MindThe Beginner

As part of probloggers 31 days to a better blog I’m giving the “list post” a go. Ten ways to get the all rolling or in other words, how to beat procrastination and start doing what you want to do. Some of these tips are in themselves great for procrastinating though as I’ll comment in the tips.

• Look at what you are doing right now (reading this blog most likely) Is this what you want to be doing? Think about what you should be doing right now, and not only think it, now go do it.

• Seeing as most of us have some sort of Internet addiction, disconnect your Internet and see how much time you can save. Tis means however that you can’t read any more blogs. It might seem a bit strange for a blogger to advise you to stop reading but it’s exactly what I should do if I were honest about this. is reading a blog going to get you where you want to be? It might contain a few pointers yes, but in the end it all comes down to yourself.

• Install a program like “Rescuetime” to keep track of the time you spend on your pc. If you’re anything like me you’ll be spending the better half o each day looking at the screen. It’s only logical that keeping track of your computer-time is the best way to find those time drainers and kick the habit.

• A tip I gladly borrow from “Getting things done” but that works brilliantly. Is there a small task you keep pushing forward but that can be done within two minutes? Perhaps answer a certain mail, place a quick phone call or pay a bill. If you can do something in two minutes or less, do it immediately.

• A less logical way to help overcome procrastination and start fresh is clean up. Declutter your workspace, get rid of anything that is not essential to the task at hand. This in itself can be procrastination though. Any time I don’t feel like doing something I’ll start cleaning. The closer a deadline gets, the cleaner my home is. If you keep things clean however, cleaning up won’t take more than a few minutes (perhaps even just two?) so it defeats itself as a means of procrastinating.

• Organize your deadlines and tasks. Only a clear system to know when you should do what can do this for you. Get a whiteboard on your door, make constant use of a notebook or even a PDA. Just make sure you always know when your next deadline is and be realistic about them. Concerning deadlines I recommend reading about “Parkinson’s law” and rethinking your deadlines.

• Set goals or as I’ve described them before, get your  own mountains. Be sure that they are yours though. If you don’t know where you are going any road will get you there, but you’ll never know when you’ve arrived. Set small goals for the day, some for the week, a few monthly goals. Always have something you’re heading towards. If you don’t have goals you have a serious problem, your life won’t wait for you to set your goals, every day you don’t spend working on a goal is a day lost. Watch out for procrastination here, making goal lists ust for the sake of it isn’t true goal setting.

• Minimalize everything. As Leo talks about in his brilliant little book “the power of less” it’s all about limiting yourself to the essentials. Think about it for a second, what are the things in your life that really matter? How many things in your head are there because others put them there?

• Be ruthlessly honest about yourself and your intentions. This will certainly help clear your head and your actions. Why do you do what you do? Why do you put things off or react a certain way? More on ruthless honesty can be found in the books of Peter Ralston, especially his book Ancient wisdom, new spirit. Although this book is out of print, if you can get it I highly recommend it!

• The biggest tip of them all: Slow down and take small steps. We’ve all heard about “even the longest journey begins with the first step” but almost no-one actually takes this to heart. We all want our mountaintop but don’t want to hear there is no fast way to get there. Either we are dishonest and lie to ourselves that there is a surefire way to get there instantly (why do you think those self-help books are so popular?) or we are honest and acknowledge that getting to the top will take a lot of steps, one after the other.

Don’t loose your dreams, but be honest about them an honest about yourself. In the end, no-one can get you up that mountain, you’ll have to walk up there yourself. All other people can do is point the way. You’re responsible for your own life.

If you liked this post, please subscribe to my RSS feed and tell others about it. Thank you