivating that just “starting”, because how can I *not* justify doing just *one* thing?
November 10th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Thanks for this post. I continually find that, even if I start writing something and it turns out to be unpublishable, the thinking I do in writing that article inspires me to start a piece I end up using. If I sit there rejecting all of my ideas, I can’t get on that winding path to writing something worthwhile. Best, Chris
November 12th, 2008 at 11:44 am
You are so right. Just take that first step. Do something. I can remember on an old Tony Robbins tape he answered the question of “how to I get motivated” and he said sometimes you just have to start doing it and the motivation will come. Like waiting until you are truly motivated to go to the gym may not happen. So just start going and eventually the action itself will jump start and sustain your motivation. It’s all about momentum, right?
November 12th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
@Matt – Thanks for adding to my post with the procrastination busting technique of just doing one thing. You are right. If we tell ourselves, okay I’m going to do just this one thing then it makes it easier for us to just make that start.
@Chris – I’m with you on that. I find creativity is a process. Much like brainstorming if we just get going on something without rejecting it out of hand we can get a flow on and out of that creative flow new ideas will come that we would not have arrived at otherwise. Which brings me to…
@Melissa – It sure is all about momentum/flow. Thanks for sharing the wise words from Tony Robbins
November 16th, 2008 at 6:06 am
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