Procrastination is the greatest dream-killer of all, yet we often don’t recognize how destructive it can be. It is a natural response to put off the things that are going to be difficult when there is no immediate and pressing need. This might have worked in a time when life was only about survival and all one worried about was where to find food, shelter and water. Everything was day-to-day, but now in a more complex world, following through on a goal that you set can easily get pushed to the back of the line behind any of the fires that you have to put out this second.
Let me know if this describes you:
There are a lot of tasks that you want to get to, but you just don’t have the time to get to them because of all of the unexpected problems that come up. As a result, you are in the habit of just getting through each day rather than proactively getting everything done on a schedule.
Sound familiar? If so, it’s time to change that. Stop putting things off—either get it done or take it off your list of to-do’s (you should have a written to-do list by the way).
Anytime you have something to do, either do it now, or don’t do it at all. Putting things off will only lead to stress and aggravation. If you are constantly worrying about everything you’ve put off, there will be very little room for doing the proactive activities that you need in order to get beyond survival-mode.
What have you been putting off that you can start right now?
By Marc Wayshak, Boston motivational speaker
