I still procrastinate.(Now that we got that out the way…)I’ve gotten way better at beating it, but of course, I’m not perfect. There are still some (several?) tasks I find myself dragging on. I found myself procrastinating majorly this weekend as I prepared for my big move.Firstly, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t procrastinate when it comes to moving. (Or when it comes to texting back your friend who asked you to help them move…)While I would have given myself a pass were this just any ol’ move, you would have thought I’d be more excited since...this move was into my first house!Sidenote: Yes, ya girl is officially a homeowner!One would think I would have had no problem packing, given the circumstances. I’ve been dying to get out of my cramped apartment for forever and my new house has a guest room with a huge window that I’ve already claimed as Think & Grow Headquarters. (Spacious, light-filled home office? Oh yes!)Even with all these amazing perks awaiting me at my new address, I couldn’t bring myself to put the cap back on the toothpaste, let alone pack up the whole house.That’s the frustrating part about procrastination, no?

Strangely, that which we want the most tends to be that which we procrastinate the most on.

Which, of course, has the power to lead us into a dangerous cycle.We start to wonder if we really even want this.If we’re kidding ourselves.If we have what it takes.Out of everything I’ve ever procrastinated on, dragging my feet on my move wasn’t the biggest deal because (1) I had to be out of my apartment by a certain day and (2) my husband did most of the packing anyway (hehe…) so I knew I was it was going to get done.That said, there are some things that I’ve procrastinate on that totally wrecked my self-confidence because I found myself spiraling down that cycle listed above.The more and more I stalled on something I knew I really wanted, the more I started to doubt myself. I mean, how can you say you want something yet continuously put it off, right??? For years, that question used to haunt me.

Why You Procrastinate

If that question is haunting you too, take heart m’dear. If you know you want something really bad but your consistent procrastination has you thinking maybe you don’t want it at all, hear this:Sometimes, wanting something really bad can cause of procrastination.Think about it. What happens when you want something really, really, really bad? You make it into this huge thing.And what happens when you make it into this huge thing?You get spooked by how “big” it is and you start procrastinating because you don’t know where to start. (Overwhelm.)Or, you convince yourself taking on a project this major must also bring major pain, so you start procrastinating because you aren’t sure you're ready to go through such a grueling process.(Pain avoidance.)Or...you tell yourself it has to be done “right” and you start procrastinating because you aren’t confident in your ability to pull it off.(Perfectionism).In other words, you want it so bad that actually getting it’s got you shook. (To quote Mobb Deep...)If this is you, you can do a little happy dance right now because (1) your procrastination has nothing to do with you “not wanting it bad enough” and (2) this is easy to overcome.

How to beat procrastination

To beat this type of procrastination you have to do three things:

1. Bring it down to a size you can handle (i.e. beat the overwhelm).
2. Remind yourself why you want this and why this is beneficial for you (i.e. reverse the pain avoidance).
3. Break it down into small parts you’re confident you can do (i.e. stop the perfectionism).

Because the one thing I didn’t procrastinate on this weekend was playing on my computer (so responsible, I know….), I create this worksheet to help you go through the above 3 steps and purge procrastination from your life forever:

If you’re feeling completely overwhelmed and you’ve been stalling on an important task for the last 3 hours, stop what you’re doing right now and print out this worksheet.First, you’re going to ask yourself “What am I doing?” and you’re going to write your answer in the top box. On the example below, you’ll see I wrote “Packing up my apartment”, which is what I would have wrote had I done this worksheet to help me stop procrastinating on my move. (Which I didn’t, but this isn’t about me…)

Next, you’re going to acknowledge that what you just wrote is not the real answer and you’re going to ask yourself what you’re really doing. As in, what is the deeper reason behind you doing this?Next, you’re going to take a deep breath and ask yourself what exactly do you need to do in order to finish this?Once you list all the steps out, you’ll cross them off one-by-one (i.e. beat overwhelm) until they’re all done. When you’re finished, you can check off the “Did I do it?” box to to celebrate the fact that you stopped procrastinating and finally got it done! (Who doesn’t love checking off boxes?)Sound good? Good. Print out the worksheet, purge your procrastination, then let me know how it went.

(Now who said procrastinating on moving out of your apartment was a bad thing? Pfft...)P.S. - If you love thinking on paper and you want a portable, easy-to-use tool to stay on track, make sure you pick up one of my custom tear-sheet notepads, which will help you remember your goals and get stuff done everyday. Click the picture below to get yours today:

Custom "Today" Notepad from Think & Grow Chick, LLC