It has been 3 weeks since the New Year resolutions have started - Are you caving in and giving up ? Are you falling behind on your resolutions? Is your lifestyle taking over your life ? Procrastination is like an impulse to buy chocolate in the grocery line. It is easy to give up in one moment and give into that impulse. Who cares I am too tired today ? I will make up for this tomorrow let me sleep in today Or I have worked really hard this week and I want to rest. These are all common ways the brain tricks you.
It is time to do a monthly checkup and update the scorecard. What checks have you put in place to protect the 'successful you' from the 'procrastinating you' ? Have you setup triggers and checkpoints to help your brain catch itself from slipping?
Catch yourself from Sliding - 8 Action Steps
1. Setup a review Sessions of your goals - In these sessions focus on the goal and work backwards to breakdown the goal into daily/weekly tasks. What do I need to do this week so I can run a Marathon in November ?
2. Divide it into weekly/daily tasks and schedule the tasks in Google Calendar
Ex: 1. Running 3 times at 7 PM on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
2. Making Sales call at 2 PM on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday
3. Quiet Time
Schedule 2, 5 or 10 minutes of quiet time everyday(preferably in the morning) - you can use calm.com to get into a meditative zone. The goal is to experience silence. The golden hour talks about this
4. Get Enough Sleep
Whether you go to bed early or late, try to be well rested. Lack of sleep creates tiredness, impatience, frustration and generally causes indiscipline which will lead you to fall back on your goals.
5. Fighting Procrastination
Don’t hide behind the false protection of procrastination. Put this flawed tactic aside and engage with the world around you. Avoiding people, tasks and life under the false pretense of autonomy, perfection or feeling in control will leave you with broken dreams and missed opportunities. Make your life as relevant and meaningful as possible. We will talk more about this nasty habit in future posts. In a nutshell fight the impulse to give up on a task and start it now for atleast 15 min.
6. Visualize your progress -This is the best kept secret. All high achievers practice some form of this.
7. 25 min Work Cycles - Keep a timer and for every 25 minutes of work take a break for 5 min. As your concentration increases you can increase this time upto 55 min.
8. Keep your Word - Keep all promises you make to yourself. Discipline of doing the tasks you set for yourself will leave you with a very happy and fulfilled life.
It is time to do a monthly checkup and update the scorecard. What checks have you put in place to protect the 'successful you' from the 'procrastinating you' ? Have you setup triggers and checkpoints to help your brain catch itself from slipping?
Catch yourself from Sliding - 8 Action Steps
1. Setup a review Sessions of your goals - In these sessions focus on the goal and work backwards to breakdown the goal into daily/weekly tasks. What do I need to do this week so I can run a Marathon in November ?
2. Divide it into weekly/daily tasks and schedule the tasks in Google Calendar
Ex: 1. Running 3 times at 7 PM on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
2. Making Sales call at 2 PM on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday
3. Quiet Time
Schedule 2, 5 or 10 minutes of quiet time everyday(preferably in the morning) - you can use calm.com to get into a meditative zone. The goal is to experience silence. The golden hour talks about this
4. Get Enough Sleep
Whether you go to bed early or late, try to be well rested. Lack of sleep creates tiredness, impatience, frustration and generally causes indiscipline which will lead you to fall back on your goals.
5. Fighting Procrastination
Don’t hide behind the false protection of procrastination. Put this flawed tactic aside and engage with the world around you. Avoiding people, tasks and life under the false pretense of autonomy, perfection or feeling in control will leave you with broken dreams and missed opportunities. Make your life as relevant and meaningful as possible. We will talk more about this nasty habit in future posts. In a nutshell fight the impulse to give up on a task and start it now for atleast 15 min.
6. Visualize your progress -This is the best kept secret. All high achievers practice some form of this.
7. 25 min Work Cycles - Keep a timer and for every 25 minutes of work take a break for 5 min. As your concentration increases you can increase this time upto 55 min.
8. Keep your Word - Keep all promises you make to yourself. Discipline of doing the tasks you set for yourself will leave you with a very happy and fulfilled life.
