How to Avoid Procrastination

I will do that later, too much to do today, besides I don't feel like being bothered with it today. Does that sound familiar? For many reasons too numerous to count, all too often we fall into the habit of procrastination, for many of us, this habit is difficult to break.

What is Procrastination?

Procrastination is the act putting off, delaying, or deferring an action to a later time. It is easy to put things off until later. Perhaps you can relate to these procrastination quotes?

• "Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it." ~ M. Scott Peck
• "Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week." ~Spanish Proverb
• "Procrastination is the bad habit of putting off until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday." ~Napoleon Hill

Perhaps, you have wanted to “turn over a new leaf” as it were, maybe you have made many attempts but failed, feeling that you are losing the battle with your procrastination habit. Be assured that you are not alone, procrastination is no little problem, and even successful professionals need help in managing their time.

Getting a handle on procrastination could mean a more satisfying, convenient, organized way of life.

It could also save you a lot of anguish, how so, college term papers, are due, you think you have time to finish before the due date and you procrastinate, or you procrastinate on locking in an interest rate or getting a 50% off on that wedding ring, and that deal on your plane tickets... we could go on and on.

We get the point, but how do we fix this problem?

How to manage your time effectively.

The key component is advance planning.

Set aside a convenient time each day to make a to-do list.

Prioritize your list to ensure that you complete the most important task first. If you find that your to-do list is lengthy consider eliminating non-essentials or delegating the work to someone else.

Be balanced and do not over schedule yourself; modesty will help you know your personal limits.

In summary, to recap the points discussed, in short, effective time management involves planning, prioritizing, delegating, and balance. Following these simple time management tips will help you avoid procrastination.

Worth the effort?

Is time management worth the effort for you, you and only you can answer that question. Procrastination is an age-old problem, so much so that many books have been written on how to effectively control your time.

Rest assured the beast can be tamed, you, however, are the keep factor, Maya Angelo put it very nicely:

"Change does not happen by chance, it happens by choice"

The choice is up to you to.