In the past I was a huge procrastinator. I’ve worked hard to fight against that trait and my natural way of putting things off, and I’m quite proud of the progress I’ve made. There have been a few things in the last year or so that I had put off for SO LONG, even though they would only take a few minutes to do.
So, the question that I have for you today is: How long would it really take to do what you want?
Because I’m not a mind reader (if you are one shoot me an email and you can help me), I don’t know what you want. But, I do know what I have wanted in the past, and how long it took me to get where I wanted to be.
I’ve thought of a couple examples of situations where I put something off when actually DOING it took a minuscule amount of time and effort.
One situation was when I first wanted to start a blog. I had been using Blogger for a while and thought that it sucked. I was hearing all about WordPress and how great it was, but I was scared to death of it. One day I was sitting in my dorm room at school and thought, “I’m gonna do this dang thing.” Under thirty minutes later I had my own web hosting account and blog and was making my first post. I put off making a blog for months, when in reality it took less than half an hour to actually do it. I was stupid.
Another example is my severe delay with getting involved with email marketing. I’m still into affiliate marketing, but back when I was doing it in a really spammy and sleezy way, I was really excited to get into email marketing. I was so stoked to spam people with endless promotions and messages that they didn’t want! I waited for quite a few months, and then one day I had an experience similar to the one with the blog. In 10 minutes I went from a wisher and dreamer to having an email autoresponder account. Again, I was just dumb for waiting so long. Then the spamming commenced (not something I’m proud of).
Yet one more of these not-smart procrastination/inaction situations happened just two weeks ago. Since I read the 4-Hour Work Week, I have always been very curious about outsourcing. One thing that I really hate doing is writing articles for my article marketing purposes, as well as articles for website content on my minisites I’m working on. So, I thought this would be a great thing to outsource to someone! Fast forward three months from reading the 4HWW and I hadn’t done anything. Then, within a span of about 15 minutes, I had signed up for an account at GetAFreelancer.com, wrote a request for an article writer, and was waiting for my first outsourced project to be bid on.
It really all just comes down to one word: ACTION.
Procrastination is a huge part of human nature. We hate doing things that either suck or are going to require even the smallest bit of effort. Maybe it’s just me, but I think we are inherently lazy. But just like any other character flaw, we can overcome it.
The method that works for me is to do an out-loud countdown. It’s like counting down until a spaceship takes off, but you are the vessel being launched. I like going from five.
Five…. this is gonna suck.
Four…. OMG in four seconds I have to do something!
Three…. maybe it won’t be so bad after all…
Two…. ok, only a half-hour more of TV then I promise I’ll do it!
One…. noooooooo…
Lift off. Your butt is off the couch and in action. There it is again: Action.
It’s like jumping into a cold lake and counting down until you are ready to feel shock of the water. But nobody is there to push you in the back way before you are ready.
You need to find a way to motivate yourself into this action sequence. I could go into a beautifully crafted list post, but I won’t. What motivates you can only truly be found by you.
What do you want to do? How long would it really take to accomplish?
Ok… five, four, three, two, one… action. But wait, leave a comment first :-)
get free updates when I post again by rss or by email. if you really want to make my day then you can share this post with your network. you rock.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Really practical advice! Getting over that one hurdle of just getting started is my biggest problem when I’m feeling lazy. Better start my countdown and cut this comment short!
I like the jumping into cold water analogy. Taking action is never as bad as you anticipate.
Good article. Recently I bought a new web hosting package, and was scared of making the transfer from one host to another in case I lost my backed up blog posts etc.
In the end I procrastinated for about three months before one day I set myself out to make the change.
It took about 30 minutes.
Ideally it would be:
5: I can’t wait to start!
4: Come on already!
3: To hell with it. I’m starting now!
Lift off!
But that’s for a perfect world. :)
Procrastination is something I still struggle with, right now I need to find a new apartment, doing so will save me a lot of money and make my goals happen so much faster, yet I’ve done very little towards it. I have this weird fear of the phone and real estate agents here make no effort to respond to emails even though they give the option, I’m yet to have a single one respond by email.
I think I feel like I will make an ass of myself on the phone, in reality every time I pick it up and do what I have to I sound like a normal person, so I don’t know why I let it be an issue.
Hey Nate, great post! Often we spend more time thinking about something than to do it.
Great post. Fear is a great motivator towards inaction. Human beings seem to be great at irrational thought.
Refreshing post, thanks Nate.
This is very good.
We are not lazy at all. We are simply efficient in a simple way. We train ourself to do certain things in certain situations.
If you train yourself to stand still during a crisis and scream, when a crisis occurs your most likely not going to play the hero.
Much like procrastination is it a habit build over time not but laziness but by comfort.
We say no to this and no to say over and over. Every time something new comes along we chose what we have(comfort) instead of what we can have(risk).
You begin to just say no every time to anything. Maybe making a blog, buying some new or whatever.
You need ot recondition yourself to do something every time you have an idea. In 21 days (Amount of time needed to install a good habit) you will be taking action on every opportunity that comes your way.
Thanks everyone for such great comments I appreciate it a ton!
Heeey Nate!
Great post man, I had a similar idea in mind for a blog post. So many things we put of, but the best way to deal with procrastination is to just do it.
I like making lists of things I want to do for the day or the week, so even if there is something Ive been putting off, Ill write it in big letters on my list, and that way, i will just HAVE to do it and finish it to get it off my list and out the way:)
Cheers buddy! :)
I’m with Mac – procrastination often comes from comfort and I love your response, Nate – ACTION!
I’m reminded of children who fight putting away their clothes and do it all day long when it would take 5 minutes. Our inner toddler comes out in moments like this and says “NOOOOOOO!!!!!”
I am with you on this one.
There are many things that I keep putting off just because I imagine that how time-consuming they will be. However, with a little focused action they can be knocked off in a short time.
In fact, I often spend more time worrying about doing stuff, than the actual doing.
I like the Brian Tracy idea of “Eating a Frog for Breakfast.” First thing everyday, do the thing you least want to do.
Hi.. just stumbled on your blog.. and I am also struggling with procastination. whoaaaa…….. LOL!
Thanks everyone!
Diggy – Big letters on a list might be something for me to look into.
Alex – Thanks for stopping by! And I’m very familiar with my inner toddler :-)
John – I like Brian’s idea as well. Usually during a day I do the stuff I like first, and then get to my ‘real’ work. Maybe I should switch it around!
Frugal Expat – Welcome!
Nate – great post. I like how you let loose a little bit and wrote more than your usual length. Reaching “action sequence” has always been tough for me, especially since we live in a world with so many short-term (and short-lived) distractions and pleasures. Thanks for the healthy kick-in-the-arse.
Alan – A good kick-in-the-arse is good every once in a while, glad I could help out haha. And yes, the post was longer. They will continue to be like this as I move to a once a week posting schedule (every Tuesday).
The hardest part of any endeavor is the launching part. We consider many things which caused the very delay of our action. We need to make an action first before we adopt. :-)