The Soft Sands of Procrastination

Procrastination means simply to defer action. Some actions are good to defer, some are not. The actions that are not good to defer are those that have a potential negative impact and which continually resurface in our minds, gradually affecting our emotional state. Having that hard conversation with your significant other, completing the tax returns, returning a call from an unsatisfied customer, conducting a much needed performance review of a senior manager who has screwed up and so forth.

The interesting thing about deferring these kind of actions is the weight they generate in our psyche. "I'll do it later" then causes the action to frequently resurface in our minds. Not dealt with we continue to use the words, "should," "one day," "I'll get to it." These words and phrases begin to create an emotional drag, a success drag as I like to call it. The drag prevents us from hundred percent focus on the truly important things and while ever we continue to procrastinate our journey is akin to walking in soft sand. It's hard work, saps our energy and stops us moving at a fast rate of knots. Here is a sequence for countering procrastination:

Step 1. Do it early and do it now

Step 2. Refer to point 1

I like to do challenging actions first thing in the day. If that's not possible for some reason I schedule it in my diary. I will also have someone hold me accountable for that action if I think I am going to defer it.

Do it early, do it now. That way, you won't be walking in the soft sands of procrastination but running on the solid sands of success whilst enjoying the ocean lapping at your feet.