The Only Way to Stop Procrastinating

How to break the habit

I’ll be damned. I think I figured it out. Perhaps the only way we can stop procrastinating is to stop procrastinating. I know how profound. But hear me out for a sec.

Too many times we’ve grown accustomed to putting off the teeniest, tiniest, minute, trivial tasks until a “later” time that either

a) We forget about until it’s too late or until it’s become a problem or

b) We never get to at all

When we put off doing the necessary tasks, in many cases this procrastination can have extreme consequences. You may not see it now, but procrastinating about doing those things you need to do to move the needle forward in your life is going to have a detrimental effect.

We only ever finally get down to the work when the deadline is the next day, when the consequence for not doing such tasks will arrive with full force unless we get our act together.

Why? Well, because now it’s serious.

But wasn’t it serious before? Of course it was, but we couldn’t see that. We cared too much about how much we felt like not doing the thing at that time as opposed to the effect of not doing it. The problem is we don’t believe ourselves enough to know that the task at hand needs to be done “or else”.

We don’t trust ourselves. We can’t truly see that far ahead, so it almost doesn’t seem real that any consequence could arise from us not completing the task. We are too focused on making sure we feel good at the time as opposed to doing our best to proactively ensure we don’t feel horrible later on down the line.

How do we fix this?

I think part of solving the procrastination problem is doing your best to make sure you become a person you trust in, believe in, and take seriously.

We have to establish that trust in ourselves that what we are doing is vital to our success, and can’t keep putting it off. We have to make this “thing”—whatever it may be—serious enough for us at the present moment, even though it doesn’t feel serious. We need to be able to connect the dots by looking outward. We need to take a step “outside ourselves” and serve the greater mission.

The more you procrastinate doing what’s necessary, the more you put yourself behind in your work and your life.

I think another part of solving the problem is to establish a habit of doing things when you don’t feel like doing them, even though you need to.

I’m aware that this all sounds easier said than done, but surely you know that doesn’t mean we should avoid doing it just because it’s easier to say it. Seriously, though, just do the thing. Whenever something comes up, I mean anything that you could easily put off until “tomorrow” (yeah, sure) just do it now.

I know you probably can’t do it for everything, but the only way to break the habit of procrastinating is to start a new one in its place. Break the habit by actively combating procrastination.

Do it with the small things and build up gradually. Eventually, you will get better at not putting things off, especially for those things that really matter to you. Do the chores. Do the house project. Do the practicing. Do whatever needs to be done earlier than the future time that you had postponed it, too.

Like a muscle, you will get stronger at combating procrastination and moving your life from stagnant to forward.

Understand this: You will not reach the success you want, the dreams you want to actualize, if you avoid the things you don’t feel like doing. Success often requires that you do what is necessary as opposed to what is comfortable. It demands of you you get the job done through the daily, necessary tasks consistently and over the long run. It doesn’t matter how you feel. Each day you forget to water the plant is a day the plant slowly dies.