How to overcome procrastination and laziness?

Before sitting down to start your work, first spend just 5 minutes browsing the web and looking at your 'dream car', 'dream house' etc. Things that will inspire 'you' to knuckle in... Because honestly... The possibilities are endless with an Internet business and the only limitation is yourself.

First get inspired, fired up and driven... Then get set to work.

Before sitting down to start your work, first spend just 5 minutes browsing the web and looking at your 'dream car', 'dream house' etc. Things that will inspire 'you' to knuckle in... Because honestly... The possibilities are endless with an Internet business and the only limitation is yourself.

First get inspired, fired up and driven... Then get to work.

1. No talking about it, no feeling about it…….. Just take the action now ! Tell yourself how great you will feel when its done. Put on some happy music that always gets me into action.

2. Break it down. Set a timer for 10 minutes and promise yourself a self nurturing reward at the end of it. So 10 minutes for the task, 10 minutes of fun. wash, rinse and repeat until the task is over.

3.Pretend you are a Buddhist master and become mindful. Train your mind to be quiet and to focus on what you are doing. Put on some meditation music to get you in the mood. Being mindful is a great discipline to practise and is the secret to why monks smile so much. They train their minds to be quiet, focused and still……… you can too.

I procrastinate more than anyone here in this forum.. LOL .. I tried many thing. But nothing worked

I think it comes to how bad you really want success.

One of my favorite quotes:

"When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe then you will be successful. "

I have two words for procrastinators.

"obsessive cleaning"

Dust on the plasma tv, unwashed car, too much mess in the garage...

Stuff that you just really dont want to do around the house, force yourself to do it and it's amazing how emancipated your mind feels to set about tasks in your online business.

Im toying with the idea of selling everything I own and living in hotels. Mess preys on my mind yet its such low priority, yet its the touchstone of freedom to work (for me anywAy)

To get things done, you need to go back to basics.

Get a notebook and a pencil. For younger forum members who may be unfamiliar with these items, it is like a low-tech version of Notepad

Over coffee, first thing in the morning, take out your low-tech tools and list out what you want or need to get done in your business that day. Then, pick out the jobs you like the least and rank them with a number (1 = the most horrid/boring, 2 = the next worst etc). So if there are 10 items on the list, number 10 will be the thing you enjoy the most.

Hey presto! You have a running order for your day. Take a deep breath and do #1 first and keep going through the boring or unpleasant stuff until you get to the nicer stuff.

Here is something that works for me. Get your email done first thing in the morning and don't open again ay least until lunch. Then close it down again until the end of the day. As Tony Robbins says, "It is simple but it is not easy." You really have to train yourself but it saves tons of time and keeps your focus on the important stuff.

Take everything in baby steps and sections... Trying to look at the big picture and take up everything at one time can leaved you overwhelmed!

I just finish watching the video, one word... AMAZING! I feel all inspired and motivated all ready...!

Just imagine having two choices - Working your ass off OR being in jail and sharing the cell with a big guy named Bubba... and he likes to get real friendly.

Which one would you do now?

I just published a podcast show the other week on exactly this - how to overcome procrastination and laziness. It's a challenge everyone is faced with and it's probably the biggest obstacle to success in IM and in any area of work/success.

PodOmatic | Best Free Podcasts

Isn’t it great to finally understand that nothing is holding you back from succeeding online except taking action and following through?

I think that procrastination and laziness is a disease that we all must work and stay together to find the cure.

The bottom line is a real secret about achieving success is if you are persistent and take action on a daily basis.

I believe that having a weak body cause procrastination and laziness. Start a healthy living, eat right, sleep on time, have a regular exercise and make yourself look good. Motivation will eventually start.

I have found fear and desperation to be the greatest motivators, even if it means just creating a perception of those two negative emotions. I'd look at it like this: "If I don't complete XYZ" by the end of the day, then I run the risk of losing my house, and not being able to feed myself.

In a sense I am not lying to myself, as one day screwing off could lead to a pattern of procrastination that makes my feared situation come true. This type of scare tactic isn't for the faint of heart though. It can sometimes create high stress situations and if you are not prepared to handle things it is a dangerous path to go down.

Just my two cents and if you want to try and do it how I do it, proceed with caution.

yes its a good inspiration.

but not always the case.

just like the analogy if u have asthma and u are thinking of breathing, and breathing only, it doesnt mean u will survive. There are poeople who died from asthma attacks.

so same thing, it doesnt mean u have the will to succeed means u will. there is still many many factors. not everyone is cut out to be in the IM world.

some suit jobs better.

but i know i just spoilt some peoples day by splashing cold water on them. hahaha

sorry. i just think that there is alot more to success.

one thread says its the attitude another says its the will another says its the connections another says its the mentor. etc etc.

there will forever be the 1 MOST IMPORTANT thing and then it brings us back to square 1, everything is important and everything becomes a priority and we are all over the place again, not focusing. lol.

that is the irony of things.

Procrastination and laziness are two different symptoms. It's imperative to find out what's causing these two things. Sometimes it's not the same thing as they can be mutually exclusive (though usually they are not).

Everyone, bar none, is motivated by the carrot and the stick. Pain and pleasure. Whatever you want to call it. Most people that suffer from procrastination and laziness don't have goals that move them and they don't really stop and think about the consequences of not taking consistent action.

So the key is to spend some time figuring out what you really want. I'm talking about a real goal, not a monetary one. It's okay to write down you want to make $10,000 a month, but it's more motivating to write down what that 10k per month is going to get you.

I tell my clients if they don't write down their goals, review them at least once a day, and then take at least one meaningful action toward that goal at least 5x a week, then they are not serious about achieving what they want.

Write your goals down and review them daily. If your goals don't excite you, then you need to find better goals or get more specific with them until they DO get you excited.

That's the first place to start.......

RoD

Mozart & Meditation!

1. emails, forums, and stat checking move to the end of the day (this is not work)

2. make your to do list into small tasks that get done (feeling of achievement)

3. look at the bills for motivation

4. take action

Oh ya.. I know the Information Overload.. it's scared me away from seriously starting IM like 3 or 4 times over the past few years. Then what happened, just last week when I am trying yet again, is I tried to choose "one proven system" as you say and guess what.. I got the information overload from trying to choose from all the different systems!!

Bah-ha! Honey I am the QUEEN of Procrastination. I've been procrastinating this IM since June 2004. Can ya beat that? LOL

Good advice. I think that is what I do wrong. Not just for IM but at home too..If I have so much to do I don't know where to start, so I never do.

Rod, Thank you SO much for this advice .. because you know what? I think this is just what might work for me.

This is the best thread I've read in a long time. Thanks Jealee for starting it!

Tracy

It's all about setting up a schedule. There are so many times that we can just jump on forums or get busy with our other daily duties...that it's important to create a schedule and make yourself stick to that schedule. As well as having a plan prior to any project. Creating a black with step-by-step goals and how you are going to achieve them is the only way to success.

You're welcome Tracy.

I do a lot of goal-setting with customers in 3 distinct niches. I've been doing it in one particular niche for nearly a decade and I cannot emphasize the power in just getting clarity on what you really want.

Then writing it down.

Then setting actual dates of completion.

If you can do that consistently, you're ahead of the 99.999999999% that don't do this.

When a prospective client of mine tells me they don't want to write down their goals and follow through they have a 100% failure rate (and I don't take them on as clients btw). The ones that do write them down and follow through consistently have an ultimate 100% success rate. That in and of itself speaks volumes. Sure, the latter might "fail" a few times (or many times), but the key is that they don't give up and alter their goals as needed.

I'm a die-hard when it comes to goal setting not just because there is plenty of science to back it up, but because I've seen it play out in real life with people from all walks of life, including my own. About 20 years or so ago Tony Robbins kept hammering that into my brain at a private dinner with about 25 other people.

At first I wanted him to talk about something else. But then he went into detail on how goal-setting affects the brain, then he gave some real-life examples, and to my chagrin, two of his examples were dining with us!! After hearing their stories I was sold!

Up until that point I didn't really take goal-setting seriously. So if someone is lazy or they're just pushing things off, they have impotent goals or don't have any and they're not taking any meaningful action to support those goals.

RoD

I do two things to avoid laziness and procrastinating. The first is I recall every single morning when I sit down to my computer with my morning coffee, Steve Clayton from IMA saying often throughout all the training IMA provide: "Just do SOMETHING every day towards what you want to achieve" That's my focus every single day.

The second thing I do is stick to this easy and simple schedule.

I work from 9am to 3pm while my youngest son is at school. From 9 - 11 I look up and research through training video's in IMA, the WPClassroom, the net and these forums the things I need to know and from 11 - 3, I work on the next part of my project.

I knock off at 3pm, spend time with my son, cook, clean, shower and get someone else to do the dishes, get back on at around 7.30pm most nights, do all my SEO, articles, backlinks, etc etc til about 11.30pmish. It works for me.

So far I have built 5 websites. I'm focussed only on two of them at the moment to get them to the point of satisfaction - and that point is a set target amount of traffic.

Recalling every morning what a 10 million dollar company owner says is the best way to keep going in my opinion, and sticking to that schedule has kept my learning curve going constantly ever higher, I'm getting better every day at what I'm doing and what I know, and as small as the traffic is right now, I have some - and that's a start.

Especially when you get comments on your site about how informative and what a great job you've done and that they are going to digg your site for all their friends to see, and then you see in your google analytics that your traffic has increased by 900%. Yeah, it's only a few more Unique visitors but hey, I've only been doing this for 2 months. Just today I learned how to convert a Powerpoint Presentation for FREE to a FLASH VIDEO for free, with FREE Royalty Free Music embedded into it and put up a post in the WPClassroom forum about exactly how to do it - I've had a great response already.

Just Do something everyday towards what you want to achieve and set a schedule.

I hope this helps someone because just talking about it has really encouraged me

Sometimes just taking action in one way or another is enough for me.
Also, I reflect back at the time I lose by not doing anything and say to myself "look at you, you're sitting here doing nothing while other people around the globe work hard just for a piece of bread, you should be ashamed of yourself! "

Hope it helps.

Lots of great ideas in this thread. I have to second using a timer. Since I began using a regular kitchen timer, I have maintained a focus I didn't know existed. I set it for 45 minutes of work, followed by 15 minutes of getting up and moving around. Typically, that is cleaning the house, folding laundry or anything else that gets the blood pumping again.

Every day, I write 12 blog posts for a company. They were taking 3 hours, but when I started using the timer, I've pushed it to about 2 hours. Totally get a timer!

Caffeine! Duh!!!

But honestly, don't think about money...think about the lifestyle you'll be living when you get your dreams, can quit your job, and tell your boss to go (you know what!)...

:-)

• Picture the End Result
• Know What To Do - Break Up the Project Campaign into Pieces
• Know How to Start - If you don't know where to start - Just Do It and Start Somewhere
• Just Grind it Out - Work work work ....
• Know When to End
• Know How to End - I always end my campaigns setting up a Google Calendar notice that reminds to check up on results.
• Know How to Move On to the Next Task, Campaign or Project....

Always document, it makes you feel more professional and in control.

I don't know that it's so much about being lazy. At least for me, my problem is focusing on one thing long enough to stick with it. Then another wonderful WSO hits and I'm off to try that. I need to just buckle down and stay with one thing long enough to give it a real chance. Maybe just stop reading my email and the WSO forum...

I really disagree that the answer to beating procrastination is getting yourself all pumped up with visions of fancy cars and dream homes. In the end, you just get excited and still get nothing done.

Two methods that have worked quite well:

1. Short action lists. 6-10 tangible, small, single actions you can do in rapid fire succession. Move through it in order unless there is a much more efficient reason to skip around.

2. The pomodoro method. If you haven't heard of it, I highly recommend you do a quick google. It's got some manifesto, a movement attached, and all kinds of other nonsense, but the core is to:

- get one of those kitchen timers (a pomodoro)
- set it to twenty five minutes
- work until it rings
- take a five minute break (also set by timer)
- repeat

I've found the ticking of the timer an important motivator. It becomes a game where I see if I can get what I wanted to get done before the timer rings.

I have a little app now that I use that sets the timer and ticks for me. It's incredibly effective.

Focus on one project at a time, and set goals.

Hi, good to know you are from Malaysia! Are you attend the Smart Congress a few weeks ago?

I overcome procastination by subliminal CD, just listen it and the hidden message will change my subconcious mind.

I use my iPhone when I can't do anything. Just listen to favorite music and read emails. Then I know that many work to do in the day. Don't be lazy, Build your life.

there are a lot of success stories on the internet, you can read some of them especially on online forums. When I'm feeling down I usually go on a forum and browse some motivating stories to read. It always works on me

there are a lot of success stories on the internet, you can read some of them especially on online forums. When I'm feeling down I usually go on a forum and browse some motivating stories to read. It always works on me

It's easy, if you integrate your IM needs with your body's needs:

NO LUNCH until I do A, B, & C.

Then, after lunchtime:

NO SNACKS until I do D, E & F.

Then, after a snack:

NO DINNER until I do G, H & I.

It does make for some very hungry afternoons, but it works, every day! I've never told myself, "Oh, I'm feeling lazy today, I suppose I'll just relax and fast today."

If I could over come my P&L I would be very rich right now

Make a List! before you go to bed write down what you need to accomplish the following day for you to feel satisfied with what you have accomplished. complete your list before you do anything else write down actionable steps. if you have already learned some method you want to take action on dont go learn something else just take action on what you have learned break it down in to steps to complete that task like creating a campaign break it into steps. your real learning comes from hands on experience. when you get results it DRIVES you, you only get results from taking action, even if you lose a bit of money on a campaign the experience you gained was worth it GL

Try the Pomodoro technique. I'm as lazy as they come and procrastinate with the best of them, but this tends to work for me:

Set a timer for 25 minutes.
Do 25 minutes straight of lightning-focused work.
When the alarm goes off, take a 5 minute break.
Repeat this 4 times. Then take a 30 min break (perhaps lunch).
Start again.

Each of these cycles is 1 Pomodoro. You can keep track of each project you're working on and how many pomodoros it took to get it done, giving you a better idea of how to set expectations. Try it out!

Well, one of the best ways to overcome procrastination is to find a lot of reasons WHY you are doing what you are trying to achieve. What benefits this can bring to the table? What you can avoid as a result of achieving your outcome? You can quit your job, avoid pain or just being financially free?

Also, you may want to create a sense of urgency by acknowledging the fact that life is too short, and if you want to make something significant out of it, you better start today, because tomorrow is always going to be uncertain.

Then all the sudden you'll realize that you DO NOT have the luxury of being lazy, because you are on a mission! That's the mindset to overcome procrastination successfully.

How To Overcome Procrastination? | Double Time Today

Set realistic daily goals feeding into a bigger common goal. Thats whats worked for me and is also preached by many people.

I found going to a coffee shop and working there is the best way to stop procrastination. If you stay at home then don't give into the television. Make sure everything is off.

watching that video keeps me inspired and motivated.

I've watched this video before and watching it for the second time keeps me inspired and motivated.

Something to remember is don't just take action. Taking action ONCE won't do much. You have to take CONSISTENT ACTION to achieve your goals.

I've skimmed the responses and only seen a couple of references to this. The answer is to find your passion. If you could do anything you wanted and money was not a concern, what would you do? And I'm not talking about eating pizza and drinking beer all day.

What would you do if you could do anything you wanted? There's been a lot of study done on this. Most often, when people answer this question honestly they're hitting on the gift God has given them, the thing they were born to do.

When you're doing the thing you're meant to do you don't need artificial stimulators. You just do what you have to do because you love it. Sure, everyone needs a boost now and then but when you discover your purpose and work on that, you'll find there isn't enough time in the day to do all you naturally want to do. Try it!

Setting realistic goals and reviewing them everyday helps tremendously!
Stick a list of goals on your desk,fridge,closet so you are reminded of them most of the time.



Kal..