Are you waiting for all the stars to align in order to start a dreaded task? Sometimes we procrastinate on a task without realizing it. We say we have good reasons for not starting our work, but if we dig deeper, we notice those “reasons” are really excuses. Learn how to tell the difference.

What Are You Waiting For?

Picture this, you’re staring down at your to-do list, and see a task that’s been sitting there for a while. You “want” to start it, but insist that you should wait until you’re less tired…or you’ve heard back from 3 more people, or it’s not raining, or not Monday, or not Friday, etc… Does this sound familiar?

We have to realize there will NEVER be the perfect set of circumstances to be productive. There will always be a distraction, or one more piece of information you could have had, or bit of research you could have gathered, but at some point you have to admit you have enough to start and just…start.

Questions to Ask

Instead of asking “Do I WANT to start this task today” ask yourself “CAN I start this task today.”

Notice the question isn’t “Do I have time to FINISH this today?” Sometimes we put off large tasks forever because we don’t think we’ll be able to finish it in a day. Break these tasks into smaller pieces so you can tackle 1-2 hour chunks at a time.

If you look for excuses, you’ll find them. If you look for reasons to be productive, you’ll find those too.

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