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One of the most important parts of getting things done is simply starting and, unfortunately that’s where many of us fail. While we want to finish that important thing, there’s a hundred others that distract us instead. You probably know what that feels like. There’s a project you need to finish next week and you can complete it today if you want to. It’s 10 a.m. on a Saturday, you start your computer to get to work… and suddenly you accidentally spent the entire day browsing the internet or scrolling through Facebook.
You did the same things and procrastinated the entire week until finally the deadline is tomorrow. You now need to rush the project and with that quality of work it’ll be difficult to get a good grade. I know that’s what I was like when I was a student, and I know I shouldn’t be like that for the rest of my life. You probably think so too if you have the procrastination habit.
So how do you stop yourself from wasting time? Here are a few short tips from Napoleon Hill that can help you overcome procrastination. This isn’t just for getting school work or office projects done. You can also use this for your lifelong goals and aspirations.
How to Overcome Procrastination
We’ve previously discussed why initiative, the ability to get things done without people ordering you to do things, is so important. It’s the main characteristic necessary for leadership, and the ability to lead (not just other people but yourself) is one of the most important ingredients of success.
1. Do something important every day
Do something you need to do every day even if nobody tells you to do it. What are your most important duties? In my case, my weekly checklist includes writing an article draft, proofreading what I wrote, reading books, watching tutorials, practice drawing for my stream, etc. Since I’m self-employed, there’s no boss or supervisor ordering me around. I NEED to force myself to work or else nothing gets done and I’ll earn nothing.
What do you need to do for work? Are there reports or projects that you need to complete weeks from now? What things do you need to do in order to move them further towards completion? List down your most important work-related duties and then complete them one at a time. You’ll finish them eventually and you’ll suddenly earn more free time as opposed to working all-nighters.
2. Do something helpful even if you won’t get paid
Look for something helpful that you don’t usually do, and do it even if you won’t get paid for it. Most people only do things because they’re get paid or they expect favors. You probably wouldn’t do your job right now if you didn’t earn money from it there’s a lot of things you won’t do at work because they’re not in your job description. This is where Napoleon Hill’s habit of “going the extra mile” works. The more helpful things you do at work, the more valuable you become to your boss and coworkers alike.
Imagine two equal employees. They both do their jobs well, but one of them sometimes stays behind to help you at work or they share some food they cooked with their coworkers. They’re helpful and they don’t get paid to do it, but they do it anyway. That’s why they will get recommendations for promotions and pay raises. Why don’t you try something similar at work or in your business as well? Help a couple of people with their work without expecting anything in return.
One side benefit of this habit? You get to find opportunities to create value and earn more from it. You just found out that people love those sandwiches you made? Start selling them! You found out people love how you write emails and articles for them? Try freelance writing! Very often you wouldn’t know you could do it until you first did it for free.
3. Teach this habit to others
In a lot of professions or crafts like art, cooking, martial arts, one of the best ways to master something is to teach it to others. By doing that, you begin to think about the subject differently and thus you learn more and more about it. That is why one way to unlearn the procrastination habit is by teaching this work habit to others.
There’s another reason why teaching this lesson will force you to work harder. Can you imagine telling people to eat healthy or exercise every day without doing those things yourself? You can probably imagine people laughing at you for your hypocrisy. To avoid that shame, you will be motivated to practice what you preach (I know I have by writing all these things).
There’s no getting around it. We reap what we sow, and if we sow wind we’ll reap the whirlwind. No matter how much we want to blame the economy, our parents, the business sector, our location, or everything else, we’ll need to accept the fact that everything we’ve achieved today is the result of everything we’ve done yesterday.
If you want to stop procrastinating, you have to develop the habit of taking action even if nobody tells you to do it, take action even if nobody pays you to do it, and by teaching that habit to others. You can start small, but what’s important is that you start. It’ll eventually build up into something great.
Winners almost always do what they think is the most productive thing possible at every given moment; losers never do.
— Tom Hopkins
Want to learn more? Check out our other productivity articles here!
7 Easy Steps on How to Boost Your Productivity
10 Success Quotes on Productivity and Focus
Do you have the Leadership Habit?
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