Tuesday Tip: What I Learned at the Dentist about Procrastination

Inspiration is everywhere.  This applies to your MBA applications, and it is certainly true with me, as I find my every day life regularly inspires my Tuesday Tips.  Most recently, going to the dentist taught me a big lesson about procrastination, and I know it’s going to help me keep plugging along and not delay myself with silly excuses in the future.

Like many of my tips, this one is very applicable to the MBA application process, but it also applies to life in general.  Keep this in mind at work, when working on apps, and when trying to check things off the ol’  To Do list.

Watch my video and let me know what you think in the comments below.  Do you agree with my breakthrough?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkwHsOLxBIw[/youtube]

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Transcript for this video:

My Tuesday Tip this week is about procrastination.  So even though I talk a lot about procrastination and try to inspire you to stay on schedule, I have to confess, I am not perfect.  I, too, struggle with procrastination almost daily, but this morning I had a breakthrough.

This morning I went to the dentist for a cleaning ”“ I had been procrastinating about doing this for several months.  The task was sitting there on my to do list, and I would always find a reason to push it aside.    There was always something more time sensitive, more important, and so the task would just stay there, waiting to be done, and to tell you the truth, it tormented me.  Every time, I would see it listed there I would be filled with dread and get this sinking feeling in my stomach.  And in some ways it really got pushed out of proportion and became this dreaded task.

Finally, I called and scheduled the appointment and they had one opening immediately.  So I just decided to go.   From the time I walked into the office to the time I scheduled my next cleaning and left, was less than 40 minutes.  I guarantee you that I spent many more minutes figuring out how to avoid this task then it actually took.  And now my teeth are fresh and clean and that ridiculous weight is off my shoulders.

So here is my breakthrough, and I swear this is usually the case:  procrastination is itself more draining than the actual task.  Sometimes, in the time we are procrastinating and prepping and planning to do something ”“ we can use that time to just do it.

Next time, you are faced with a task that you think that you dread, stop thinking and just do it.  You will feel so much better,  It’s the hanging over your head feeling that is really terrible, and that lingers.  If you get it done ”“ it just goes away.  If you give yourself bite size tasks to do each day, you can check them off and feel that feeling of success rather than dread.

My quote for today is by Thomas Jefferson, “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”

Interested in watching more? Click HERE to access the Stacy Blackman Youtube Channel.

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