Is procrastination your enemy? This tip might help you overcome it!

Aren’t some women fantastic. They have it all figured out. They have neat, tidy houses, beautifully-dressed, well-mannered kids, and always seem to be well put together, calm and in control.

In comparison, you feel constantly rushed, scattered and disorganised. There are countless household chores waiting for your attention. A million things you need to complete. And you never have enough time or energy to get it all done.

So what can you do to overcome this? How can you get some order and organisation back into your life?

Well to start with, you can stop procrastinating.

What does this mean? The Oxford dictionary defines procrastination as: “The action of delaying or postponing something”. And doesn’t that say it all! I am sure that most of us have been guilty of doing this at some time or another.

But why do we do this? Why do we procrastinate about things? And what sort of things do we usually find ourselves procrastinating about?

Procrastination usually rears it’s ugly head when we are fearful of something or need to deal with a task that is low on our priority list. Maybe we view it as a chore. It may be something that has to be done, but we really don’t want to actually do it, because it is boring, difficult, maybe uncomfortable…

It could be time consuming. And it probably either has no deadline, or a very loose one. So there is no set timeframe that it needs to be completed in. Consequently there is no sense of urgency.

When this is the case, this task will continually be relegated to the bottom of your “to-do” list. Rather than knock it on the head and simply get it done and dusted, you will put it to the back of your mind and allow any newer, maybe more exciting tasks or opportunities, which will produce more tangible, faster and more exciting results to be front of mind. And these will then be given a much higher position on your agenda.

But you will always have these unpleasant, tedious or uncomfortable tasks looming. Constantly nagging at your subconscious.

For example, say you have an important call to make. This may be something that will have a big impact on your family or business, but is scary. Maybe you need to call someone to tell them you can’t attend their event, maybe you have to say no to something. Maybe you have to deliver unpleasant news. Or you may even have an exciting call to make, but are extremely nervous about it’s outcome. So you procrastinate. You find a million different reasons and excuses which prevent you from doing it.

Stop right there!

Instead of putting it off and simply delaying the inevitable, do it first thing in the morning, at the start of your day. Rather than have it hanging over your head all day, it will be done, dealt with, and you can move on. This is a fantastic concept to apply to any task.

Just do it!

So, rather than waiting until the last minute, like a lazy student who waits until the night before to complete a huge assignment or study for a test, do it ASAP, get it out the way, and you will also then find yourself open to any new exciting opportunity that comes along. You will have no “chore baggage”, but will be able to really take advantage and be flexible about opportunities if you keep up to date with things.

So as much as possible, banish procrastination from your life. Replace it with the positive attitude of “just do it”, and watch your productivity soar. You will feel in control of your life, and can accomplish anything without the limitations of excuses and procrastination to hold you back.

How do you stop procrastinating? Would it work for you to JUST DO IT first thing in the morning? SHARE your thoughts with us in the comments below.

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36 Comments

- - mom110650 said
  - 04 May 2015
    3:15 pm
I find I procrastinate mire when I’m tired, haven’t eaten well it exercised,or have lots on. Doing yucky jobs first thing is a great idea. Maybe I need to delay gratification of treats too, like coffee after jobs not before

- - eviejude said
  - 16 Apr 2015
    7:28 pm
I don’t procrastinate much, but I can get overwhelmed if I have a lot of things on. At work I set up a priority matrix each week, outlining the tasks I want to complete during the week and their relative urgency. I tick things off as I go – starting with the high impact/high urgency tasks. I also schedule any exercise classes in the morning so I get out of the class and do them first thing … it sets me up for the whole day!

- - P&M'smum said
  - 01 Apr 2015
    8:48 am
To Do lists are so good, I’m currently juggling so many things that they are an absolute life saver.

- - mom74959 said
  - 14 Mar 2015
    1:49 pm
Well, procrastination is definitely a habit I have. A way of avoidance really; putting off unpleasant, boring or stressful tasks. Needless to say that postponement rarely solves anything and can sometimes just make things worse and harder to finally overcome.

- - Sophie said
  - 25 Feb 2015
    11:24 pm
I try to do the thing I most dread straight away … as in immediately … that way it’s done and dusted and I don’t have it hanging over my head anymore. I find most of the time thinking about doing something (and putting it off) is more stressful and energy-sapping than actually doing it. Once I’ve done it, I breath a sigh of relief because it’s now behind me, and I can on with doing other more pleasant things.

- - christial said
  - 19 Feb 2015
    8:54 am
I have a small whiteboard which is my todo list.. If I want to put someone else onto it, I have to take something off it.. Sort of works..

- - jess said
  - 14 Feb 2015
    11:00 pm
this is good advise i always procrastinate with phone calls because i find i am not a good speaker on the phone and i panic, but i have found doing anything first thing in the morning is good because i feel easy for the rest of the day instead of stressing about that stupid call i have to make.

- - mom113055 said
  - 09 Feb 2015
    1:57 pm
it s great

- - mom62297 said
  - 08 Feb 2015
    12:46 am
Yep I’m a procrastinator when it comes to chores like cleaning. The main reason is I feel like the only person in the household who does anything and when I do, my tornado of a 2yr old comes through and it doesn’t look like I’ve done anything, it’s disheartning

- - june11 said
  - 07 Feb 2015
    11:35 pm
When I have a lot of chores to do I always write a list. You may not always be able to do them in the same order burt you can work your way through them. e.g. You may have to go to an appt. and have time to do a chore further down the list. It may not be practical to start a chore that you can not complete and know you won’t be able to finish it that day.

- - mom108182 said
  - 05 Feb 2015
    12:34 pm
I’m a big procrastinator! Always putting things off. I find, not having the time to do everything I do what I can every day and put everything else off, but the to-do list gets bigger every day with extra things that come up. I am working on ways to get through everything life is throwing at me but it is hard.

- - rachkap said
  - 05 Feb 2015
    2:42 am
I get so anxious about all the things I have to do

- - mom57522 said
  - 04 Feb 2015
    9:51 pm
I’ll get to it once I finish eating/sleeping/reading/whatever…!

- - Shell24 said
  - 04 Feb 2015
    3:23 pm
My husband will tell you that I am the Queen of procrastination! What I have done that works for me, I write up all the things I need to do on separate post it notes and stick them to a door where I can see them. As I complete a task I can pull the post it note off and put it in the bin. I get a sense of accomplishment as I see the number of post its diminish!
- mom110075 replied
  
  09 Feb 2015 , 10:35 pm
  Great idea with the list-it notes! Very visual.
  - mom110075 replied
    
    10 Feb 2015 , 8:28 pm
    
    Sorry, that was supposed to say “post-it” notes!
  - Schmoofie1983 replied
    
    17 Apr 2015 , 12:41 pm
    
    That’s a great idea! I write lists so I get to cross things off, but three post its sound like an even better idea!
- - ella12 said
  - 04 Feb 2015
    2:32 pm
I do procrastinate unfortunately but I totally agree the best is to get it out of the way in the morning so the rest of your day is more calm and I will be less stressed.

- - mom117219 said
  - 04 Feb 2015
    2:02 pm
i have a small diary to list things and plan to do accordingly and try to finish it in time.

- - mom64736 said
  - 04 Feb 2015
    1:41 pm
I find writing a short to do list with achievable goals to work best for me. BUT I am an awfully big procrastinator!

- - rovermum said
  - 04 Feb 2015
    1:25 pm
By writing lists. I find this works for me. When it’s written down, it’s a challenge to do it and cross it off my list.

- - not_amanda said
  - 04 Feb 2015
    1:24 pm
I’ve often found that once I finally do something I’ve been putting off, I end up thinking ‘that was not so hard! Why didn’t I just do it earlier?” This is a good reminder to remember that feeling and stop procrastinating!

- - meedee said
  - 04 Feb 2015
    12:58 pm
I used to do tax paperwork for a business that I had with my husband years ago. My kids were little so once they were off at kindy or asleep I could get into the paperwork. I hated it and I hated the fact that the moment I was child free I would have to spend that time doing something i hated…Im so glad i dont have to worry about that anymore.