Procrastination is the act of constantly putting things off. It happens to all of us. As we’ve started off this new year with new goals to accomplish, not everyone will get there. The truth is that some of us will want to give up. Others would talk about it but not do what is needed to begin.
I can honestly tell you that when I set my mind towards something, I usually see it through. Whether it’s a success or failure, I still see it through. If procrastination is your problem, I am here for you. There are a few ways that you can stop procrastinating and finally be the person that always makes things happen.
Write Down What You Want To Get Done
Writing things down is a helpful and powerful tool for enabling you to accomplish tasks. Often not, we have several things that we want to achieve in this life. We can talk about it and then later forget about it.
Writing things down will help you to keep that vision always fresh in your mind. It’s good to write things down to remember what your goals or tasks are.
Set Up a Time frame and Deadline for Yourself
Having a schedule and deadline for things is a wonderful way to keep yourself accountable. Have a deadline to write a blog post once a week.
Set up a time frame to execute on that project you are passionate about. Even if things do not turn out the way that you expect, follow through on what you’ve set out to do.
It matters to have a time frame and deadline because it will help to create that sense of urgency for you.
Surround Yourself with Go-Getters
The company that you keep is a reflection of who you are. If you know that procrastination is your problem, don’t spend time with other people who don’t do anything.
Go and join a group and be in a community of people that are focused, motivated and driven. Surrounding yourself with such people is encouraging. When you see your peers making moves, you get inspired to kick your gear in-game.
Be mindful of the company you keep because they could be enabling certain bad habits you have.
Keep Analyzing Your Progress or Failures
The reason we put things off is a lack of consistency. If you are the person that keeps working to improve yourself, you keep moving.
In order to keep moving, you have to analyze how things are going. Through your analysis, you will then see what more needs to be done. That way, it is always forward motion for you.
Give Yourself Little Rewards
When you set your mind to do something and it fails, you can get discouraged. Then, you just stop trying. However, if you can celebrate yourself with little rewards for your efforts, you beat that procrastinating spirit that says “why bother?”
Every time you make an effort towards your goals and passion projects, do your happy dance. Go and watch something fun. Take yourself out to have a nice meal. Celebrate your effort because it means that you tried.
Reasons You’re Unable To Get A Job
Unemployment is a huge problem in Nigeria of today. There just seem not to be enough jobs for the teeming population of graduates and job seekers. It has become the proverbial “many are called few are chosen” thing. There are many graduates that apply for jobs almost every day yet they wonder why they don’t get invited for interviews or aptitude tests. The fact is their countless job applications might have been turned down due to one or more of the following reasons. So what are these obstacles and how can you avoid them as a job seeker?
1. Applying for every available job
To some job seekers, it’s all about quantity. They believe that your chances of getting an invite increases with the number of CVs you send. They tend to care less whether or not they are qualified or eligible for such positions. It’s more of the “try your luck” thing. Interestingly they are surprised that they are not getting invited for interviews and tests.
2. Defeatist mindset
One of the common excuses among Nigerian job seekers who fail in their job search is “you will never get a job until you know somebody”. While it is true that in Nigeria of today who you know matters, I sincerely believe that it is over exaggerated. The average company still offers merit-based employment. No serious company would want to populate her workforce with mediocre. Not everyone on the company’s payroll is a member of the MD’s family or his/her relative. When a candidate fails in his/her efforts to get a job by merit they turn around and lay the blame on their lack of connection.
3. Poor networking skills
Life is all about networking. Networking is one of the most easiest and effective way to get a good job in Nigeria. You would be surprised at the number of vacancies that are not advertised in the public media. How do such companies recruit staff? By referral and word of mouth of course. The good thing here is that the usual crowd that is a common occurrence in the publicized job adverts is non-existent here. So if you do not know how to effectively network, your chances of lingering long in the job market is very high.
4. Reluctance to volunteer or intern
The mindset of the average job seeker is they see job opportunity as a way to make big money. They would most likely turn down an opportunity to volunteer or intern if they are very sure that there will not be any financial reward in it for them. What they however fail to realize is that most companies would prefer a candidate that have volunteered or interned to one without any experience at all. Volunteering is one quick and easy way to gain the much needed work experience that most job seekers are not considering.
5. Inability to make a positive impression during interviews
This is about the major reason why most job seekers do not land the job. You have just a few minutes to make a lasting impression on the minds of your interviewers. Inability to do this will lead to the infamous but common response “you’ll hear from us later” which they never do. Employers are more interested in where and how you can add value to their organization and not everything that you’ve done. Consider an interview as a movie trailer and not a season film.
Have you been seeking a job for a while now without any success? Have you attended job interviews that you were unsuccessful? What do you think are the reasons for such? Please kindly share with us.
One thought on “How To Stop Procrastinating & Get Things Done”
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Itís difficult to find experienced people in this particular topic, but you seem like you know what youíre talking about! Thanks