Procrastination is the bad habit of putting off until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday ~ Napoleon Hill Click To Tweet

The definition of procrastination is the act or habit of procrastinating or putting off or delaying, especially something requiring immediate attention. With that in mind, can you be honest with yourself about whether or not you procrastinate?

If you’ve decided that you are a procrastinator then this is a serious problem that you need to address ASAP! Procrastination is an insidious little habit that, if not addressed, will delay and destroy your happiness. Whether it’s in your career, social life, or another area of your personal life, procrastination is a habit we all need to confront.

Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy ~ Wayne Gretzky Click To Tweet

1. Understand that procrastination is a habit

First things first, understand that procrastination is nothing more than a habit (a terrible one of course) but a habit none the less. Disempower the word and what it means to you. If you want to learn how to stop procrastinating, you first have to learn to think of it as a bad habit you want to replace with a good habit. Here are some great books I recommend on how to stop procrastinating:

• Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
• Solving the Procrastination Puzzle: A Concise Guide to Strategies for Change
• How to Stop Procrastinating: A Simple Guide to Mastering Difficult Tasks and Breaking the Procrastination Habit
• The Motivation Switch: 77 Ways to Get Motivated, Avoid Procrastination, and Achieve Success
• Stop Procrastinating: A Simple Guide to Hacking Laziness, Building Self Discipline, and Overcoming Procrastination

♦ Is procrastination a habit you’re finding hard to understand? Then book a session with a professional life coach today!

2. Take a look at your life overall

Where are you at in your life? What areas are you happy with, somewhat happy with, and totally unhappy with? This is our starting point.

• For each area of your life where you’re happy, jot down three things that make you happy about it.
• For each area of your life where you’re somewhat happy, jot down three things that make you happy + three things that you want to improve upon.
• For each area of your life where you’re unhappy, jot down three things that you want to improve upon.

3. Look at things objectively

Look at the items you just wrote down with an objective eye. That means without judgment. You want to take the negative emotion out of it. Now you know what you want to work on. Remember that awareness is the first step to making different choices.  This is no different when figuring out how to stop procrastinating.

4. Celebrate your successes

We’ve been going down the path of looking at the things you don’t like and what you want to change. Take a moment now to look at the things that are great and wonderful about your life and where you’ve had success.

Think of these areas as places where you did not procrastinate and jot down a few notes about how success was achieved. Past successes are a roadmap to future successes.

Past successes are a roadmap to future successes Click To Tweet

For example, say that you are very happy with where you are in terms of health and fitness. What habits are currently practiced that contribute towards success? What foods play a major part in a healthy diet?

This information is important and will prove to be useful in learning how to stop procrastinating in other areas of your life.

5. Apply success strategies

Earlier, you jotted down the areas where you were somewhat happy or unhappy. Now it’s time to dig deeper. Let’s start with the areas where you’re somewhat happy. Look at where you have had success in these areas. Next, you want to identify the success strategies that you used to achieve happiness in these areas. Let’s work with an example here. Say you are somewhat happy with your career and the things you are happy about are:

• Have a Bachelor’s Degree in your chosen field,
• Like the company that you work for,
• Enjoy some flexibility with your job in terms of working from home, start time, etc.

However, there are some areas that you most certainly don’t like but know that procrastination has played a role and they include:

• Not having worked toward professional certifications early in your career so you can be further in your now,
• Not having worked on a side business years earlier so you can be financially independent now,
• Feeling overall as if you’re fulfilling your potential

How does this example make you feel?  Take a moment to reflect and jot down how you would address some areas of this scenario.  The same way you’re identifying how to address the things that aren’t working well for the person in this scenario is the same way you need to identify solutions for yourself.

Now that you have taken time to understand how to stop procrastinating, it’s your turn to dig deeper (in multiple areas of your life).  And don’t feel as if you have to do this all alone! Book a life coaching session with me and we can dig deeper together.

Other blog posts of interest:

♦ 5 Ways Self-Sabotage Is Stopping You From Reaching Your Goals
♦ What to Expect: When Working With A Professional Life Coach
♦ The Secret To Creating A Lasting Morning Workout Routine
♦ Overcoming Self-Sabotage: 3 Steps to Take Today
♦ 3 Steps to Getting Unstuck