How to Beat Procrastination With 5 Simple Action Steps to Use on a Daily Basis
Do you wake up every morning with a list of things you want to do or achieve throughout the day? Or even have a list of things you had to do from the day before or even a week before? On those lists are important items that you know you should do and want to do to better yourself, your life style or your everyday mood in general. For example, it could be exercising, organizing a closet and for some online marketers, it could be an article you have been wanting to write. But somehow, even with the benefits of achieving these actions, you procrastinate and never really get around to it.
After one Saturday morning, when I finally achieved something I had been wanting to do for a long time, which was to go hiking with my children, I was inspired to write this article.
Since the beginning of the year, I have been telling myself, that I wanted to do something more outdoors with our children. I wanted to get healthier, start exercising but I knew it had to be around our busy life’s with our 3 children. I had been thinking about it for a couple of months, envisioning it and even during the summer we visited different parks with hiking paths.
The day finally came, when I told myself before going to sleep, that tomorrow was going to be the day I went hiking with my children. But as things go, I woke up in the morning and the different excuses started to creep into my head; the laundry, it was too hot, I was tired, etc. As I reflected back on how I was able to beat procrastination and achieve my goal of hiking, these were the 5 Simple Action Steps taken:
Action Step #1: Knowledge + Action= Results
It simply starts with the knowledge of knowing what you want and writing it down. This makes your thoughts more real and tangible.
There are different methods that can be used to write down your thoughts and what you want to accomplish. Some people create bucket lists ( a list of things you want to do before you kick the bucket), to do lists, actions list, goal lists, etc. Write down as many items you want on your list.
Other people like to write their thoughts and goals in a journal or notebook. This can be a reflective way to gain knowledge of why you want to accomplish your specific goals. It also allows you to be specific of the details of what you want. This would be an ongoing journal, so you can add your ideas more frequently.
The next part of this step is to take action on these goals. Pick 1 or 2 things from your list or journal to focus on and achieve. This can be done on a monthly, weekly or daily basis. You can also pick a few bigger goals and break it down further into daily actions.
For example, in my situation, exercising and hiking were 2 items on my New Years Resolution list, I had made around the beginning of the year. I also wrote that I wanted to spend more quality time with my children outdoors. These items were on a master list that I printed and pinned on my wall, as a daily reminder.
Action Step #2: Make the decision
It is really important to start with this simple step of just deciding what you want to achieve and follow through, no matter what.
Even if you have made the choice to take action on a goal, human nature of procrastinating thoughts may start to set in. There are many excuses or incidents that can arise, that would sway a person from their decision to act. What kept me pushing away the excuses that crept into my head when I woke up in the morning was the decision I made the night before to achieve my goal of hiking with my kids.
Action Step #3: Say it out loud- Tell Someone
When you say what you want to do out loud and tell someone, like your spouse, a friend, a co-worker, or a family member what you want to do, it accomplishes several things. First, it makes the goal more real and you start to believe you are going to do what you say. Also, that other person will hold you to what you want, by reminding you. It gives the action or your goal, life. You are talking about it, you are thinking about it and you are taking action.
On this particular day, when my husband asked me what my plans were for the day, I simple told him, ” I am going hiking with the kids.” To add more accountability, I told my kids the plans. If you have kids, you know that once you tell them something, they will not forget and they will remind you every 5 minutes, until you are actually doing what you said.
Action Step #4: Get ready and Go Through the Motions
It is very important to not skip this step because you are physically moving toward what you say your want to do. The likelihood of actual follow through will be inevitable. Once you start taking action on something, how many time do you not finish your task?
Like I had mentioned, on this day, I woke up with the list of excuses building in my mind and I was feeling lazy. But, I started to take small actions; I got out of bed, I got dressed out of my pajamas and I put on my walking shoes. Finally, I told my children my plans. It was one simple action after another and as I did more to get ready, before I knew it, we were in the car driving to the park, excited to go to hiking.
Honestly, there were still some battles that could have stopped me, like the tantrum of our 4- year-old, the bickering of my two older children, the time passing and it was getting hotter. All of the distractions did not seem to matter, because I made the decision, I was half way there by getting ready and I couldn’t disappoint my children.
Action Step #5- Just do it
This is a big cliche, but it is a surefire way to achieve any goal. If you get to a point in your actions and you want to stop, keep this phrase it mind. When you “just do it”, you get rid of the excuses, the self-disbelief is blocked, you push through the barriers and get to what you want. This last step is the push required to take the final actions and follow through until the end.
Lastly, as I hiked with my children and shared the quality time I wanted with them, I could not believe in hind sight, the struggle it took to actually achieve this simple event. After, I took a moment to reflect on my struggles and my actions.
All my excuses were insignificant, it was not hot, the sky was clear and beautiful. I had enough energy to hike up a steep slope with them and we talked the whole time. I got past my procrastinating thoughts and benefited from my actions. It was well worth the effort and was a memory we will share for a lifetime.
These simple action steps are ones worth reflecting on and implementing. The biggest barrier of inaction, is the limiting self belief and excuses. If you are one that takes action on a consistent basis, then you know the joy of feeling the success of productivity. On the other hand, if you struggle with taking action, then you now know that it can be a simple process and not so overwhelming. It is a matter of starting with what you want, taking the action steps and just doing it.
Though these actions can be applied to everyday life, it can also be used effectively by seasoned or newbie online entrepreneurs or business owners. There are those tasks or goals that keep getting pushed until the next day and the next day, like creating a blog or launching that next marketing campaign. When there are big projects to accomplish, it can be overwhelming, which can lead to procrastination, but these simple action steps can help one move toward completing task after task, goal after goal.
Remember, if you reach for the moon and only get the stars, you are much better off than when you started.
