Guest Post: Lily on Procrastination

So as Crabby is starting her Vacation and Vacation-like Adventures, she is not leaving you all alone. There will be plenty going on at Cranky Fitness, starting of with some helpful advice from Lily T. on how to avoid procrastination. Crabby has a big problem with this herself, so she really enjoyed this post and hopes you will too. You can find much more from Lily over at her place, Lily Loss Lbs! And now, here's Lily!


Getting Over Procrastination

I am a procrastinator. Many people believe that “laziness and complacency” are at the root of procrastination, but I don’t believe so. However, this is the most common excuse I’ve heard from others as to why they are not actively pursuing weight loss when it is on the top of their wish list. My aunt says that she’s “too lazy” to exercise. My cousin’s girlfriend Jackie says she’s “too lazy” to record food intake.

But there’s nothing “lazy” about these individuals. My aunt has two teenaged daughters, keeps her house clean, and works full time. Jackie also works full time and manages to cook for every picnic and barbeque that we share together. And me? Well, I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I’ve been quite successful with maintaining a blog despite the responsibilities of motherhood and everything else. In reality, I’m quite productive, doing anything but what I’m supposed to be doing.

Living on campus as an undergrad, my room was spotless, which was unheard of to my family back at home. In actuality, I didn’t have a TV to help me avoid studying, so my energies went to cleaning. It’s just that studying was such a chore, that in comparison, cleaning was a joy.

So when others or myself say, “I’m lazy” what we really mean is “I find that particular task way too unappealing and would rather do something else.” And here lies the true problem of a procrastinator. So how do we get ourselves to do what we have to do? Here are a few steps that I have come up with, using how-to books and magazine articles that I have complied on the subject throughout the years.

1. Stop criticizing yourself! We are our biggest critics, and to be honest that’s one sure way to NOT be productive.

2. Identify your obstacles. Are you afraid of failure? Success? Writing it all down will help decrease their power over you. Talking to an “understanding” someone about them helps even more. (Note: don’t talk to someone whom you know will only criticize you and tell you what to do.)

3. Be aware of how you use your time. You can do this by keeping track of how you spend it for a couple of days or weeks.

4. Don’t over commit. Don’t be afraid to say no! If you have too many commitments, you won’t have time for your project.

5. Breakdown your project into manageable pieces. If someone told you to move a mountain, you would have looked at him or her as if they were crazy. Don’t expect to complete a massive project such as weight loss with one fell swoop. Take your project one task at a time, while keeping your ultimate goal in mind.

6. Work on a have-to for at least 15 minutes. You should try to do this the first thing possible everyday. The hardest part of doing anything unpleasant is starting. Tell yourself that you only have to work on your have-to for 15 minutes. If by chance you get into a groove and want to keep working after the 15 minutes, then by all means do it.

7. Make time to play. Write down all the activities that you enjoy and do one at least once every week or even everyday. Schedule it in if you have to. If you don’t, you’ll start resenting your project and start procrastinating with activities that you most likely don’t enjoy as much.

So there you have it. I’m no expert or anything, but I do love those how-to books and magazine articles.