Do you ever hear the phrase “I’ll do it tomorrow” or do you even say it to yourself. It is very, very likely that you have or you do! Yep, procrastination!

Why do we do that? Why do we put things off? Generally it is because we don’t really want to do it.

You need to sort that pile of clothes out on the bedroom floor. The pile has been there for weeks, it has been bugging you, you intended to sort it out but there are a million other things to do that are just a little more interesting and must be done first.

When you have homework, you have to tidy your room first.

When you have work to do, the kitchen suddenly has to be spotlessly clean.

Another reason for procrastination is you don’t want to screw it up. I have some shelves I need to put up. I have put them together and they have been sitting ready next to their proposed location for 2 weeks. It’s because I am scared I am going to put them up wonky. I will end up drilling lots of holes, end up re-filling the wall, repainting the wall and then there is a good chance they will fall down! That’s all in my head though.

“Tomorrow will have its own set of annoying circumstances ready to get in the way”.

The chances are they may be a little wonky. They are only temporary shelves anyway and if I take my time and use the right tools they will probably go up easily and I will wonder what I spent weeks worrying about.

Another reason is time. When I have time, I will do all those things I have been meaning to do. Life never gets easy. That perfect stretch of time is not going to occur. Or if it does, it will likely be too late. Tomorrow will have its own set of annoying circumstances ready to get in the way.

It doesn’t have to be housework or homework. It could be that course you have been meaning to sign up for. The half marathon you need to get your running motivation back. That old friend you have been meaning to get back to so you can meet up.

One way to help is to take small steps. Call the place about the course and make an enquiry. Sign up for that half marathon. (Is £40 worth risking to get your running mojo back?) Email or text that old friend and tell them you haven’t forgotten about them. Seriously, how long does it take? Can you do something right now in the next 5 minutes to get you a little closer to where you want to be?

If you’re really struggling with how to do it, ask for help and use it. I am a bona fide genius when it comes to sorting other people’s issues.

“If you don’t do anything different today, you won’t be in a position to achieve anything different tomorrow”.

If you have a million things flying around your head. Write them down. Be careful with to do lists, though. They can act as reason to forget about what you need to do as they take the pressure off, as it is now written down. Write down the important things and not everything. If you are constantly having ideas, have a separate list for those ideas and things for the future.

If you feel you work best when you leave things to the last minute. You are kidding yourself. It wastes time with all the thinking and procrastination. The procrastination creates anxiety. The final product is likely to be poor, or at least worst that what you could have done if you had given yourself more time.

If you don’t do anything different today, you won’t be in a position to achieve anything different tomorrow.What do you procrastination about most? Let me know in the comments and then tell me what you are going to do about it.

P.S. When I get those shelves sorted. I will post a photo on Instagram to show you the results!