Beat the Procrastination Bug

Everyone in this world has goals, things they want to accomplish in this life. But it seems like only a fraction of people actually achieve these goals while the others spend their lives wondering what happened. So what makes the difference? Everyone has a drive and determination inside them even if they don’t know how to access it its still there. So that’s not the problem, the problem is actually very simple; procrastination. A lot of us did it in high school with regards to homework and assignment deadlines but what happens after school is what makes the difference. Some people grow out of procrastination while others take it with them throughout their adult life. You may feel like there is no hope, like you’re going to spend the rest of your life setting a goal for yourself and then setting it aside. But I’m here to tell you that you can kick procrastinations rear end just by following what is outlined in this article.

Set a Definite Goal: It is one thing to say you want to be successful but it’s not specific enough, there isn’t enough driving power behind it. Saying “I want to be successful in the arts” is hitting it more on the mark. But you should go further than that saying “I want to be successful in theater. I want to spend my life designing sets and traveling the world doing what I love.” Now that’s a definite goal and because of that it allows your mind to form a more realistic image of it in your head. Once your mind starts picturing the details of your dream life it becomes a driving force, a motivation that is constantly with you. They do say “Seeing is believing.”

Make Deadlines: This is key. You can’t have a goal in sight but no idea of when you want it to happen. You need to set a length of time or a specific date of when you want to accomplish your goals. Using the example above you could say “In 3 months I want to be interning through the local theater.” And then you go from there, saying “In 8 months I want to move up from internship to paid employee” and just keep going. Once you have a time in your mind and written down on a piece of paper it propels you to keep moving forward, wanting to meet your own deadline.

Get Rid of Distractions/ Stay Focused :This is where the procrastination problem comes in. You have your goals and deadlines set but you start procrastinating. You start making up excuses and getting distracted putting the work that needs to be done off to the side. There is actually a simple solution if you follow it. Here is what I recommend set a more immediate goal for yourself. For example “Today I’m going to go to 5 different places to apply for an internship.” If you meet your goal than you treat yourself to watching your favorite television show at night. If you don’t than you hold off on watching that show. It may seem extreme but think about it. If you let yourself get distracted and still do whatever you want you’re not setting any mental discipline for yourself. But if you fail at your days goal and you take something you enjoy away because of that then it starts training your mind. Over time you will start putting in the needed hours to achieve your goal because you don’t want to take all the enjoyment out of life simply because you got distracted. It comes down to this are the distractions worth not accomplishing your dream? If you answered no then you will be fine. If you answered yes than you need to re-think your dreams.

Don’t Give Up: Procrastination can be deadly it can make you feel like you’re never going to accomplish your goal but remember you are your own worst enemy. You have to change your lifestyle, you have to stop being distracted, you have to decide what’s more important in your life. No matter how off track you may have gotten you can always get back on. You can still achieve your goals and dreams despite getting sidetracked by procrastination but you have to believe that you can first.