Get It Done! Put off procrastination forever By Frank F. Lunn ________________________________________

Make Forward Progress

You’ve set your goals, made your plans, now it’s just a matter of taking steps in the right direction to reach your planned destination. Taking action will help you cross the bridge between your goals and accomplishment. One of the biggest obstacles in your path is procrastination- the failure to begin, to delay the start and ultimately leave your potential wasted in the end. It’s worth remembering that a week from now – it will be a week from now and you will either be closer to your goals or you won’t. Start by reducing some of procrastination’s best allies. Probably the strongest of those has just two initials …TV. Is your TV time cutting into your productive time? Take this little test. Estimate how many hours of TV you watched last week. Be honest with yourself. On average people spend 20 to 30 hours watching TV. If you reduce that even by a little, you have more time to take the actions that will lead you to your goals.

Try these 10 steps to get past procrastination en route to your goals:

10 ways to quash procrastination

1.Identify your list of things to do and write them down. Many times we magnify how much we have to do and it overwhelms us. By writing it down you eliminate this in your imagination and take control over your tasks.

2.Prioritize your tasks so you know which has highest potential payoff. Strive to do the highest paid work first. It may be tempting to knock off a two dollar task that seems less intimidating than the thousand dollar one, but keep the payoff potential in mind.

3.Create deadlines for yourself and your tasks. Having a deadline gives you urgency.

4.Break larger projects into smaller parts or action steps. In just a few minutes, you could complete an action step that brings you closer to your goal.

5.Use your mood to your advantage. Sometimes you are frustrated, tired, angry or in a state not conducive to your best output. This is the time to just continue to work. Too often when we are not feeling like it is when we need to push through and maintain momentum for a better day. Even if it is not the highest payoff activity, in this case sustained activity is better than no activity.

6.Clear off your desk and concentrate only on one task.

7.Develop the habit of “Do it now!” especially with small tasks before they pile up.

8.Enjoy your time off and allow yourself to stay fresh for your project at hand.

9.Reward yourself along the way. Delaying gratification until your final results is important, but small and targeted rewards can help move you down your path. Target rewards to suit your goals. If your goal is fitness, reward yourself with a new pair of running shoes as you progress.

10.Put the concept of incremental advantage on your side. Add more time to your day for a slight edge. Get up a little earlier or take less of a lunch break and over time you will begin to accomplish more than you thought you could. Not only will you get more done, but you will feel better and more in control of your destiny. Adding 1 hour of productive time a day is 365 hours a year that could be invested in your future. This is the rough equivalent of an extra 2 weeks a year of productivity.

Successfully getting what you want or achieving a goal boils down to the following components: STACK- Set your courseTake ActionAccept results as feedbackCorrect course based on feedbackKeep on “Stacking The Logs!” Overcoming the temptation of procrastinating and taking action is absolutely essential to this strategy. Having a roadmap without traveling keeps you separated from your destination. Put off procrastinating and start down the road to your goals.

This is an excerpt from Frank F. Lunn’s book Stack The Logs! Building a Success Framework to Reach Your Dreams. This live-your-life-by-design book is part of the Empowerment series published by Kahuna Business Group. Click here to order and start living the life you desire…and deserve.

To learn more about the STACK Strategy or to take control of your life…purchase Stack the Logs! Visit www.stackthelogs.com or email frank@stackthelogs.com. One-tenth of the selling price of $19.95 will be donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to further the work of: “Finding cures. Saving children.”