Overcoming Procrastination

Jurgen Wolff is a star!! www.timetowrite.com/ Once again he has something very valuable to say but whether we listen to it or not is another matter....

In this weeks email he discusses controlled procrastination.
The normal pattern for procrastinating on something that is due in, say, two weeks is to put it off for maybe a week and a half or even more, feeling anxious and guilty the entire time. Then we work in a panic for the rest of the time to get it done--or we miss the deadline.

Here's an alternative: Consciously decide to procrastinate for the first week. During that week, don't even give the project or deadline another thought. Do whatever you want or need to do, unrelated to the project. Enjoy being free of the usual anxiety or guilt. When the procrastination period is up, get to work!

Of course in each case you will have to estimate how much time you have to enjoy procrastinating and how much time you will need to actually do the work, but in my experience we usually have a pretty good intuitive feel for how long something will take when we focus on it fully.

P.S. One of the core reasons behind procrastination is that you probably have a harsh inner critic. When you transform it to a constructive inner critic, it will change your life for the better. You'll have more energy, more motivation--and you'll be free of the fear that is often the cause of procrastination.