I hate procrastinating just as much as others. I used to be a serial procrastinator throughout high school and university. Although I’m much better at getting things done, I still suffer every now and then.
So, I thought I’d share a few of my thought processes to overcome my laziness, instant gratification and jumping on the long term train of thought.
In the last edition, I had shared my process on getting things done, here’s what it looks like:
Pick a goal and know why you’re doing it. This is important when times get tough.
Pick the very first milestone. Make sure it’s small enough to reach in a timely manner yet challenging enough so you feel good about.
Choose a few daily or weekly habits to reach your first milestone. Schedule them into your calendar if you need to.
Repeat 2 and 3 till you get to 1.
Often procrastination can get in the way of step 3, however that’s for another edition.
Here are my approaches:
Think of why you started.
Accomplishing big things can be difficult, as well as setting new habits and systems. When times get tough we'll often question why we're putting ourselves through all of this. A simple sticky note on your monitor, or on your bathroom mirror can always serve as a healthy reminder.Giving yourself an adversary.
Having an adversary can bring out our competitive nature. I was lucky enough to have a real physical adversary when I was training for a Mixed Martial Arts bout in 2019. Many decisions I made outside of the gym were with accompanied with “What would my competitor do in this scenario?” I often compete with my past self - this is more effective for me when I’m undertaking physical challenges like running, swimming or when I used to use the battle ropes.Accepting your mortality.
I know this sounds a bit extreme, however accepting that life has an ending can help us appreciate that time is our only currency and that we can’t waste the time we’ve been gifted. This is most effective for me when I’m trying to make the mental decision to do something - like finishing this newsletter after a day of work 😅
Something to try
❒ Write down just one habit you want to strengthen and the why behind it!
Something I read
“Passion alone can't cut it. For passion to survive it needs structure. A why without how has little probability of success.”
Simon Sinek, Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
Feel free to reply to me (pav@goalpostapp.dev) with any habits you think you should be building and I'll be happy to share them (anonymously) in next week's edition.
Until next week,
Pavan