Overcome Procrastination. That Lack of Desire That Hits Us All.
| Tags: Education | Author:It hits us all at some point or another, that looming feeling of no motivation, tiredness, or flat-out laziness. It is a constant challenge and when we fall into the grip of artistic despair, we feel the nagging voice to come back and tell us to finish what we started. Rinse. Repeat.
So how do we overcome procrastination loop? If only there was some magic pill that we could take and breakthrough. Well, aside from caffeine, which is often a good start, would be to stop looking at your art, or anything for that matter, as something you need to be motivated to do. Motivation is a handy tool, but it is only good while it lasts and often fades as a project continues.
If not motivation, then what?
When you want to accomplish anything in life, no matter the task at hand, you have different factors that you must take into account. For some it is necessity, it’s one of the reasons why so many of us go to work every day when they don’t want to. For most, going to a job is necessary to fulfill their living conditions, pay for their house or apartment, cars, food, etc. For others, it might be passion, they just can’t wait to get back to what they do, and this is great, but motivation is often strongly tied to this one and fades quickly on each new project. Some its determination, maybe you want to prove something to someone, or maybe prove something to yourself, but to really overcome procrastination, we will be focusing on the main factor that applies to all of these.
Dedication.
Stay dedicated. Accomplish anything.
Let’s face it, when it comes to working on anything worthwhile, there is always the side of laziness that kicks in. Most of us like to pretend that isn’t a factor, some will even get upset for simply bringing it up, but laziness is a real feeling that affects everyone. Work is work and no matter how much you enjoy it, every now and then you just want to kick back and not do anything, and that’s fine every once in a while, but for many, it’s an everyday routine.
There is nothing wrong with this until it comes to working on succeeding in what you want to accomplish. Laziness is one of the main factors that will hold us back.
If we create schedules and stick to them, you can easily overcome laziness. Even now, I’d rather be out on my deck, kicked back with the grill going. However, if I don’t have the dedication to get these projects done, I wouldn’t have a grill in the first place, let alone, anything to cook on it. Apply your dedication and then relax after the goal has been accomplished.
Sometimes your just too busy to get anything done.
This is probably the number one factor that gets me. Yes, even someone who is writing about these issues has to overcome them as well. Like I mentioned before, it affects us all. I have multiple avenues running right now. There is this website along with the art I post here. I also have Rebel Ape Marketing that is up and running. That’s where I do all my graphic, web, and logo design.
Being stretched so thin, it can be an overwhelming challenge to get anything done. For example, at the time of this writing, many people have noticed I haven’t posted up any new work. It’s not that I’m not doing it, but it’s more than I’ve scheduled in the necessities to get what needs to be done first before I post up more personal work.
If you are going to have multiple income avenues coming in, you must create a schedule and stick to it, otherwise, there are too many distractions to try to overcome without it. To keep track of all my tasks, I currently use Airtable which is basically a fancy spreadsheet app. It takes a bit to get used to, but now that I have, it’s what I use to organize all of my various projects and due dates.
How do I overcome procrastination?
For each person, overcoming procrastination may come in different forms but it’s important to realize where you are spending your most important currency. Time. For me, I’ll be honest, I like naps. However, by eliminating a short, unnecessary nap during the day I will free up one hour each day; that’s 7 hours a week. Also, when you figure in your lunchtimes, most people take an hour, this is often the same for day jobs. How much of that can you use to accomplish your goals that may ultimately save more time when you aren’t tied down every day?
Realize your goals and work toward them.
When it comes to overcoming procrastination, set your goals and spend a little time every day working towards them. It’s important to realize that the changes don’t happen overnight and it’s a series of a lot of smaller events that eventually lead up to big changes. Often times, people are so hard on themselves for not accomplishing their goals in a couple months, or even a year that they give up altogether, but overnight success stories are all over the web, but that’s based on billions of people and there will, of course, be a few lucky individuals within those groups. For the rest of us, we have to put in the time before the success will come. Enjoy the ride and just keep at it, and with that, what you want will follow.
What are your thoughts on procrastination?
What about you? Tell us your story on how you overcome procrastination or laziness. What aspect do you struggle the most with? Is it too much to do? A lack of motivation to complete the projects you want to complete? What have you done to overcome the difficult feeling that we all have to deal with at some time or another? Share your story and let others know what you have accomplished by overcoming that which has been holding you back.
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