Have you ever thought about how much time you spend in a day procrastinating?

What’s worse than the wasted time is the emotional and mental energy it takes to keep it up. Let’s say you are putting off something stressful that you know you need to do. All day long you find other things to eat up your time so you can avoid this dreaded task. At the end of the day, the task is still there and you have had held the weight of it all day long on your shoulders.

Now imagine waking up, looking over your to do list and determining what 3 things are your top priorities for the day. Think about which of the 3 you are most dreading and how it is likely to eat at you all day long.

Mark Twain once said,

“Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”

If you tackle those difficult tasks first thing in the morning you have the rest of the day to work on things you find more enjoyable.

Now think of a little reward you can give yourself when you complete that dreaded task. It doesn’t have to be a large reward, just a little something to motivate you (some time on facebook, browsing in a store you like, a phone call to a friend, a favorite tv show, a nap, etc). You go do the task and the stress is gone. Seriously! How do you feel now? Relieved? Empowered? You’ve got the rest of the day to enjoy and be pressure free!

Ready. Set. Go and conquer that task you are trying to avoid!

Photo by RYAN MCGUIRE