How to stop procrastinating
You are researching countless topics, you can’t stop thinking about future possibilities, yet you find yourself cemented in place when it comes to taking action. Sound familiar?
Whether it’s self-doubt, not knowing where to begin, or simply not having the energy to get moving, we end up with the same problem. Procrastination. That big word, with zero results. Why is it that we do this? Waiting until later isn’t going to make the task any easier. It usually has the complete opposite effect! It’ll leave us feel rushed and exhausted, while trying hard to meet deadlines at the last minute.
How to stop procrastinating when saying "I’m not ready" to start
The truth is, you will never feel completely ready. There will always be more to learn, more to practice. You will only feel more confident by getting it started.
Let’s use the example of learning to drive. Read and research as much as you want. Ask friends for advice. You can even ride passenger while diligently watching every move. Once you feel confident and ready, comes the moment you get behind the wheel.. and everything changes.
You find yourself so focused to keep your hands on the wheel and the car on the road, never mind trying to read every sign or look a block ahead for potential things to avoid. This is because you lack experience.
So you have two choices. Get out of the car because you don’t feel ready, and perhaps never learn to drive. Or, you can accept that mistakes are inevitable as you are brand new to this. You can develop your skills with time and practice. You eventually learn how to drive, as easily as you know how to walk.
You must be willing to take the first steps, no matter how small. You need to know how to stop procrastinating. Without action, goals are just dreams.
How to stop procrastinating with " I don’t know how to do it"
If not knowing how was an excuse not to try, we would never learn anything. We are not born knowing how to walk or talk, yet our parents praise and encourage any milestone towards it. We learn our ABCs and 123‘s by repeating ourselves consistently. We learn a vast amount of different information before we even get to school age.
Discipline and practice is needed to develop any skill. This includes knowing how to stop procrastinating. An athlete doesn’t just make it into the Olympics. A singers crowd of fans didn’t happen overnight. Think about a brain surgeon, they’ve got years of study before reaching that position. They all had to keep trying and pushing themselves to make it.
Every task or job has a set of simple instructions, or years of schooling, in order to succeed. So rather than saying "you don’t know", say "you’re learning". You’re working on it. You’re taking steps to reach your goals.
Be proud to take time for yourself. Read that self-help book or enroll in that class. Learn from people around you. Time and energy invested in yourself is always worth it.
Stop procrastinating by eliminating perfectionism
How often have you had a goal in mind, and you can see the beauty of the desired outcomes, but you cringe it all those steps needed to succeed? Our minds are not programmed to go from zero-10 in order to build an empire. We must have strong foundation and that’s where all the little steps come in.
If we decide to eat healthier and lose weight, we can’t expect to see results overnight. When we write an essay, we do the rough draft and fix it as needed before writing our final copy. We need to take action steps before we can expect successful outcomes, so stop procrastinating.
Delaying only pretends to give you time to get it perfect. Waiting for that perfect moment could cause you to miss your chance altogether. None of us like to be judged on our work. The thing is, if we keep it hidden, how will we know whether or not it’s a masterpiece? Don’t let fear get in the way of taking your first step.
Now is the time
When you find yourself saying I’ll leave it for tomorrow, I want you to think of this. Your future self is in limbo, waiting for you. So you can either put off today for tomorrow that never seems to happen and be in the exact same place years from now. Or you can decide to take action, build that discipline and momentum, start to become the best version of yourself ever imagined. The dream is yours and only you can bring it to life.
