Informational Articles for 2011+

Are you a habitual procrastinator? This quiz will help you identify areas where you can take action to overcome procrastination today:

- Do you have a filing system for keeping track of your long-term and short-term projects?

- Do you believe that the right atmosphere plays an important role in determining your productivity? Do you try to design work areas so that they help you to stay focused on the task you’re doing now?

- Do you congratulate yourself when you complete a job on time?

- Do you eliminate unnecessary tasks from your daily schedule?

- Are you usually accurate in deciding which jobs can be delayed for a justifiable reason?

It’s really a good idea to probe a little deeper into the subject of Procrastination. What you learn may give you the confidence you need to venture into new areas.

- Do you stay focused on your strengths, rather than constantly worrying about your weaknesses?

Don’t deceive yourself-procrastination is the main reason people fail to live fulfilling and prosperous lives. How do you usually keep yourself moving forward when you would rather put something off? If you answered “no” to any of the above questions, make a commitment to do something about it. The following tips can help you defeat the procrastination monster today:

- Keep a diary of your successes. When you force yourself to move forward to make something happen, write it down. Make a note of how it felt to complete the job successfully. The next time you can’t get started on a hard task, or when you want to give up, open your diary a read about one of your past successes. This can energize you and keep you moving forward.

- When you have difficult assignments, make them team projects if you can. Delegate or outsource the things you dislike or don’t do well. Concentrate on your strengths. Don’t let your weaknesses paralyze you.

- When you complete a hard job, reward yourself. Do you give yourself a reward when you stick with a difficult job and see it through to the end? What things bring you joy? How can you use these things as rewards for jobs completed? Sometimes the best reward is time for rest and recuperation. As Albert Einstein said, “The idle man does not know what it is to enjoy rest.”

- Use your time well. One clear symptom of procrastination is the habit of filling your day with unnecessary work, or work that can be justifiably delayed. Create the right atmosphere at work for staying focused on your priorities. As the English statesman and author Lord Chesterfield said, “The less one has to do, the less time one finds to do it.” Make a list of what you most regret not doing in your life because of the poor decisions you made about how to use your time. There’s only one way to defeat procrastination-Do something about it now.

Don’t limit yourself by refusing to learn the details about Procrastination. The more you know, the easier it will be to focus on what’s important.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, still letting you get the Automated Traffic Blueprints for cheap

I believe that procrastination is the No. 1 cause of stress in our society today. Throughout history, great thinkers have noted the connection between the failure to take action and the feeling of anxiety. The American philosopher William James once said, “Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging of an uncompleted task.”

If you have the habit of putting off tasks you fear-if you tend to avoid situations and events that terrify you-your fears have grown out of proportion. Every time you decide not to do something because you’re afraid of failing, your self-confidence takes another hit. There is only one way to overcome fear-you have to force yourself to do the thing you fear. When you face your fear and do it anyway, your confidence gets a big boost. Soon you will laugh at the imaginary fears that have kept you from becoming all that you can be. And you can do something about it today.

Establish goals. Prioritize. Measure your progress. Ask friends and office mates for feedback. Adjust your goals if necessary. Reward yourself when you finish jobs. If you’re a leader, get procrastinators to encourage each other. Help them overcome their fear of getting things done. Find a mentor to help you overcome your fear. When I have to do the thing I fear, I recite a verse from the Bible: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13)

Now that we’ve covered those aspects of Procrastination, let’s turn to some of the other factors that need to be considered.

Be as truthful as you can in your estimate of how long it will take to do the things you dislike. Many of the tasks we put off are simple ones. They cause an amount of stress in our lives that is altogether out of proportion to the time they require for completion. Think of when it took you much less time to do a dreaded job than you thought it would take. Can you learn something from that experience that could be applied to a task that has been left undone? Research shows that workers waste as much as a third of their workday. These same workers habitually complain about chronic stress caused by not having enough time to finish their jobs. Can you see the connection? The less you accomplish, the more you suffer from the sensation of stress and anxiety.

The only way to get at the root of the problem is by measuring how you spend your time. Keep a log of how much time you spend on things that you don’t need to do. Make a note of the things that could be done more efficiently. Try to do this for one full workday. When you analyze your list, you may be shocked at how much waste has seeped into your workday. Treat those items as a list of wasteful activities that need to be kept in check or completely eliminated. You probably don’t control the cause of all the wasted time you’ve identified. Ask yourself what you can do to eliminate those things that you can control.

As the Mad Hatter said to Alice, “If you knew time as well as I do, you wouldn’t talk about wasting it.”

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, still letting you get the Automated Traffic Blueprints for cheap

In today’s world, it seems that almost any topic is open for debate. While I was gathering facts for this article, I was quite surprised to find some of the issues I thought were settled are actually still being openly discussed.

I’ve been planning to write a novel for the last twenty years. I keep putting it off. Best-selling author John Grisham wrote his first novel while working full-time as an attorney; he was as busy as the rest of us, but he found a way to accomplish his dream. How did he do it? He beat procrastination by forcing himself to get up earlier every morning so he could work on his book before he went to work.

Take this quiz to find out if you need to put an end to procrastination:

- Do you write down your priorities? Do some things seem less urgent when you look at them in the light of your priorities?

- Do you ask yourself which of several tasks is the most important one before you decide what task to tackle next?
- Do you accept full responsibility for missing a deadline, rather than blaming it on forces beyond your control?

- Do you focus on finishing a job on time, rather than looking for excuses to explain why you’re going to miss another deadline?

- Do you make sure people know when not to disturb you?

Is everything making sense so far? If not, I’m sure that with just a little more reading, all the facts will fall into place.

- Do you have a habit of turning off the phone when you need to concentrate completely on a job? Do you focus on the job at hand, rather than fretting over what went wrong in the past?

- When you’ve done your best, do you know when to wrap up a project?-Do you feel that spending more time on it will only keep you from starting your next job?

If you answered “yes” to all of the above questions, congratulations-you’re in John Grisham’s league. If you answered “no” to any of the above questions, pick one and make a commitment to do something about it today. Ask yourself if you have really considered all the consequences of procrastination. Do you want to live with them forever? Do you have a legitimate reason for postponing jobs? And after thinking about these questions, ask yourself if you delay tasks for justifiable reasons-or if you just make excuses to procrastinate. Here’s what I’ve learned to do:

- Always remind yourself that you have as much time as people who do great things.

- Make your best estimate of how much time a task will take.

- Write an inspirational phrase on a 3 x 5 card and use it whenever the procrastination monster pops up.

Shakespeare said, “Thoughts are but dreams till their effects be tried.” You’ve taken the first step to defeat procrastination by reading this article; now take the next step and tackle a job you know you should have started a long time ago. I took my next step this morning-I got up earlier than usual to start my novel.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, still letting you get the Automated Traffic Blueprints for cheap

When most people think of Procrastination, what comes to mind is usually basic information that’s not particularly interesting or beneficial. But there’s a lot more to Procrastination than just the basics.

Enthusiasm is what makes the difference between reaching our goals and giving up before we get started. Thomas Edison said, “If the only thing we leave our kids is the quality of enthusiasm, we will have given them an estate of incalculable value.” Edison’s research laboratory burned to the ground when he was 67. As the fire consumed his world-famous “invention factory,” Edison told his children, “Kids, go get your mother. She’ll never see another fire like this one.” Edison knew that enthusiasm is the best antidote for tragedy, and it’s the most powerful weapon to use in the war against procrastination.

I have learned that my level of enthusiasm has nothing to do with my feelings; my feelings wake up on a different side of the bed every day. To take control of my life, I must choose the way I feel-I can’t let my feelings control me. Can you talk yourself into a positive frame of mind when you’re discouraged? How do you keep yourself motivated? How do you stay focused when a job is tedious? How do you handle failure when your plan isn’t going well?

- Stay away from negative people. Attitudes are contagious-negative people infect us with negative attitudes. Associate with positive thinkers; their self-confidence is contagious, too.

- Schedule difficult tasks for the time of day when your energy is highest. If you haven’t determined the best time for you to tackle the day’s least appealing jobs, try doing them as early as possible.

If you base what you do on inaccurate information, you might be unpleasantly surprised by the consequences. Make sure you get the whole Procrastination story from informed sources.

- Tackle a problem that’s been a thorn in your side. When you get in the habit of making things happen, your enthusiasm goes through the roof. Inactivity is a major cause of depression and anxiety. (On the other hand, you can increase your energy level without eliminating other forces that cause procrastination; teenagers are particularly adept at expending enormous amounts of energy without getting anything done. Always remember that any technique is only effective when used as part of a total strategy.)

When you breeze through a task with particular ease and competence, make a note of the time of day. And ask yourself what other factors might have contributed to making you more productive. When you start to discover a pattern, you will have found how to operate at a higher level every day. And when you identify the time of day when you are usually most efficient, schedule some of your least enjoyable tasks for that time.

We must continue to learn new things as if we were going to live forever, while living each day as if it were the last. Telling myself that “Today is the first day of the rest of my life” doesn’t work for me. If today were the last day of my life, how would I live it? That is the question I ask myself when I must fight against the forces of procrastination.

Always remember that enthusiasm is a choice. Mark Twain said, “Do something every day that you don’t want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain.”

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, still letting you get Free Adsense Websites – every month!

This article explains a few things about Procrastination, and if you’re interested, then this is worth reading, because you can never tell what you don’t know.

The surest way to know that you can do something is to have done it before. When you set daily goals for yourself, you develop the habit of getting things done. When the procrastination demon appears, you know how to force yourself to push ahead because you’ve done it before. If you feel like you’re losing the battle against procrastination, one of the most effective strategies for taking charge of your life is to get in the habit of accomplishing daily goals.

Set a goal every day, and achieve it. It’s easy to get discouraged when your projects don’t seem to be going anywhere. We all need a long-term vision to guide our day-to-day efforts, but many people with high goals develop a negative attitude when they think they’re not making progress. That’s why it’s important to set achievable goals every day. The more goals you achieve, the more positive your attitude will be.

Set weekly and monthly goals. Your short-term goals are milestones that keep you moving toward long-term goals. They help you know if you’re going in the right direction. When a long-term goal seems far away, it’s easy to feel discouraged. Breaking down a large project into smaller segments makes it easier to stay focused. Congratulate yourself when you achieve daily and weekly goals, and give yourself a special reward when you achieve a monthly goal.

It’s important to experience the satisfaction and rewards of successfully completing jobs. When you force yourself to keep moving until you finish a project, it’s easier to get started on the next one. Don’t be surprised if you feel yourself grappling with the drift toward procrastination now and then-it may never go away completely. All successful people learn how to identify the procrastination monster, and they know what to do about it when it threatens:

- Successful people use their time well. When an urgent task threatens to pull them away from what they’re doing, they don’t rush into it just because it seems urgent. They always ask: Which of these two things is higher on my list of priorities?

It seems like new information is discovered about something every day. And the topic of Procrastination is no exception. Keep reading to get more fresh news about Procrastination.

- They turn off the phone from time to time. Can you get more done by leaving a voice message and turning the phone off during certain periods of the day? The telephone is one of the most insidious thieves of our time. It’s urgent but rarely important. It shoves out the less urgent but more important things.

- They keep a log of how they use their time. If they miss a deadline, they plan how to finish the remainder of their work and estimate as accurately as possible when it will be done.

- They develop a routine. They set an objective to accomplish every morning and every afternoon.

- They leave time in their daily schedule for contingencies.

- They always think twice before postponing a task. Successful people know that pushing themselves to accomplish daily goals makes them more likely to achieve long-term goals.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, still letting you get Unlimited Web Hosting from ONLY $1/month

The more you understand about any subject, the more interesting it becomes. As you read this article you’ll find that the subject of Procrastination is certainly no exception.

Procrastinators put off all the hard jobs. But they get stuck in a vicious circle of postponing the easy jobs, too. And the longer they put them off, the harder the jobs are when they finally get around to them. Successful people fight the same war against procrastination that we all face, but they have learned not to give in. They know that procrastination is the cause of many of the problems we face in our daily lives.

Procrastination creates a never-ending cycle of frustration, stress, and defeat. When people learn how to take charge of their lives, their self-esteem improves and their confidence grows. No matter how long you’ve been struggling with the demon of procrastination, you can start to take control of your life today by tackling a job or responsibility you’ve been putting off.

There are many books, online courses, and methods for changing your life and developing your personal and professional skills. I believe that procrastination is the root cause of the majority of problems that people face. Best-selling author Wayne Dyer said: “Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases, and its toll on success and happiness is heavy.”

Take the first step toward a richer life by getting serious about overcoming procrastination. The following quiz will help you identify areas where you can take action today.

1. I have written a list of my life-time goals.

2. I have written a list of my short-term goals (6 months or less).

3. I keep these lists where I can see them; they help me stay focused.

If you base what you do on inaccurate information, you might be unpleasantly surprised by the consequences. Make sure you get the whole Procrastination story from informed sources.

4. I establish priorities; some things that seem urgent are not important when I focus on the big picture. Yes ( ) No ( )
5. Once I’ve made a decision, I don’t worry about whether I made the right decision or not-I just concentrate on getting the job done.

6. I know when to say “no” to avoid taking on too many jobs at once.

7. I live in the present; I focus on what I’m doing now instead of dwelling on what I should have done in the past.

8. When I’ve done the best I can, I know when to wind up a job-spending more time on the same job only keeps me from starting something new.

If you answered “no” to any of the above statements, make a commitment to take corrective action today. Choose one item and do something about it. Don’t move on to the next item until you can truthfully answer “yes” to the previous one. You’ve taken the first step by reading this far; now take the next step and do something you’ve been putting off. If you want to change, you can-the best time is now.

Now that wasn’t hard at all, was it? And you’ve earned a wealth of knowledge, just from taking some time to study an expert’s word on Procrastination.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, who just joined this Free Website Traffic generation site

This interesting article addresses some of the key issues regarding Procrastination. A careful reading of this material could make a big difference in how you think about Procrastination.

Lack of exercise is a well-known cause of chronic fatigue. Research studies have found that of all people who visit doctors to complain about problems of fatigue, only about 20% require medical treatment. What about the other 80%? They suffer from the effects of a sedentary lifestyle-in the overwhelming majority of cases the cause of chronic fatigue is a lack of exercise. And people who complain of chronic fatigue also tend to be victims of procrastination.

When is your energy highest? Why do you think that is? Do you stay depressed for long periods? What foods give you energy? What foods slow you down? What foods and beverages help you sleep better? What foods and beverages rob you of sleep?

- Boost your energy. You’re more likely to tackle the jobs you’ve been putting off when you feel energized. The best way to increase your energy level is by exercising regularly. More energy in your life will make the tedious jobs less tedious because you become better at getting them done. The more energy you have, the faster you get them done and the better you feel about yourself.

Hopefully the information presented so far has been applicable. You might also want to consider the following:

- Monitor your habits and lifestyle. I am working on this article at a stand-up desk. Winston Churchill, Ernest Hemingway, and Thomas Wolfe are just a few of the writers who discovered that they worked faster and better while standing. Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence on a stand-up desk that he designed for himself. A stand-up desk keeps my posture right-and it keeps me focused on my work without squirming around as I tend to do when I’m seated for extended periods of time. A high stool lets me alternate between sitting and standing. I’m amazed at how my productivity and concentration have increased since I started to use a stand-up desk.

- Be grateful you have the opportunity to do the hard jobs. I think about the woman who finished a regulation 26.2-mile marathon at the age of 92. It’s easier to do things you normally dread when you’re conscious of your blessings; be grateful you have the opportunity to do the hard jobs. When you see things in their proper perspective, your time is too precious to be squandered in a life of procrastination.

- Research shows that certain foods contribute to deep sleep. I have always been a sound sleeper. Here are some of my favorite late-night foods: bananas, peanut butter, whole wheat bread, and potatoes. I also know what foods and beverages keep me tossing and turning at night; when I indulge in them after dark I pay the price the next day-my energy is low. Pay attention to what works for you.

Following a regular exercise program, eating the right foods, alternating between sitting and standing, and doing some simple stretching during the day-all of these techniques keep my energy high. And when I feel energized, I’m less likely to fall into the procrastination game. As the American humorist Will Rogers said, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”

The day will come when you can use something you read about here to have a beneficial impact. Then you’ll be glad you took the time to learn more about Procrastination.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, who just joined this Free Website Traffic generation site

The only way to keep up with the latest about Procrastination is to constantly stay on the lookout for new information. If you read everything you find about Procrastination, it won’t take long for you to become an influential authority.

Author Denis Waitley believes that one of the main causes of procrastination is a fear of success. “People procrastinate because they are afraid of the success that they know will result if they move ahead now,” he explains. And Miguel Cervantes, the author of Don Quijote, wrote that “delay always breeds danger, and to protract a great design is often to ruin it.”

Great thinkers throughout history have known that procrastination is the main reason people fail to live more rewarding and more prosperous lives. Take this quiz to find out if a fear of success is causing procrastination in your life:

- Are you passionate about the life you’re living? Have you discovered your mission in life? Do you have a written list of long-term and short-term goals you want to achieve?

- Do you always ask yourself which of several tasks is the best way to spend your time? Do you always ask which task should be your higher priority in view of your short-term and long-term goals?

- If you won a large amount of money, would you continuing living as you are now? Are you living the kind of life that even money can’t buy?

- Do you concentrate on the job you’re doing in the present, rather than feeling sorry for yourself because you aren’t living the life you wish you were living?

If you find yourself confused by what you’ve read to this point, don’t despair. Everything should be crystal clear by the time you finish.

If you answered “yes” to all of the above questions, you’re winning the war against procrastination. If you answered “no” to any of the questions, you need to recognize the possibility that procrastination is keeping you from living a richer life.

Ask yourself why you haven’t written a vision for your life. What are the benefits of establishing priorities? Do you postpone tasks for justifiable reasons, or do you simply look for excuses to procrastinate.

Always ask yourself if a job needs to be done at all. Make a list of what you most regret not having done in your life because of the poor decisions you made in the past about how to spend your time. According to research findings, we spend as much as 80% of our time on tasks that do not contribute to the success of our projects. Many people load themselves down with work that is unnecessary or that could be justifiably postponed.

Are you passionate about your life and work? Ask yourself how you would spend your time if you won ten million dollars and never had to work again. These questions can lead to some surprising revelations about what your priorities should be. You may discover that you would be happier by making a career change, although in most cases people don’t need to switch careers to start living a richer life-they just need to know what they really want.

As the novelist George Eliot said, “It’s never too late to be the person you could have been.” Today is a good day to start.

Knowing enough about Procrastination to make solid, informed choices cuts down on the fear factor. If you apply what you’ve just learned about Procrastination, you should have nothing to worry about.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, who just launched this URL Shortening Service, working exactly like TinyURL.com!

The more you understand about any subject, the more interesting it becomes. As you read this article you’ll find that the subject of Procrastination is certainly no exception.

To be successful in the battle against procrastination, you must establish priorities and stick to them. Successful people have learned that they must do the hard jobs whether they’re in the mood or not.

Take this quiz to find out if you need to get more serious about procrastination:

- Do you set priorities?

- Do you get the hard jobs done whether you’re in the mood or not?

- Do you spend most of your time working on tasks that you need to finish this week?

- Do you spend time each day working on your long-term goals?

- Do you have a system for measuring your progress?

- Do you have a filing system for each of your long-range projects?

Sometimes the most important aspects of a subject are not immediately obvious. Keep reading to get the complete picture.

If you answered “no” to any of the above questions, you need to get more serious about procrastination. Ask yourself if you’re happy living with the consequences of procrastination. Do you have justifiable reasons for postponing tasks, or have you simply developed the habit of putting things off?

- Establish your priorities. If you don’t make a list of your priorities every day, why don’t you? And if you do make a list, ask yourself how you rank items in order of importance.

- Force yourself to act. Set deadlines for yourself, even when you don’t have to. You need to spend most of your time on this week’s projects, but try to spend a little time every day on long-term goals.

- Spend 75% of your time on the things you need to finish this week. Dedicate the rest of your time to projects that need to be finished in the next six months. If you don’t have a list of deadlines for the next six months, make one now. What have you done so far on each of these projects? How are you measuring your progress on each one?

- Keep a file for each long-range project. This can be a folder with the deadline date in big letters on the outside. Write down target milestones for each big project. (A milestone is a deadline for finishing one part of a project.)

Wasting time on tasks that don’t contribute to the success of our projects is one of the most insidious forms of procrastination. When you decide to rush into something on the spur of the moment, always ask yourself if it’s the best way to spend your time. Could I accomplish more with the time I have by doing a different task? Which of these two tasks will make a greater contribution to getting the job done?

Don’t put yourself in the position of Shakespeare’s King Richard II, who was forced to say: “I wasted time, and now time doth wasted me.” Get serious about procrastination today.

Now you can understand why there’s a growing interest in Procrastination. When people start looking for more information about Procrastination, you’ll be in a position to meet their needs.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, who just launched this URL Shortening Service, working exactly like TinyURL.com!

The following article covers a topic that has recently moved to center stage–at least it seems that way. If you’ve been thinking you need to know more about it, here’s your opportunity.

The following quiz will help you identify areas where a negative attitude has been keeping you from taking charge of your life. Answer “yes” to the statements that describe you.

1. I get discouraged when I think about all the problems I have.

2. I often wonder why my life is not as rewarding as it could be; many people around me seem to be living more satisfying lives than I am.

3. I have trouble focusing on my goals; I’m easily distracted at work.

4. I tend to put off getting started on projects because I’m always thinking about the things that can go wrong.

If you answered “yes” to any of the above statements, make a commitment to start retooling your attitude today. Read motivational books, listen to inspirational recordings, and associate with positive thinkers.

Think about what you’ve read so far. Does it reinforce what you already know about Procrastination? Or was there something completely new? What about the remaining paragraphs?

We cause our own feelings; I am the major cause of my own problems. Don’t let a negative attitude stand in the way of your happiness in life. Never make an important decision when you’re feeling down. What is your best time for making decisions? What is your worst time? What is your best time for working on difficult tasks? Is there a time of day when you tend to procrastinate more? Is there a time of day when you tend to procrastinate less?

Here are some tips for improving your attitude that can help you take the first steps toward overcoming the procrastination monster:

- Focus on the result you want to achieve. The more you focus on problems, the more discouraged you’re likely to get. If you’re not getting what you want out of life, you probably suffer from a lack of focus. This is why procrastination is such a dangerous demon-it prevents us from focusing on our goals. Procrastinators focus on all the reasons not to move forward, instead of focusing on the goal they want to achieve.

- Give your full attention to whatever you’re doing. When you concentrate on the things that can go wrong, you can’t stay focused on the job you’re doing. Failure is the inevitable consequence of a lack of focus; if I think I’m going to do a bad job, I probably will-or I may never get started at all.

- Don’t focus on all the things that can go wrong. Focusing on the hazards involved in trying to do something will almost always convince you to give up before you start.

I’m not advising you to throw caution to the wind. Every task we undertake has things that can go wrong. Simply said, it’s enough to know what the dangers are, be prepared to respond to them, and then move ahead with the project-confident in your ability to handle whatever comes up. People who dwell on all the things that can go wrong never get anything done. Productive people have learned to focus on opportunities-concentrate on the benefits of successfully completing a project and you will have won a major battle in the war against procrastination.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, the Cheap Web Hosting Guy!