How To Kick Procrastination In The Balls

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We all have stuff that we want to get done.  Stuff that we NEED to get done. . .

But we put it off.

Either what we perceive as “needing” to get done really doesn’t have to be done or we are operating under a false assumption that our time to complete the task is unlimited.

As I touched on recently in my Return Of The Warrior post, YOU ARE GOING TO DIE.  I don’t know when and neither do you, but the fact of your eventual demise is inescapable.   And it is the unpredictability of the end that should spur you to action more than anything.

“No one can confidently say that he will still be living tomorrow.” ~ Euripides

So what do you do?  Walk around in a sandwich board proclaiming the end of the world?  Of course not.  But what you can do is remove the clutter of your “obligations” and implement action tactics for the tasks that remain.

Clear The Clutter

Make a list of all of the stuff swimming around in your head that “needs” to get done that you are not doing.  Now get medieval on the list and scratch off at least half of it.  80% would be better, as we know from the Pereto Principle that 80% of our results come from only 20% of our actions.  Get brutal and whittle that list down to the 20% that really matters.

But chopping the venerable To-Do list into a pint sized version of itself is not enough.  You have to drop those old items out of your psyche, not just off of the damned list.  Burn the list, tear it up into tiny pieces, put it in a bottle and throw it in the ocean. . . what ever ritual or symbol of letting go that works for you is just fine.  Or you could just (stop being a little bitch and) simply forget about them.

Take Action

For the items that remain, it’s time to get busy.  Set ‘em up and knock ‘em down.  But we need to exert some leverage to ensure that we take action.  Often our lack of action is due to a lack of consequences.  What really happens if you don’t do “X”?  Usually the answer is that nothing happens, which is why it keeps getting put off.  Get some leverage over yourself with these tactics:

Public humiliation.  Announce to the world what you will be doing.  And your “world” could be as small as those who live in your house with you.  But if you’re a shut-in who lives with no family or roommates like myself (ok, my beloved golden retriever Coda is here but he doesn’t give a damn if I’m out there slaying dragons or sitting on the couch in a beer soaked haze), you can harness the internet for your healthy dose of public humiliation.  This is what I’ve done with the July Goal Duel with Dave Damron.  But you don’t need to run a blog to garner some Internet based motivation – there are various online forums and social media outlets that you can use for the same effect.  Hell, post what you are going to do on my Facebook wall – I’ll be sure to mock you if you fail.

Pay the price.  In Basic Training what happens if the Drill Sergeant looks in your locker and your socks and t-shirts aren’t dress-right-dress?  Your locker gets tossed by said Drill Sergeant in dramatic fashion and you now must pay the price of time, energy, push ups, and embarrassment involved with putting all of your Uncle Sam issued shit back in its proper place.  The “price” can come in many currencies, including cold hard cash.  You want some motivation to get shit done?  Write a check to an organization that you HATE – and write it for an amount that stings.  If you’re in favor of gun control, write a check to the National Rifle Association.  If you are Pro-life, write a check to the abortion clinic down the street.  Now give that check to someone you trust and instruct them to mail that check to the hated organization if you fail to do what you say you are going to do.  Motivated yet?

Carrot instead of stick.  As human beings we are motivated by either avoiding pain or seeking pleasure.  And in my experience it is the desire to avoid pain that is the greater motivator.  But maybe I’m wrong.  Maybe you’re more motivated by rainbows and butterflies than cattle prods and water boarding.  Who am I to judge?  I judge on only one thing – results.  Did the method you selected to move you to action work?  If so, then I don’t care if it was carrot, stick, or fairy dust – I only care that the job got done.  The bottom line is that you must figure out what works for you and then consistently apply that method.

Imagine if every time you failed to get something done on time, the crazy looking chic in the pic at the beginning of this post crept up behind you and kicked you in the balls (figuratively speaking of course for the ladies reading this).  That’s the kind of leverage you have to get on yourself to take action.  Extreme? Perhaps.  Effective?  Try it and find out. . . what have you got to lose?

What strategies and tactics do you use to take action and break free of procrastination?  Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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