How to Create Drive in Your Life

Stop Procrastinating: Recognize the Warning Signs

“Procrastination is a passive-aggressive way of dealing with work you don’t want to do. Find work that really means something, and you’ll discover that you’re not the procrastinator you thought you were.”
—Colin Grey, Time Management Coach

Procrastination is a form of avoiding the people and things we do not like (or don’t want to deal with), including our spouse, boss, job, chores, and even ourselves. While most everyone procrastinates to some degree, some people do it more often than others, creating a veritable merry-go-round of self-inflicted defeat. There are things we can do to resist the temptation of putting things off, but first you have to recognize its warning signs:

• Can’t keep appointments.
• Have a hard time saying no.
• Constantly late to everything.
• Have difficulty starting and finishing projects.
• Feeling like you’re too busy to get anything done.
• Find yourself in a constant state of disorganization.
• Prefer to reward yourself first, then work afterward.
• Disappoint the people you love with broken promises.
• Can’t estimate how long it will take you to do something.
• Believe you are most creative when you wait to the last minute.

Four Procrastinators

There are four types of procrastinators, each one having their own fault in the way they think. If you can figure out which type you most exemplify, you’ll find the warning signs easier, and take the necessary steps to minimize their negative effects on your life.

1. Thrill-Seeker: These people wait to the last minute because it gives them a euphoric rush. Because of this nervous blast of energy, they believe they do their best work this way, which is rarely the case.

2. Work Dodger: This group puts off projects, either because they don’t want to do them, don’t know how to do them, or fear failure if they try. Instead of facing the fact they might not be as good at something, they hide behind the excuse that they are either too busy or uninterested.

3. Passive-Aggressive Avoider: These people are often characterized by the inability to say no. Because they lack the ability to speak up for themselves, they punish those around them by avoiding the things they’re expected to do.

4. Non-Decision Maker: This group experiences so much anxiety from having multiple choices, they end up avoiding decisions altogether.

Stop Putting Things Off and Create Drive in Your Life

• One of the most fundamental reasons we put things off is because we don’t like something. This may include ignoring a spouse or partner we’re angry with, or avoiding projects for a job or career we’re not motivated by. Sometimes all we need to improve a bad situation is to remove ourselves from it.

• Just say no to people when you’re either too busy or have a strong opinion against it. This will help keep resentment at bay and the temptation to be passively resistant (passive aggressive).

• Practice the “Five Minute Rule,” which asks you to stick with a project for at least five minutes without interruption. Chances are, you’ll get involved and want to keep working on it.

• Nobody is that busy. If you always feel like you don’t have time, ask yourself if you’re really that occupied, or are you just making excuses? Take the time you normally spend making excuses, and put that effort into getting something done!

• Avoid abstract thinking by organizing your time and establishing a game plan. For instance, instead of reminding yourself every day that you need to find a new job, establish a concrete plan, including the individual steps it’ll take to get to that destiny.

• Divide bigger projects into smaller tasks. That way they won’t seem so daunting. People are less likely to procrastinate when the distance between their effort and reward are minimized.

• Reduce the complexity of decisions by organizing your choices into smaller groups.

• Actively involve yourself in the things you avoid, and you might develop a better attitude about them. For instance, if you are taking a class in school you don’t like, you’ll probably avoid studying it. However, if you join a study group, the knowledge, skills, and confidence you gain from your participation will eventually reduce your fear of failure.

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4 thoughts on “How to Create Drive in Your Life

  1. maryannex9146maryannex9146

    Hello,

    Thanks for a great article.

    As a very young person, I did have difficulty saying “no” and consequently never really had time to do what was important to me as I was so busy taking care of others needs. Perhaps that is a type of procrastination or even a feeling of “not deserving” to do that which I really wanted to do.

    Many of my clients report that they have certain work tasks or household duties that they never have time for. They can complete other work tasks or household duties, but not that “one”. Lovely explanation in your article about why there is never time for that task.

    May I add that I do feel there are people who feel they don’t “deserve” the task or activity they really enjoy, so spend their time on the “have to’s” without allowing time for a “want to”.

    Thanks again for a great article,

    Sincerely,

    Maryanne
    x9146

    Reply
  2. misskrystal

    Once again, a wonderful article, Eric. lol favorite part (you got me here still busting up) “Nobody is that busy” lol you said it, Eric…I hear ya…Let’s be real, right? So agree with that. Yet, if we say that to someone, somehow we are rude? Go figure…I don’t say that to anyone, but I do think it sometimes.hehe
    Loved this. Please keep them coming. Thanks! Sincerely, Miss Krystal

    Reply
  3. Gina Rose ext.9500Gina Rose ext.9500

    Hi Eric,

    One of your best articles to date…….

    Interesting to me that many of my students, over the years, had to deal with #2, work dodging,…… when it came to meditating or lerning how to meditate. And, because, I will not train anybody to hone their psychic abilities if they cannot or will not learn to meditate first…..they needed to overcome their procrastination on learning the first step: meditation.
    On the other hand, it showed me just how serious they were about wanting to become a professional psychic and put the work and effort into learning the important basic steps first.

    Blessed Be )O(
    Gina Rose ext.9500

    Reply

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