How to Stop Procrastinating

Everyone knows the danger of procrastination. We've all heard it before; if we don’t stop procrastinating, sooner or later we’ll turn everything into "tomorrow’s task" and it will continue indefinitely until it's completely forgotten and forsaken in the end.

This post is for the lazy people out there like me who finally realize that there is a dire need to stop procrastinating once and for all, or live an eternal life as an under-achiever, but who are still having trouble taking action. These few steps will help you move away from procrastination and make progress towards taking action.

#1 Make it a conscious choice.

Are you procrastinating consciously or subconsciously? If you are doing it subconsciously, it has become your habit already; your everyday life is an adaptation of Bruno Mars’ lazy song – not good. What you need to do: Make procrastination your conscious choice.

Make your decisions in advance, well before it is time to do it. For example: Remind yourself that you’ll need to do what-you-need-to-do in 5 hour’s time (or in a day’s time, etc.), then ask yourself if you would like to just go ahead and do it at the intended time, or would you prefer to delay it to a later date or time.

If you want to choose to postpone, go ahead. I’m not saying it’s wise to choose to procrastinate, but it is wiser to choose consciously than to succumb helplessly to it. This way, you’re at least fully aware that you’re doing it out of your own freedom of choice, and just as easily, you can choose consciously NOT to procrastinate (when you're ready).

#2 Eliminate excuses.

If you are constantly putting things off because you have an endless list of excuses, then you need to raise your level of consciousness in order to adopt a behavior that accepts only sensible reasons as the cause of your decision in procrastinating, and not let mindless excuses dictate your decision.

You may think it’s not as important as it seems so you could just delay, but do you really have something else more important to do right now? I bet you don’t. Use your reason in determining what is more important and focus your attention on it; everything else is a distraction.

You may think it’s not worth the trouble to do it immediately, so therefore you choose to postpone. But will postponing be worth it? i.e. If you procrastinate, will the troubles that is created from procrastination itself be worth it? At best you’ll delay it to a later date, but you’ll still have to deal with it anyway; at worst you’ll never achieve anything and be a failure for life. So is procrastinating really worth it?

#3 Shift your mindset.

When you’re negative, it’s easy to procrastinate. Everything is perceived in a negative light; outstanding outcomes are seen as mediocre results; wonderful opportunities are seen as deadly threats, and just about all good things are seen as nothing, and nothings seen as bad things. All these can lead to procrastination.

Shift your perspective and change your mindset. Be positive, not the "Oh… everything’s so wonderful, life’s so beautiful" kind of ignorant positivity, just the kind that decides to look past negativity and take action. "An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Don’t think what you’re going to succeed? Don’t think it’ll be worth it? Don’t feel like doing it? Do it first, think about all that later. You can’t be sure it’s impossible until you take the first step, you can’t be sure that you’ll fail until you make an attempt, you can’t be sure it’s not worth it until you try it, and you can’t be sure you won’t like it until you do it.

#4 Determine what needs to be done.

When you don’t know what to do, it’s easy to put it off. It can be like, "I want to start a new project that can supplement my existing income" or "I want to get out of debt and stay out of debt" but I don’t know what to do so I’m not going to do anything until I know what to do.

Do you see the problem?

You don’t know what to do so you don’t do anything. But if you don’t do anything, you’re never going to know what to do - it’s an endless loop of doom. Don’t trap yourself in that. In this situation, instead of putting them off, you should get busy and do everything it takes to find out what needs to be done so you can get to where you want to be.

Instead of thinking "I don’t know how to do this", start thinking "Where can I learn how to do this?". In the process of learning and determining what needs to be done, it is a ‘do’ in itself and you’re no longer procrastinating.

A word of caution: Don’t go bonkers trying to determine what needs to be done. As mentioned previously in my planning post: Whatever your plans are, it will need to be dynamic to work so forget the details, just layout a general direction and proceed to the next step.

#5 Take action.

You know this, I know this, we all know this. As soon as we start taking action, we stop procrastinating. The first 4 steps gear you towards taking action, and this step is the crucial one – it all boils down to whether you take action or not. Sad but true, many fail here; even the smartest, brightest and those with much potential for success can fail because they didn’t take action.

The chain of preparation has led you from choosing consciously NOT to procrastinate, to the elimination of all excuses, to the shifting of your mindset to a "do-first-and-we’ll-see-what-happens-later" attitude and down to determining what needs to be done. There’s simply no need to think anymore at this point; just ride the wave, work your muscles and do what you need to do.

• Start now, not later
• Do it immediately, not afterwards
• Make it instantly, not in a while
• Execute at once, not soon
• Begin right away because you’re ready

Closing Notes:

Make a conscious decision – regardless of what your decision is. Eliminate all excuses by raising your consciousness. Shift your mindset and decide to do first, make judgments later. Determine what you have to do, especially when you don’t know what to do. Finally, take action and just do it. You've already covered everything else.

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How to Say No

Don't you just hate to use the 'N' word? You want to say no but it's difficult. Difficult because you believe there's a negative consequence in saying no. You fear that it may back-fire on you in future, you fear that they may react negatively or perceive you in a negative light; in the end, you just prefer to say yes than to worry about any of the above.

There are several common reasons on the surface that could explain why you find it hard to say 'No'.

#1 You feel guilty all the time.

You don't want to appear selfish and you don't want to appear like you're not helpful. You feel that it's your social responsibility to say yes to your friends and it's your professional responsibility to say yes to your boss or colleagues.

If this is why you find it difficult to say no, then ask yourself if that's true.

• Is it true that just because you're saying no, you're not a helpful person? Haven't you already help them so many times in the past which more than qualifies you as a helpful person?

• Is it true that it's your responsibility to help your friends, family, boss or colleague? Or is it their responsibility to help themselves to begin with and they are just dumping their responsibilities onto you?

Realize that if it's not your problem and not something you like to deal with, it's your right to say 'No' because you have no obligation to say 'Yes'. You have the freedom to choose consciously to say yes, but that's only if you really want to.

#2 You don't have a good reason to say 'No'.

Just admit it. Sometimes, we feel lazy and just don't want to do anything. Saying no becomes difficult because laziness is not exactly a concrete reason for us to say 'No'; it'll just make us look bad.

If this is your case, ask yourself if there's any valid reason to say yes.

If the request is important; a matter of life-and-death, I believe you would've said yes because the importance of the circumstances transcends your laziness. But if what they're requesting is not exactly a matter of life-and-death, you shouldn't worry what they'll think when you say "Nah… I'm feeling lazy."

Come on, do you seriously think that people don't know you're a lazy bum by now? If you have any real friends they'll know you're lazy. So there's no need to hide, just tell them the truth. If it's something unimportant that will not matter in 5 years or even in 5 weeks, it's not going to be a big deal for anybody.

Do you remember the last time somebody turned you down on a small and unimportant request? Of course not; no one does.

Okay, now we go into the real stuff. If you know it in your heart that the answer is 'No', here are some difficult people to say no to and how you can say no to them:

(1) THE AUTHORITY

The authority can mean your boss, a senior colleague or a person of a higher circumstantial rank. This is usually someone who intimidates you, so saying 'no' naturally can be difficult (especially when you're not on very comfortable terms with them so to speak).

So if you need to take 'soft' approach, start with a sincere apology when you reject or decline their request, offer a concise explanation because they'll need it, and end your explanation with an offer for a possible solution. Examples as below:

• "I'm really sorry but I cannot say yes to this now, I'm up to my nose with work and I really need to take a break. If it's not urgent, can I get back to this later?"

• "I'm really sorry but I'm not able to take this up now, I've several other reports with deadlines closing in fast. But looking at this, I do have someone in mind who might be able to get this done, would that help?"

• "I'm sorry, the current circumstances does not allow me to do this. I'm in a middle of something important that needs my utmost focus. Do you need me to get someone else to handle this for you?"

• "I'm sorry but I'll have to say no, I'm a little stretched too thin right now and I'm worried if I take this on I might not be able to do a good job. Can I get back to you on when I'll be able to take this on? Just need to check my schedule."

If you have a better reason or a better solution in mind, by all means, use it. The key though, is to be honest and sincere. Seniors can spot a junior's honesty and sincerity; make no mistake about that. Once your rejection has been accepted gracefully by the other party, end the conversation with a: "Thanks for your understanding, much appreciated."

Again; honesty and sincerity is of utmost importance. Be grateful that "the authority" has just accepted your rejection: they came out as the bigger person by letting you off the hook. So say thank you and mean it!

(2) THE PUSHER

The pusher is someone who always has a personal agenda in getting you to say 'Yes'. It could be they're trying to make you do something for them or they're trying to sell you something, etc. They push because they think they can make you bend over if they push hard enough.

The key is to stand firm and reject them confidently: a short "No, thank you." would do.

They may follow up with a "Why Not?"

If you have a solid reason, by all means go for it. But if you don't have one, don't worry. You don't owe them an explanation and you can repeat your answer without answering their question, "No thanks, I really want to pass."

However, my personal favorite (when I don't have a solid reason) is to always tell them: "I'm NOT going to make up excuses and lie to you. I'm going to say no, as I've said before and I hope you can understand. Can we change subjects?"

That's a very useful line. The key is to say it with total conviction, don't raise your voice, don't appear confrontational, and don't show the slightest hint of fear or uncertainty. I'll usually focus my intonation on the question, and show just a slight tone of irritation. They'll usually get the message and stop pursuing.

"A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble." -- Mahatma Gandhi

It will take some time to muster sufficient courage to say that – if you are the type that hates even healthy debates or rational confrontations. But I assure you that mastering the courage to say 'No' will help you go a long way in life: The more you say "Yes" to the things you don't want, the more you say "No" to the things you do want.

Read that last sentence again and think about it.

(3) THE PULLER

The puller is the opposite of the pusher. Instead of pushing, they get on your guilt-nerves. Sometimes they're so good you just can't be sure if they're doing it intentionally or if they're doing it subconsciously.

Either way, it sucks if you have a weak spot for guilt. They'll usually ask, then beg, then try to make themselves appear as desperate as ever and it kills you to say 'No' to a helpless friend.

Dig into your memory, "Pullers" are creatures of habits. You can always remember previous similar occasions when they asked, then begged, then appeared desperately in need of your help. They also usually prey on those who always say 'yes' to them!

So if you've already said 'yes' a few times to a "Puller", you're only digging a bigger and bigger grave for yourself. Shucks!

• Again, it might be helpful if you are courageous enough to say: "Gee Paul, I've helped you with ten other things before, and every time you come back asking for more help. I'm not responsible for your problems you know, I'd love to help you once in awhile but I've got my own problems to deal with too. I'm going to have to say 'No' this time. Sorry, but I'm really busy."

• And if you're not that straightforward with your words, you can always try "Hey Paul, I hate to say no but I gotta say this is really a bad time as I'm in the middle of some issues that I need to deal with. Can you look after your problems first and I'll give you a call once I'm done with mine and have time to help you with yours?"

And here's a very important tip, never commit yourself. These pullers would usually start a conversation with a "What are you doing tonight?" or "this weekend?" or "later?"

NEVER, EVER SAY 'NOTHING'. Always assume that they need help and ask them "Is there something you want me to do? I can't promise you I can do it, but what's up?"

It may catch them off-guard and they may quickly say "Nah... I was just calling to check... bla, bla, bla…"

But if they've got the cheek, they might just put out their request openly and you may have to learn how to muster sufficient courage to tell them square in the face that you don't appreciate constantly having to help them by sacrificing your own time.

I've a "friend" who has got lots of cheek to ask for everything he wants from me, and I really told him off – after 1 and 1/2 years that is, so you can imagine how far I went. Just didn't appreciate friends as liabilities, don't think anyone would either :)

Closing notes:

To put it simply, saying "No" requires some courage, but it shouldn't be that difficult. Using a combination of confidence, certainty and detachment from the false sense of responsibility to say 'yes', it should be as easy as saying "Hi" - a single syllable response, with no emotions involved.

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How to solve any problems

This is a simple guide on how to solve any problems, old or new, based on what I’ve observed and learned in the course of solving some of life’s inescapable problems – Financial, Health, Individual, Relationship, etc.

Every once in awhile, we come head-on with a foreign problem that requires more than just recalling the known solution because there is no memory or experience to be drawn upon: It's simply a new problem that we've not dealt with before and the following tips may very much help you overcome it :)

#1 State the problem. Not all problems are problems - even if the initial 'symptoms' of the situation tends to suggest it. Take a step back and re-examine the situation and perhaps you’ll realize that it actually isn't a problem. If there’s a problem, state it: What is the problem?

A problem only exists when there is a difference between what it is currently and what you want it to be. If it is exactly what you want it to be, then there’s no problem. If you don’t know what you want, figure that out first, otherwise there’s no problem either.

#2 Weigh the worthiness of the problem. If there is in fact a problem, is it worthy of your attention? Does it necessarily need to be solved? Sometimes we have this tendency to sort all problems whenever we meet them, without weighing if it’s worth the effort.

And when the problem proves to be persistent, we become frustrated, stressed and upset. All these are unnecessary if you know that it’s not worth it to begin with. But if there’s fruitful reward (greater than the effort it takes to solve the problem) at the end to be savored, then that’s a different story altogether.

#3 Get creative. Creative people have no problems solving problems. Give them a problem and they’ll break it down, tear it apart, reassemble it and repackage it into an opportunity that they can actually seize and benefit from.

We’ve all experienced the joy and exhilarating feeling of solving a problem, so a problem CAN actually motivate you – IF you are creative. Take a step back, look at the problem again, is there a solution that you can come up with (create) easily at first thought?

If you consider yourself somewhat creative, capitalize on it and look at the problem from all sorts of different perspectives to see if there’s a different root or a different cause of the problem. Only through identifying the right roots can the right solutions be found.

#4 Don’t focus on just one solution. We (as in humans) have this habit of preferring to reuse a solution that has worked for us before, and stereotype every problem based on similar problems we’ve faced in the past.

When we realize that the problem we are currently facing is indeed "different" and the "assumed-solutions" are not effective, we panic because we believe we’ve hit a dead-end. The lack of creativity and imagination then harvests negativity which is counter-productive.

Again, use your imagination. Come up with as many possible strategies of solving the problem. Remember those times when you’ve heard or read somewhere that problems provide learning opportunities? Well, now’s the time to learn so max out your brain juice.

#5 Eliminate. Your quest of finding the right solution is a game of elimination: Which solutions didn’t work? Dump them out the window. Which ones worked half-way? Improvise. Slowly and surely, you will be able to eliminate what does not work, and arrive at a solution that does.

If you don’t think you have the patience to persist that far, return to point #2 :)

#6 Divide and conquer. Problems can be broken down into smaller bits and pieces. This enables us to solve the easiest parts first. Split them into categories and you can try to solve each part one at a time – depending on what your priorities are.

A financial problem such as trying to get out of debt is a good example. You’ll have credit card debts, auto-loans, mortgage loans, personal loans and what not.

Financial advisors will most probably suggest that you take care of high interest debts first (credit cards) as these are urgent in nature. Afterwards, you can work on personal loans which are usually smaller and easier to sort than the larger auto-loans or mortgage loans.

Not all problems can be broken down, but most complex problems that are difficult to solve can. So take advantage of the ‘Divide and Conquer’ strategy, and take one small step at a time.

#7 Build self confidence. The lack of self-confidence causes us to question a lot of things. This leads to self-doubt, skepticism, and worst of all – INACTION. Doing nothing and going nowhere means the problem is definitely going to stay.

Confident people on the other hand are able to solve problems because they take action. They are fully aware of their own capabilities and fully conscious of how they can convert those capabilities into results.

Identify what you can do; and do what you’re good at. If you lack certain knowledge or skills, courageously admit it. If what you lack is ESSENTIAL in solving the problem, then acquire it. Self confidence empowers you to do what it takes and obtain what you need in order to get to where you want to be.

"It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer."
- Albert Einstein -

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How to be more productive DURING WEEKENDS!

Are you one of those people who always complained "I wish the weekend were longer so I could do more things" ? Or "I wish I can get more things done during the weekend" ?




Well, I was. The fact though was that I never thought about how I could best use my time; I just whined. Why? Because I didn’t knew how!

Last weekend, I implemented a simple idea and it turned out to be one of my most productive weekends ever!

And since it was so liberating and useful, I thought I should share it. Here’s how you can do more things / get more things done during weekends:

(1) Eat healthy.

This is the most important rule I’ve learnt. Drink plenty of water so smooth blood circulation enables your brain nerves to function properly. You’ll also be able to rationalize and make decisions more efficiently.

I often experience improved body/mind coordination and hand/eye dexterity as well just by going through a 1-day fruit diet. A healthy diet also keeps me energized and thus allowing me to do more work, and work much faster.

(2) Sleep early so you can rise early.

This is the second most important rule I’ve learnt. By sleeping early, I’ll be able to get the kind of quality rest that I need so my body and mind can perform at an optimum level.

Sleeping early allows me to rise early, and that’s a perfect start to the weekend: The cool morning breeze blowing at my face just feels absolutely revitalizing; the morning air is also clean and refreshing, filling up my lungs with new oxygen that instantly gets my intellectual engine running.

Sitting down at the coffee table facing my front lawn, I would make myself a hot cup of black mocha, place it beside my laptop and begin working. I found that the first 2 hours after waking up are my most productive working hours and since then, I have been sleeping and rising early every weekend.

Quoting one of Benjamin Franklin’s advice: "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise"

Well said, sir.

(3) Plan your weekend activities.

If you want to schedule what you are going to do, you must first know what you want to do. Create a plan that lists all the activities you want to do but had been putting off for far too long.

Think about what you want from all aspects of life. Incorporate the most important things that you want to achieve into your schedule, take mine for example:

- A healthy lifestyle – Exercise/Work outs, cooking a healthy meal, reading, etc.

- An industrious career – Blogging, reviewing my investment portfolio and looking through new corporate annual reports, etc.

- A clean and neat living environment – House cleaning tasks, home improvement, and other household chores, etc.

- A leisurely lifestyle – Shopping, TV, social gathering, and other entertainment activities.

Depending on how your dream lifestyle is, plan your weekend accordingly.

(4) Schedule your plan.

Next, schedule your plan so you can look at the best way of turning your dream lifestyle into your reality, and you do this via a schedule.

How to Schedule? Good question.

I was once the type of person that never wanted to know how to schedule. I simply never had a schedule because I didn’t want to get tied down by one. I always preferred having the ‘freedom’ of doing whatever I want, whenever I want it. Little did I know, this perception of ‘freedom’ was completely inaccurate!

While it is theoretically correct to say that I have the time to do a lot of things because I didn’t have schedule to keep to, the reality wasn’t so. I actually spent most of my time thinking what to do next, and ending up doing nothing much except continuing “thinking” of things to do… never actually doing it -- what a complete waste of time.

I later realized that a schedule does not tie me down at all -- since I’m the one who’s in control of my own schedule. A schedule actually provides me ‘freedom’ because it allows me to do whatever I want and plan a time for it. I simply decide what to do, squeeze the activity into a timeslot and voila! I’m free to do it.

To give you a rough picture of how your schedule can look like, please refer to my other blog post where I shared: My recent weekend schedule. You can use it as an example and begin drafting the kind of lifestyle you want. Simply schedule it down and LIVE IT!

For more beginner's tips about scheduling, you can also see: Tips on How to Schedule.

(5) Follow the schedule and evaluate the schedule.

Planning is only going to be as good as execution. If you can’t follow your plan, all the plans in the world wouldn’t make a difference. Take action and stick to your schedule.

I never had a schedule before and having to follow one is quite tricky to be honest. If you’re like me, here are some tips to help you stick to your schedule: How to Stick to a Schedule.

We also need to know that not all plans work. Plenty will fail and most schedules will NOT give you the form of satisfaction you want. Change your schedule when necessary and keep tweaking it until you find the most fulfilling one.

Look back at your old schedules, and see what you would like to change or which activities you might want to cut out. After all, you are trying to schedule in accordance to your dream lifestyle.

Closing Notes:

To increase the productivity of your weekend, first adopt a healthy lifestyle and get plenty of rest ahead of the weekend, so you shall have the strength, stamina and energy to perform your desired activities. Ensure that you have your activities planned out and proceed with scheduling. Follow the schedule and make changes whenever necessary. You will soon find that your weekend has a lot more to offer than just sitting around lazing all day.

"Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions." – Benjamin Franklin.

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