Are you a procrastinator? Or you have goals but you just never have the time to get them done? There’s always too much on the to do list to get cleared out of the way first? You are not alone!
I have read some really valuable books recently, in particular Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman.
Four Thousand Weeks, you might have guessed, is the average lifespan we have if we live to 76 years old. It’s quite scary when you think of it like that. Particularly since we probably want to retire at some point, and speaking for myself, I’ve already had two and a half thousand of them! Basically we have less time than we think we have. There is no time to waste if you have goals, dreams, ambitions that you want to achieve.
There is no point spending any of that time over-thinking, worrying or procrastinating.
If you’re putting off doing something that you want to achieve, this is a really important message for you to take on board.
There will never be time.
There will always be other things to get done.
There will always be things that get in the way.
The to-do list will always be long and full of seemingly important stuff.
If you want to do something, it’s your dream, your passion, your goal and you aren’t doing it because of ‘not enough time’ Oliver Burkeman makes the argument really clearly. He explains that it will never happen, there will never be a day when you magically have cleared the decks and have time for it. I talk more about how to achieve a better work-life balance here.
So, how do successful people do it? How do you stop procrastinating?
You have to make time.
You have to make time.
How? You may ask. Mostly we feel like there isn’t any extra time available. You probably get to the end of every day exhausted, crawl into bed ready for a full day full of stuff to do tomorrow. How can you make more time?
The answer, which is what successful people who are living their dream lives right now are doing, is that you have to decide that this thing you are dreaming of is your priority. You have to decide that, since it will give you joy and fulfilment, it’s important to you. More important than the other things on the list. More important than what other people want, more important than the to-do list, the chores, the family. Successful people work out what their goals are, and then they work on those goals to the exclusion of other things which are important but not as vital to success as those goals.
Sounds easy. But how come so many of us don’t behave in this way? We act under the illusion that before we do our priority thing, we have to clear our to-do-list first.
But when you understand that there is never any end to a to-do list, anything that you do, will be replaced by something else you have to do, you can start to see why there feels like there is no time for your dream to come true.
A simple technique for how to stop procrastinating
1. Write down your priority list.
2. Decide where in your list your goal comes. If you are going to achieve it, it will need to be high on the list.
3. Then do things in priority order only.
A simple technique for how to stop procrastinating
1. Write down your priority list.
2. Decide where in your list your goal comes. If you are going to achieve it, it will need to be high on the list.
3. Then do things in priority order only.
So, if you’re working at home and washing up and cleaning the house isn’t priority 1. DON’T DO IT until you have done the other things that are of higher priority. If you’re running a business and you are spending time on something low priority, even if it seems important but it won’t move your business forward you are holding your business back.
Only doing what is your top priority means that you don’t get distracted doing what other people think you should do and you don’t get derailed on on a daily basis with all the seemingly urgent stuff which won’t get you to your goal. It might seem a bit selfish at first. BUT you have to stick to your priority list to make your dream a reality.
When you get used to working in this way, you will be amazed at the things you can achieve. Make them important and do them first or second in the day.
It changed my life when I realised that my number one goal is health and wellness. I now prioritise this above other things and make exercise important for me. Of course some days this gets derailed by other things competing for my time, but more often than not, I’ll have had a healthy breakfast, been to the gym and meditated each day. It’s a game changer. I’m clear headed, energised, confident and much fitter now. I used to think that I didn’t have time to exercise, and yet I am achieving just as much or more than I previously did.
That is the secret that successful people know and live by. They make time for what they want to do, and sacrifice lower priority things from their list (or get other people to do those things)
What are you not prioritising right now, which would make a massive difference to your life and your success? Write out your life goals and look at how you can align them into your day in priority order.
RTT is a highly effective treatment for eliminating procrastination for good. It helps you get on track to and end your procrastination habits. Rapid Transformational Therapy is proven and backed by hundreds of scientific studies. In as little as 1-2 sessions, we can discover what’s at the root cause of your procrastination and transform those behaviours, actions and thoughts to allow you to be more focused and successful to achieve your goals. To discuss how this can help you, you can book a free call with me.