Bola is overweight and it is affecting her health. She has wanted to buy a treadmill and register at a gym to work out and lose weight. Two years down the line, Bola is still overweight.
Usman wants to be a writer so much, his dreams are filled with him giving a Nobel prize acceptance speech. Usman writes in his head but has never been able to finish a page of his would be best-selling novel.
What have you been putting off for so long? Starting that business, applying for that new job, enrolling for a short course, getting that loan, or that crack in the fence you have been fixing in your mind?
In exchange for the time when you ought to have done these things, what have you done? Procrastination is an enemy that attacks slowly; five minutes of more sleep, fifteen minutes of gisting, and two hours of watching a movie. Procrastination creeps up on you and makes you leave important things undone. Here are some tips to overcoming it.
Identify Distractions: Whether social media, texting, making phone calls or gisting with colleagues, you need to identify your time-wasters, and then try to get rid of them when you need to get work done. It is time to be tough on your human distractions. Work hours shouldn’t be spent on idle chitchat.
Time Management: It is possible to keep track of your time daily. Everyone has an equivalent of 24 hours daily, but what you do with them determines your output. Get a notebook and for a month write out how much time you spend on different activities daily. Keep track of every activity done so that you can identify what you are wasting time on, including time spent in the loo.
Scale of Preference: Identify the most and least important tasks on your schedule. Work on the most important and defer the lesser ones until you are free; do not tackle the easy and less important tasks first.
Break Tasks Into Units: Tasks are easily accomplished when dismantled. Thinking about how much time it will take to complete a novel with 10 chapters can be made simple when you decide to write one chapter every two months.
Lifestyle Choices: If you are low on energy, you are most likely not going to want to work, so it is suggested you take a closer look at your diet and why you are often tired. With an increase in vegetables, fruits, and ‘healthy’ food, that mountain will begin to look like a molehill.
Remember, there is only one solution to procrastination and that is ACTION.
