Has that happend to you already: You try to complete the most urgent and important activities, but somehow keep on pushing them back, until you have to rush and nearly don’t manage to do them anymore. You are often completing these tasks at the last moment.
Some people actually need this pressure to do things, or at least they think they need need it, because it’s a great excuse to let things drag until the last moment….
If you have read ‘The Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne or intend to read or listen to it, then you know that this is not the best way to manage your life and reaching your goals.
There is a much better way to handle urgent tasks, and even if you think you need this pressure, try it the other way at least once, you’ll see how much easier the task gets if you’re not letting time pass by and then have to rush:
Schedule a block of prime time to work on an important activity that is due in the future. Begin at least two weeks before the time you think you’d need to complete the task. By leaving some spare time, you’ll be able to polish and review the task at least once before it’s due.
Just remember: the 80 / 20 rule applies! By having now enough time to review what you’ve done, you can possibly improve on it. But once you’ve reached the 80%, the effort you’ll put into it will not yield the same productivity anymore. so don’t overdo it!
Having a project ready on Wednesday when it’s due for the next Monday is great and will make you feel a lot better too!
Here’s a great book that will help you getting thinds done with ease:
Step by step, Neil Fiore, Ph.D. reveals in his audiobook ‘The Now Habit’ numerous tested strategies for ridding your life of procrastination:
- Use the symptoms of procrastination to trigger the cure
- Overcome the perfectionism and fear of failure that lie behind procrastination
- Benefit from making positive statements about work instead of sabotaging yourself with negative statements
- Make your worry work for you
- Use the Unschedule time-management techniques
- Accomplish more in less time through efficient “flow state” work styles
- Assist the procrastinators in your life in overcoming their problems