by Joel Burgess

According the book The Power of Focus (Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Les Hewitt), procrastinating can be thought of as a form of self-castration. After all, to castrate means to impoverish or render ineffective. When you procrastinate you are impoverishing your future. Additionally, the word castrate is actually hidden within the word procrastinate.

Ouch! Even if it’s nothing but a painful play on words, this stark comparison is a reminder that putting off tasks that should be completed today inhibits our ability to succeed tomorrow.

So why do people procrastinate? They’re

1.) bored

2.) overwhelmed with work

3.) lacking in confidence

4.) suffering from low self-esteem

5.) doing work they don’t really enjoy.

6.) easily distracted or just downright lazy.

How can you overcome procrastination?

The book’s authors state two primary ways to motivate yourself:

1.) You can fear the consequences of not taking action or

2.) You can get excited about the rewards and benefits of being proactive.

The latter is definitely a better frame of mind to have than the former. Remaining positive is the best way to combat procrastination and act decisively. The next time you feel yourself putting off work that you know you shouldn’t, think of the easy-to-remember acronym: TA-DA.

TA-DA represents:

Think (self-reflection)

Ask (focusing questions)

Decide (making a decision is half the battle)

Act (GO!)

Remember, procrastination is having the Someday Syndrome . Someday I’ll do this, someday I’ll do that. The problem with this attitude is that at some point someday will cease to exist, leaving a life of regrets.