Tips to end procrastination

In Monday's blog I wrote about the connection between procrastination and low self esteem and how negative feelings about yourself can affect how your child feels about himself. Today we are going to deal with ways to help you stop putting things off, which will not only benefit you, but also your children so can will become little people that will walk their talk.

If you tend to procrastinate because of fear of failure it is vital that you learn not to let the fear paralyze you; instead feel the fear and do it anyway. Try to concentrate on the outcome you want and picture that exactly how you want it to be. Fear is only false evidence appearing real in your mind, but it can keep you from moving forward because it is not a comfortable feeling by any means. If you can just nudge yourself past it a tiny bit, there are always lots of goodies on the other side.

If you have been avoiding things for quite awhile you may have a backlog of things piled up that are weighing you down and you do not know where to even begin. Take the time to write down each one and once that is done, prioritize them. What is most important to you or what needs to be done first or even what can I do first so that I can get the ball rolling. It doesn't matter how you prioritize your list, what is important is to make it doable for you. Now that you have done that do the first thing on the list. Don't think about it just do it, then move onto the next one on the list. You will find that as you start accomplishing things on your list you will start feeling better about yourself and before you know it the list will be fait accompli.

Finally don't delay. When you delay with your plans, worry and doubt start settling in and that can be detrimental to your self esteem. The best solution is to act on it without thought and just like any muscle you haven't used in awhile, the more you use it the stronger it gets and procrastination will be a thing of the past.

Happy Follow Through,

Monicka

Self Esteem and Procrastination

There is a definite correlation between how you feel about yourself or your self esteem and procrastination. If you avoid the things that you know you should be doing or have promised yourself you are going to do, you may not only be letting others down, but you are also letting yourself down. If you cannot count on yourself to follow through, who the heck can you truly count on?

Procrastinating has a domino effect on your self esteem. By not doing things you say you are going to do, you start to feel powerless and that nothing is ever going to get better. Your self confidence suffers and you feel like you cannot move forward in your life.

People tend to procrastinate for a myriad of reasons, some of which are fear of failure, and avoiding an uncomfortable situation. If your children see you constantly putting things off that you say you are going to do they are going to quickly start mirroring your behavior, so it is very important that you figure out what is holding you back.

The next blog will deal with how to do just that but for now, don't beat yourself up, instead do a bit of soul searching and see what is causing you to procrastinate and nine times out of ten it is not laziness.

Happy Following Through,

Monicka

Do It Now!!!

Cassie and I set a goal to blog everyday this year. In 2006 we tried the same thing, but it was pretty much hit and miss and more miss than hit as we blogged a total of 60 times. This year we have at this time blogged a total of 206 times. Blogging is something that must be consistent as it is easy to let it slip your mind and then realize at 11:14 PM as I just did, Oh sugar, I forgot to blog today!!! Oh well what can you do??? No body's perfect right??

Everyone procrastinates from time to time, but if you want to realize your goals putting things off is a sure fire way to NOT bring them to fruition. If your kids see you breaking promises to yourself they are more likely to follow suit. Procrastination eats away at how you feel about yourself, after all if you can't trust yourself to do what you say you will do, than who can you trust?

Don't sit there and beat yourself up if you don't follow through on something, that only makes you feel worse, try a new strategy instead, such as setting a realistic schedule that you will do your best to follow. Things come up, and we all get distracted from time to time, but if you can honestly say that you gave it a good shot than that is enough. There are days when I can whip up a blog in five minutes flat and other days I will struggle for hours for something to blog about but eventually I get it done, or Cassie will step in and spell me off and I will return the favour.

Procrastination is a learned habit and the more we put things off the harder it is to get back on track. Some people thrive on deadlines and do their best work under pressure, but that doesn't work for everyone.

Happy Goalsetting,

Monicka

Procrastination

We all know that children learn by example so make it a point to show your children how important it is not to put off things that need to be done. I find that unfinished business haunts me and makes it difficult to move forward. When I follow through and get it done, it gives me a sense of accomplishment and pride. What a great tool to teach your children and something that can only benefit them in their adult years.

Happy Parenting

Monicka