A procrastinators guide to success

Hi, my name is Kirsty and I’m a procrastinator. Whether the task be menial or life threatening, you can bet your bottom dollar that I’m going to put it off for as long as possible.

Now, I’m sure there are a good few procrastinators out in the bloggersphere world (Hey fellow procrastinator, how are you?) and even though we tend to laugh and joke about our whimsical character flaw, procrastinating can sometimes become a little bit too much which I found out a weeks ago.

After putting off some major tasks for the last few months, one night I found myself having a mid-sleep panic attack, worrying about all the tasks that were slowly pilling on top of one another and how important they were becoming. So after a sleepless night I decided that enough was enough and that I needed to put some things in place, so this would never happen again!

So here’s a procrastinators guide to getting stuff done.

WRITE A TO DO LIST

If you’re anything like me, you will not be procrastinating over one or two things but instead several dozen! Why not jot them all down somewhere? Because lets face it, a forgotten task or responsibility is another thing we do not need to worry about.

MAKE YOUR TO DO LIST VISIBLE

You know that saying ‘Out of sight, out of mind’, well that’s what procrastination is. You hide away all your worries and responsibilities, until one day comes and you have no choice but to deal with them. So why not put your lists/plans in a place that you can see every day. Maybe you have a white board, a chalk board, a board made of cork…this is turning into a rhyme, I feel like a dork (Wahey). By any means necessary, make those tasks visible. 

PLAN AHEAD

When I wake in the morning I can barely recognize myself in the mirror, let alone complete a bit of top notch adulting. So why not help your future self out and set things up for your future self to swoop in and complete. A personal example would be that before I go to work I set up my laptop and a few important documents on my bed, so that once I return home from work I have no excuse but to complete them. It actually works. Well done me.

TAKE YOUR TIME

My current to do list in about 20 bullet point strong and for some reason I have this idea that I have to finish them all at once. But why worry yourself? Why not just tick off one a day? Or one a week (depending on their urgency)? Not only will you work through your list in no time, it’ll be like a small little win for yourself (See this post about the importance of little goals).

BE CALM

Ok, so this really, really important thing, that is WAY over due but you’ve put it off for some time, is now REAL important! Do you know what’s not going to help you? Panicking. Sit back. Chill out for a second and assess the situation from afar. There’s nothing you can do about your incessant time wasting now, all you can do is look forward! Point number 1 may help with this.

So there it is, my procrastinators guide to success. Are you a procrastinator? If so, what are your tips to successfully not waste time?