I wanted to get this blog post up yesterday but instead I surfed the Web, read a little bit, oh and don’t forget stared at my ceiling for about 30 minutes wondering what I wanted to do; all the while knowing that writing this was on my to do list. That’s when it really hit me, and a problem I think most people struggle with to some degree, myself included… Procrastination.

Why is it that we procrastinate though? No one really wants to put things off that they know need to get accomplished; whether it be schoolwork, or a project at work, or even something in our lives personal lives such as paying a bill or contacting someone to set up an appointment. But nevertheless, we end up 2 weeks later still haven’t accomplished that task that realistically would’ve only taken ten to fifteen minutes to finish. (such as writing this blog post) But eventually we muscle through it, we exert the energy required to do the task and instantly… we feel a sense of relief.

Doing the task itself isn’t what stresses us out or worries us generally, but when we dwell on thinking about what we need to do suddenly we seem to have a series of insurmountable tasks ahead of us. I remember in college taking finals never bothered me, but waiting for it did. Every minute drawing closer to the exam time was another minute of worry wondering if I had studied enough or how much more cramming I could do. Once the exam was over though, whether I bombed it or felt like I passed with flying colors, I was instantly relieved to be done with it.

Putting things off causes us to fixate on it longer thus causing more stress, more worry, and ultimately hindering our potential for complete happiness at that moment in time. So how do we overcome this? Being a chronic procrastinator earlier in my life, one thing that helped me immensely was something I dubbed the procrastination challenge. Simply put, take 7 days of your life, maybe this upcoming week perhaps, and do not put ANYTHING off. If someone asks you to clean the kitchen do it, right then and there, no matter how tired you are or how much you don’t want to do it. If you see a bill on the counter, pay it at that moment, most companies have 24 hour call centers to pay bills or websites where it doesn’t matter what time it is, but just don’t put it off! On the flip side though pick a few things you want to do, maybe learn a new language, pick up an instrument, or start a new book, I challenge you to do it right now. If it is physically impossible to do something exactly when you think about it set a reminder at the earliest time you can do it and don’t put it off past that. Such as thinking how you need to call a relative but it is 1 am please let them sleep and call them the next morning. Or even better yet shoot them an email right away and let them know you’ll be calling. That accountability will naturally force you to call them the next morning instead of putting it off any longer. This week you will be busier than probably the last three weeks combined, but you won’t feel that way, you will have a constant sense of accomplishment, knowing that you have nothing nagging at your mind.

I really do think this challenge could hugely help everyone if they actually take the initiative do to it, which I assume most people reading this will look at it and go, “Gee! What a neat idea, maybe he’s right” and then never actually push themselves to do it. But if you are one of the people that stepping up and pushing yourself, please leave a comment with your opinions/results of it.

Good luck if you decide to attempt it!