Have you ever read tons of books and watched millions of videos telling you how they stopped procrastinating and became more productive? And you still end up putting off things a couple of hours or day before the deadline? And then eventually you realize that you could do better than that?
Well, you’re not alone! I am still trying to be those social media productivity influencers but after a year I am still procrastinating and not living the best version of myself, and I am not proud of it. It gives me a pang of guilt and anxiety everyday and I acknowledge that it is not good for my mental and physical health.
But what can I do? I have been living this kind of routine for almost 10 years and it is so freaking hard to break it. The thing is that I have this feeling in me that I am designed to do greater things and I am not giving my 100% and even less than the bare minimum at my work. However, I keep failing in dragging myself to use my time in the most efficient way possible, and unleash the potential that I have.
At this point in my life I will be completely honest to myself and whoever is reading this. I STILL PROCRATINATE SO BAD. The more that I evaluate myself, the more I learn why I keep doing procrastination. I found one clear answer to this why.
REASON.
The reason why I need to do the task. While reading at my past journal entries I keep writing that I don’t know the reason why I am doing this or that and ended doing those at the last minute because regardless if I do it with low quality or high, I still couldn’t think of what will I get from it.
A lot of people are so goal oriented that they set goals and achieve it on the dot with the best way possible by using their time efficiently aka not procrastinating. And I am truly jealous how they wired their mind that way. Because those people most likely have their reasons even before creating their goals. However, not all people are like them, and as an easy example of those people, take me. Most of the time at work or school I was given tasks and I know that I have to do it for me to get my goal (my salary or degree), but the immediate reason why I have to do it is not tangible and instant to see. What’s going to be my approach to find that missing link between the goal and the task? What would be the paradigm shift towards a better version of myself?
MAKE ONE (though easier said than done) – have a reason. I am going to try this new approach and start creating reason/s of why I am doing such task regardless of how small or big it is. It doesn’t have to be so complicated. Start with the basic ones (you can also try to be extra if that will push you more) but make it as detailed as you can. If it’s a big task, try breaking the reasons into smaller pieces first and later on build the puzzle to see the bigger picture. YOU HAVE TO WRITE IT on a sticky note or wherever place that you CAN EASILY SEE IT. Whether it is a simple or complicated reason, try to make it as rewarding as possible. It will not be an overnight thing but practicing this will eventually make you better at using your time in the long run.
Time is more precious than gold or any other element in this world. It is something you cannot take back once you lost it. Time flies so fast but you do not have to fly faster, you just have to learn how to enjoy the journey. We are given this life with different and unique missions and a deadline so might as well live it at our best.
I don’t have a success story yet but I hope I can revisit this post and make myself proud of becoming a person that uses time efficiently.
Agriwanderist PH 