How to Beat Procrastination, Your Worst Enemy

Photo courtesy: http://www.elephantjournal.com/

Imagine you are reading a book. Then, you realize you have to do something, so you put the book down and place it next to your bed. Then a week later, the book is still there unfinished. And it’s not alone. It’s got some company. All are half-read and are starting to pile up.

Last time I checked the chair next to my bed, I got only 4 non-fiction books, one Stephen King’s, two George RR Martin’s and two JRR Tolkien’s. By the way, e-books were not included. I used to say “Well, I can’t help it, I’m a voracious reader and I can read many books all in one time!”

Last time I checked my yahoo email, I had more than 20 thousand PLUS unread messages. My Gmail had 1000 and my other Gmail 5000. Well I can’t help it, I’m a sentimental person! Even the SPAM emails, I collect and treasure them!

How’s the filing system on your table? How many idle papers are still there? How many non-working pens are still on your desks? I am proud to say that I have psychedelic piles on my table and a number of multi-colored pens there that I longer use. Well, I can’t help it! I love to see a messy table. It’s an abstract art! I am an artist.

The truth of the matter is that I am simply a procrastinator! But because someone is reading this blabber, I know I am definitely not alone in this dilemma! So, thank you fellas!

To paraphrase Mark Twain statement, our motto as procrastinators is to never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.

And because we are all guilty about it, we simply laugh it off, accept it as a norm and then move on.

Procrastination is a very serious problem. Even with a new President, change is coming only if we, as his allies, would stop procrastinating. He said “I cannot do this alone!” And I agree with him. He needs each of our little contribution.

Of the many problems we are facing, both on the national level and personal, I believe that procrastination is our worst. It can spread like a virus and it can destroy life if you don’t control it.

Sometimes, people behave as if they we were oppressed by an unknown force. The truth is, they are just victims of their own procrastination.

Some people say they can work under pressure and they work best at the last minute of the deadline. But according to a Stanford philosopher John Perry, the author of the book The Art of Procrastination, it is a big lie!

When I was in 5th year college, I became a victim of my own procrastination. I took my undergrad thesis during the first semester so I had plenty of time to finish it. Because I believed in a lie that I was a superstar performer at the last minute of the deadline, I kept on postponing what needed to be done on the first day.

A month away from graduation, that’s when I started to realize that I needed to work on my thesis.

Haste makes wastes, they say. Murphy’s Law kicked in and all possible misfortunes came to me. Sleepless nights! I got sick. The materials we ordered from abroad were stopped by customs. The program we coded didn’t work.

Ending of the story: I had to extend another semester just to finish my thesis.

That’s the worst consequence of procrastination I ever have. And never would I allow it to happen ever again.

Lately, I have learned to beat procrastination using the 2-minute rule.

The principle behind it is very simple. If you have a task at hand, it doesn’t matter if it’s big or small, just try to do it in two minutes.

So I tried it. And I realized that for small things like cleaning my Inbox or arranging the files on my table only take less than two minutes to finish.

For bigger tasks like making a report or writing an article, even if I don’t feel like doing it, but if I just try to write for 2 minutes, I end up writing for two hours or longer.

The 2-minute rule is simply doing one little step at a time.

There are so many options available in the internet on how you can beat procrastination, but if you do that while you have other things to do, then you are already procrastinating.

A few weeks ago, I said to myself “I will make a speech on procrastination. I will memorize it. It will be my best speech ever. It will be perfect!”

Last night, while watching Captain America - Civil War, I said to myself “Oh my god, I still have not written a speech!”

But it’s not the end of the world. Everyday, we fall short of our expectations. But everyday, we can also avenge our failures of yesterday.

Because I want change, I am willing to change for the better. I believe that big changes and big tasks require only little steps to the finish line.

So starting today, I will fight procrastination. Because I want change, I’m willing to do my part.

Are you will willing to do yours?