Procrastinate? Embrace Your Inner Slob...

Why do you procrastinate? When I talk to people about why they procrastinate, I hear all sorts of answers as to what they feel the underlying cause is. This is actually something I really enjoy – hearing all sorts of crazy explanations!

One of the biggest by far however is ‘distractions’. Of course, the king of all these distractions has to be Facebook. Some students tell me they have major problems logging off Facebook when they know they should be working instead. They tell themselves they’ll only stay for 5 more minutes. Then an hour later, they’re still there looking at some random clip of a chimp riding a unicycle!

So is Facebook really the problem? Is relaxation the problem? Well, in a word, no. In my opinion, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Facebook or relaxing. In fact, relaxing in silly, unproductive ways is usually vital to a person’s productivity.

The problem is all about priorities. We consciously tell ourselves that we prioritize work, but then act in ways that prove this is not so. You see, when you tell yourself that you prioritize work, you are really telling yourself that fun is a luxury. You can only have a tiny bit of fun and if you have too much, you should feel guilty.

Rather than entertaining this internal struggle, embrace the inner slob! It is only because you fight against the inner slob that it has so much control over you! Remember, what you resist, persists!

A way to do this is to ask yourself “How much time should I dedicate to relaxing and having fun today?” Then, take that figure, and double it! Yes really. Your inner slob will feel heard and respected. The inner conflict will go away.

You’ll realize that because you’re CONSCIOUSLY going to be having so much relaxation time, the window of opportunity for work is restricted. You don’t have ‘all day’ as many people tell themselves. It either gets done in this time or it doesn’t.

Take all the guess work out of your real goals. Once you start to embrace your inner slob, you’ll feel rested and heard – your needs are being met. The struggle goes away. And from this place of clarity, you’ll be far more prone to do productive work.

You might be saying “Well I can’t do that! I have too much to do!” This is usually the refrain of a procrastinator – someone who constantly thinks about how much they must do, but doesn’t actually do anything. Realize that success is the result of tiny action steps taken consistently. It’s a daily thing. It is never about herculean effort that leaves you feeling drained and exhausted.

Do you want the easy way or the hard way? You decide…

TTYL,

David

#PopularArticles #Imnotstudyingenough