Effective Way to Understanding and Overcoming Procrastination
When I started using Facebook back in 2009, I was on it multiple times throughout the day. I signed up because hey, "everybody" was on it. People pestered me to join it.
I'd Scroll through the timeline, liking people's posts, commenting on people's posts, and making status updates. For hours, not minutes.
Even when I was out in town I'd visit the Apple shop, login to Facebook on their MAC computers, and repeat the same process as mentioned above. Because I didn't have a "high-tech" smartphone back then. It would have been worse otherwise.
Then on some days I'd get home and abuse Facebook some more. Probably up until stupid-0-clock. Or in other words, 3-5AM.
But the story doesn't stop there.
When I owned an Xbox 360, which I bought in late 2007, I'd abuse that more than was necessary, too.
Playing online games, having online "matches" against other people in US, Japan, or wherever. On some days I wouldn't be off my Xbox until stupid-0-clock yet again. Or I'd be on it in the mornings not long after waking up.
If you know anything about the "golden hour", what you do in the first hour of your day will determine how it'll turn out.
Eventually I got sick of it, so I had to change.
2012 was a big year for me for making changes. Not just for the habits I mentioned above, but for other parts of my life as well.
If you want to overcome your procrastination problems, there's an unusual method you can use. And sometimes it's the best way, and the only way to solve it.
Keep procrastinating until you become so sick of it, you're forced to change.
"Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change." - Tony Robbins
This is unconventional advice, and believe me it works. Sometimes the problem isn't procrastination, the problem is you're trying to fight the urge to procrastinate.
Think of a guy or a girl in a relationship who's trying to "resist" cheating. They can only "resist" for so long, and will eventually cheat one way or another.
I got to a point where I was so sick of it, and disgusted by it, change was crucial. It became a "do or die" mentality for me.
The way I used my time, my day, and when I realized how much time I could have saved, it sickened me. Better yet, realizing what I could have done with my time was even more unsettling.
It's that unsettling feeling that forces you to change, as it did for me. Without it, the motivation to change is like a Duracell battery. It only lasts for so long.
When you're stuck in your bad habits and you "try" to fight it, your habits eventually bring you back over to the dark side.
Why? Because "trying" to overcome procrastination is different to "needing" to overcome procrastination.
When you get to the point of becoming so sick of it, and the pain and disgust of it is so unbearable, only then will you have what it takes to make the changes.
This is the same reason why trying to "force" other people around you to change is impossible. There's no motivation for some people until "pain" comes into the picture.
Go ALL In, 100%.
There's no use procrastinating 70% of the time and trying "not" to procrastinate 30% of the time. Not doing something all the way, 100% is a wasted effort, and wastes your energy.
So if procrastination is your problem, keep procrastinating 100% until you're forced to change. That way you'll get it over and done with a LOT faster
"People change for two reasons. Their minds have opened or their hearts have been broken" - Unknown
