I wonder how many people each day search on the term, “how to stop procrastinating”.
Eh, I’ll look it up later.
If you’re like me, and most of humanity, you have experienced and perhaps struggled with procrastination. You know there are things you need to do but you don’t want to do them. (If you wanted to do them, you would do them.)
You are feeling resistance because the task is too big, too unpleasant, or too difficult. You may not know what to do or where to begin. The task may be too risky and you are afraid of making a mistake.
So, you tell yourself you don’t really need to do it now, it can wait. Or you elevate the importance or urgency of other tasks and do them instead.
You may have become very clever at finding excuses for not doing the things you need to do. And you may feel guilty about that and look for ways to overcome your affliction.
But you shouldn’t. Your subconscious mind has created this resistance and you shouldn’t fight it, you should give in to it.
Your subconscious self wants you to be safe and happy so it makes you feel negative emotions when you think about tasks you don’t want to do.
Don’t ignore those feelings. Don’t try to overcome them. Let them stop you.
I’m not saying you can shirk your responsibilities. You can’t simply blow off anything you don’t want to do. What I am saying is that instead of bulldozing through the wall of resistance in front of you, find a way around it.
One way to do that is the “salami technique”. Take a big project and cut it into thin, manageable slices.
If you are procrastinating about starting or revising your website, for example, find some aspect of that project where there is little or no resistance. Something small and easy.
You might bookmark some sites you like, or collect articles to read later. You might open a new file and make a few notes or a list of questions.
Easy to do. And if you do any of them, you will have begun the project. Now, look for something else that’s easy to do and do that.
Yes, there are times when you have to suck it up and do things you simply don’t want to do. You have to “feel the fear and do it anyway.” But if you continually break things down into smaller and easier tasks, you can almost always find a way to get started, and that is always better than doing nothing.
Want to know how to stop procrastinating? Stop trying to stop. When you come up to a wall, turn left or turn right and keep walking.
If you need to start or revise your website, this is all you need.
