Do only do things when they absolutely have to be done?
Do you clean up your apartment only when you know you have guests coming over?
What about renewing your insurance on your car the day it’s due?
These are all examples of things that I have done and I’m at risk of still doing. I just don’t like doing them. My formula isn’t perfect but here are the things that help me overcome avoidance behavior.
- Most of us who avoid things already know what’s going to happen if we procrastinate. The key is to remember that that is what’s going to happen and that will motivate you to actually do the thing.
- Reward yourself. I know it sounds silly but even the small things tell yourself once I’m done this I can work in my garden, watch Netflix, or whatever suits you.
- My mother always told me “You bugger around first and then you rush later, just get the task over with and then bugger around!” if you don’t know what the term bugger around means chances are you’re under 35 years of old 🤣.
- Recognize that you like to avoid things and make a conscious effort to not do it. This will be hard at first but if you work at a daily you’ll notice you procrastinate less and less.
I can guarantee that you’ll never be perfect. Nobody ever has been or EVER will be “Perfect”. Take this blog for example; Someone is reading this post right now and thinking about all the grammatical errors, misuse of words, and typos.
I think about that every time I write and I do the best I can but if I worry about it too much I will never blog. Which is why there’s a two-year Gap between written blog posts on this site.
I had too many people tell me about all my errors and instead of just fixing them I’m moving on I avoided writing blog posts for fear of judgment. Guess what? It’s not that scary to screw up. When people tell you what you did wrong just fix it and you get the heck on with your day!