Think of the Consequences and Make Efficiency Mandatory

Every person has his own reasons why he can’t accomplish his tasks in a timely manner. Some people blame laziness, some stress, and still others blame other people. The blame game is probably one of the oldest mental traps in existence, because a person finds some level of “rationalization” by blaming something or someone when he is unable to finish something that he was supposed to do.

Before you can objectively think of the consequences of not doing something in a timely manner, you must first examine your long-term perspective of consequences first. Studies have shown that a person’s actual perspective is far more important than other factors, such as one’s level of education or even cultural background. This simply means that if we get right down to the core of procrastination, you are solely responsible, and not anything else. Your personal beliefs dictate your actions with regards to accomplishing obligations or responsibilities.

After examining the consequences of doing/not doing things, it is also helpful if you examine your core beliefs regarding time management. It’s easy to say that you believe that “time is gold,” but how do you actually manage time in real life? How do you value time? How do you usually make use of time throughout the day, from the time that you wake up until it is time to sleep again?

You might want to write down the stuff that you discover about yourself during your soul-searching. It is important to write things down as they come, because this can give you immense power over the beliefs that may be holding you back. Being casually aware of some negative beliefs is one thing, but being able to write down the specifics of those beliefs is a completely different proposition.

When you write down a belief, you will be able to examine it up close, and take it apart/modify it if needed. So again, never underestimate the power of analyzing your beliefs. This just might be your ticket to successfully beating down procrastination for good. Efficiency is the twin brother of personal progress. You can never be truly successful in life if you do not learn how to be efficient. The easiest way to become more efficient when working on responsibilities is to concentrate or focus on one thing at a time.

This might sound like “no-brainer”, but I invite everyone to take a look at the work culture of today. Are companies telling their employees to focus on just one thing? Not really. Multi-tasking is encouraged, and we have split-screen computers to prove that this type of thinking has been around for a long time, and is considered a positive thing in the workplace.

However, the amount of stress in a modern workplace is also a testament to how multi-tasking has negatively affected people since it became a fairly popular concept. I’m not here to tell you to stop multi-tasking, because that may well be impossible. We cannot deny the reality that people routinely compress their time to “accomplish more” through multi-tasking. This is today’s reality. But it doesn’t have to apply to you. If you allow yourself to sink into the trap of trying to accomplish a million things in one fell swoop, you will end up stressed, drained, and anxious about all the things that you weren’t able to accomplish.

It is a proven fact that the list of things that we must/can do is limitless. The list of personal responsibilities will always renew itself on a daily basis. That is a fact of life, and we cannot just tell life to slow down because we don’t feel like meeting our responsibilities. It is highly unlikely that people will accomplish everything at once, because the mind is also incapable of focusing on a multitude of things at once. So, in the end, if you want to become truly successful in accomplishing high-priority responsibilities, you really need to learn how to focus on one thing at a time.

So, when you are working on something, you must learn to block everything else so you can pour your energy and focus on one thing alone. This will ensure that you will be able to do your best, and you won’t have to repeat things anymore, because you were able to give ample effort and time to each of your responsibilities. Focusing on one thing alone may not be the most attractive suggestion to people who like to “work with their hair on fire.” And I don’t blame them; our culture encourages this type of kamikaze approach to accomplishing stuff. But where has it gotten us, really?

If you can learn to really focus on the things that you have to do, you will also develop a genuine understanding that you cannot do two things at once in an effective manner. You can only do one thing effectively, and the rest of the stuff that you have to do will have to wait. This is also the reason why it is very important to always prioritize your tasks. If you prioritize your tasks, and you focus on the things that will bring the highest return, you will always be on top of your game. And that is definitely an undeniable fact.