How To Stop Procrastinating
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Procrastination is a mindset fueled by fear, fear that results from negatively over-thinking tasks and their end result. It is a reaction to the thoughts and fears that go on in your mind. These thoughts paralyze your mind and body leaving you with no energy and very few accomplishments. The longer this negative thought process continues, the more likely you will become depressed, which only compounds the problem. There is no room in direct sales for procrastination.

Procrastination keeps you from reaching your full potential. It hurts you, your business and those around you. If you procrastinate with your business, chances are the procrastination also exists in your personal life. People who procrastinate are generally late with everything; their bills, their jobs, their appointments and errands. They make excuses for not taking their kids out, not cleaning their house, not taking care of their vehicles and not keeping promises. Procrastinators are always rushing and stressed out because they procrastinated too long. This behavior leads to late fees, bad credit, low self-esteem, and disappointment.

The good news is, you can overcome procrastination! But first you must understand what procrastination is and what your role is in it. Overcoming procrastination means changing your mindset, and it's not something that happens overnight. It is a long journey. If you’re not willing to make the change then you probably shouldn’t start a direct sales business.

Procrastination prevents success. It allows you to give yourself millions of excuses. Excuses like, why you didn’t hostess coach or talk to the bank teller or make your follow-up calls. Eventually you’ll convince yourself that the program doesn’t work and you’ll give up. Convinced that it wasn’t your fault―when in actuality, it was.

Is the fear you feel real or a negative thought that was planted in your mind? Are you in physical danger? Are you in legal trouble? Are you loosing your job? Are you loosing your home? Are you loosing your health insurance? Are your children moving away to college? Is your vehicle breaking down? Is a family member in trouble? If you answer no to these questions then your fear probably isn’t real. That, in turn, means your fears are within your thoughts and you control your thoughts.

Types Of Fear

• Fear of bothering people...
  Bothering people is hounding them day after day; it’s not asking them once―or even twice.
  
  
• Fear of being judged...
  No one, and I mean no one, will ever be able to please everyone all the time; it’s never been done.
  
  
• Fear of success...
  Do you want to fail or succeed? Spinning “what if” around in your mind will only keep you procrastinating.
  
  
• Fear of rejection...
  The answer is definitely "no" if you don’t ask, but if you ask, there is the possibility for a yes. You only increase your odds by asking.

1. In some cases professional help is needed, so if you feel depressed or like your procrastination is out of your control, then seek professional help―there's no shame in it. If your procrastination is deeply rooted in an emotional trauma, professional guidance can help you move beyond the pain and trauma, to a freer, healthier, you.
   
   
2. Get a book on overcoming procrastination and read one chapter a night. If one chapter is too much, read one page.
   
   
3. Always be aware of your problem; it’s a battle like quitting smoking and loosing weight. Ask yourself if you’re procrastinating before finalizing your decisions. Ask yourself if your decisions are based on fact, trial and error, or fear.
   
   
4. Get organized and get rid of any clutter that may contribute to your procrastination. Use the one touch rule. For example, when you get the mail, read it, and then throw it away, file it away, or respond. If you pile it up on your counter then you will waste time later, touching it twice, when you have to read it again in order to clean up the pile.
   
   
5. Set time limits and use a timer. It doesn’t take as long as your mind thinks it does to do things. Time yourself the next time you load the dishwasher or make a professional phone call.
   
   
6. Don’t over-think everything; look at your to do list and just do it. Put your most feared tasks first and be done with it.
   
   
7. Delegate. Don’t do everything yourself when you can hire, barter, or delegate the task. If you didn’t mess up the house yourself, then you shouldn’t clean it yourself. If you don't know how to do something, barter with another home business person who does.
   
   
8. Set reasonable goals. Don’t put twenty things on your to do list when you know that you don’t have time to do those twenty things in a single day! Make a monthly weekend list for bigger projects like cleaning closets and carpets. Break smaller, weekly projects up so that you can tackle them throughout the week, instead of on a single day. Distributing your projects throughout the week makes them more manageable―achievable.
   
   
9. Utilize lunch and nap times for business tasks that require quiet time.