Anybody here that was a huge procrastinator and achieved super focus? How did you do it?

[.༼-◕_◕-༽.]

New Answer
How do you avoid procrastination?

Michael Martel, Green Beret | Writer | Productivity Expert
1 vote

Procrastination always has two elements: the task you’re putting off and the internal forces that are causing you to do so. The more you deal with your inner “demons,” the easier it will be to take action. First on the list of these inner demons is self-esteem. Feelings of guilt and worthlessness fuel procrastination.
When you start to get things done, you experience these feelings less and less.

In our projects as in life, we come up against obstacles. We need to handle those obstacles in order to see the task through to the end. Self-esteem helps us to do that because it helps us develop resilience and the belief that we can succeed despite barriers. Self-esteem can grow or it can diminish, and we can control that.

So, what is self-esteem? The most important component of self-esteem is internal. It’s the ability to like and accept yourself with all your strengths and weaknesses, and in spite of the mistakes you make. It’s understanding that you are equal to anyone else and you, like anyone else, are unique and one-of-a-kind. It's not ego driven. It's not a belief that you’re superior to anyone. It's the understanding that each one of us is unique, special, and important.

Another component of self-esteem comes from the reflection of ourselves that we get from other people. We get either positive or negative feedback from people in obvious or subtle ways all the time. We get from the media, from work, and from our relationships. Unfortunately, we can't always depend on outside sources to have our best interests at heart or even to be honest. So, although it's inevitable that some of our self-concept comes from outside sources, a much better, more fulfilling approach to our lives is to develop our internal self-esteem and diminish the effects of external self-esteem.

Our job, then, is to build a solid foundation of internal self-esteem. The key to doing this is to be aware of what's going on in your thoughts and your emotions and then taking action based on that awareness. Here are the questions to ask yourself:

1. How many of the things I do are based on the need for others' approval?
2. Whose approval do I seek in order to feel accepted?
3. What are my own personal standards? In other words, what standards do I need to meet in order to approve of myself at work, at home, and in relationships?
4. Is there a conflict between what I really want to do and obtaining approval from others?

The answers to these questions should give you an awareness of yourself that will strengthen your internal self-esteem and lessen your need for approval of others.

Next, here are some powerful actions that you can take to strengthen your self-esteem and diminish your tendency to procrastinate:

1. Being aware of your self-growth and development.
2. Taking the initiative.
3. Practicing assertive behavior.
4. Talking back to your negative inner voice.
5. Setting goals.
6. Taking physical and emotional care of yourself. This includes giving yourself quality time, exercising, eating right, and relaxation.

Here's one non-negotiable law for living the life you dream of: self-esteem is essential to our well-being. It's not selfishness; it's just the opposite.
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[bigmac]

Its hard for me to meditate. Some issues I run into are: I feel physically uncomfortable, racing thoughts, and how do you know when its working and/or when to stop?

I know Im not good at meditating but how do I get better? Hoe will I start to know I got better?

EDIT: grammar n shyt

Honestly, if you really want help on this shyt, those cacs over on Reddit are the truth.

Hit this for the next few hours and feast: /r/meditation

 

[.༼-◕_◕-༽.]

Honestly, if you really want help on this shyt, those cacs over on Reddit are the truth.

Hit this for the next few hours and feast: /r/meditation

Is there one for motivation/procrastination?

 

[bigmac]

Is there one for motivation/procrastination?

/r/motivation
/r/Selfimprovement

Reddit is the truth.

 

[.༼-◕_◕-༽.]

What can I do to motivate myself to work out?
I used to work out everyday and I have totally lost all motivation.
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Peter Korolov
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I drink a lot. I eat pizza, fries, and ice cream when I want to. And I look like this:



You don't have to sacrifice the things you enjoy in order to look good. I exercise twice every day. I ran a marathon in under 3:15 last month. And here's me deadlifting 440 pounds (sorry for underwear):



I do deadlifts every morning before work, and Sundays as part of a personal challenge (80 Day Deadlift Challenge). I run 6 days a week, about 50 miles per week. I do upper body workouts twice a week. I also teach karate.

That's a lot. And I can't possible be motivated to do all that. And I'm not. Motivation never enters the equation.

I'm not motivated to go to work, but I do because I have to. If you have kids, you take care of them, because you have to. It doesn't matter if you're tired, or sick, or you've had a bad day. You do those things because you have to.

I exercise because I have to. It's not a choice. I get up at 6am. I do deadlifts. I go to work. After work I run. Then I relax, eat a ton, and have some drinks.

It's a routine, and that's the key. I don't exercise occasionally. I don't exercise sometimes. I exercise every day. So I respectfully disagree with folks who say you should exercise less. The less you exercise, the easier it is to flake out on any given workout.

Forget motivation. It's fine if you don't feel like exercising. Because it doesn't matter, you just do it. Here's a few other tips to help establish your routine:

1. Work/reward system. Have some kind of reward you only get after you exercise. Personally, I count calories. Which means when I exercise, I get to eat more.

2. Dump all your friends who are lazy, negative, or drag you down. Surround yourself with positive, successful, motivated people who are better than you. And choose to be inspired by them.

3. Become the person you want to be. I'm not just a guy who exercises. I'm a runner. I'm a lifter. I'm a martial artist. You ARE that person. It is your identity. A runner doesn't stop running. A lifter doesn't stop lifting. Because it's who they are. It defines them.

4. Be crazy. People look at me and think I'm crazy. Fine. I think they are crazy, for not pushing themselves beyond their limits and making themselves amazing. I love how I look. I love how I feel. I love being strong, and feeling like I can conquer the world. I don't care what others think of me, because I feel powerful. But thankfully I surround myself with awesome people who appreciate me (see 2 above).

5. Measure your successes. I track my deadlifts every day in a notebook. Every single set is a success. Every day I finish is one more day I get to knock off my challenge (I did day 36 this morning). Every Sunday I get to see my max lift increase by 10 pounds. And after a few months I'll get to see my body bigger and stronger than it ever was. And the same thing goes for running: faster, farther, more awesome.

6. Rejoice in being amazing. You are choosing to do something that very very few people are willing to. That is incredible. You are blasting past limits that few people are brave enough to even attempt. You are shaping your life the way you want to. Through hard work and sweat. That is freaking awesome!

Here's a few more things I wrote that may help:
- How to Conquer Laziness
- Only You Can Make You Awesome

And pretty much everything else on my blog. Good luck! Stay strong! Be awesome!

Edit 11-18-2015:

Thank-you all for the comments and votes! I'm truly inspired that so many of you take this mentality to heart and push yourselves to greatness. And you also motivate me to keep doing what I do! Thanks! And now for some answers to questions.

What do you drink?

Everything, haha. I love all beer, from hoppy microbrews to and cheap light bear. I love dry red wine. I love scotch, gin, and tequila. For all my hard work, I "deserve" a vice, and booze is it!

How did you make your routine a part of you?

Gradually. I struggled a lot when I was younger. Just like many others, I too couldn't stay motivated. I would get excited, exercise for a while, and then it would drop off. I put on weight. About 5 years ago I started running. That helped. Running with a husky made it easy to get started (Too Lazy to Run? Get a Dog).

Then two years ago, almost on the dot, I decided that I needed to get my weight to where I wanted it. I discovered the LoseIt! app on my iPhone (Lose Weight and Keep it Off for Two Years) and have never looked back. I've always been a math nerd, so tracking numbers appeals to me. It's like a daily game. And it powerfully pushes me to exercise more, because I burn more calories and increase my budget!

Calorie counting is part of the reason I started exercising daily. Then this past summer I started training for the Wineglass marathon. That put me into a routine of running almost daily, and I've stuck with that, even though I ran the race already. My next marathon is in the Spring, where I hope to qualify for Boston the following year. So that's at least 2 years of marathon training I will have to keep doing!

I've always lifted at least a couple times a week, even when I was fat and lazy. However, after I finished my marathon, I decided to start a personal lifting challenge, because I really wanted to get stronger. Lifting twice a week was barely maintaining my existing strength.

I enjoy the deadlifts so much that I plan on maintaing the morning lifting routine after I finish it. I believe my next lifting "challenge" will be incline presses. This is something I have discovered that works for me and keeps me engaged.

And that's the key. Find things you love, in a way that's fun for you and that keeps you going. You can't exercise for the sake of exercising. You have to goals, purpose, and a love for what you do and your accomplishments.

Do you naturally have a high metabolism?

No. I don't. Before I started counting calories, I was overweight. Once I started, I lost 50 pounds and kept it off. Of course now that I'm lifting so much, my metabolism is through the roof. But I'm fully aware of the fact that if I stopped, it would drop. And it will drop as well as I get older. This is a lifelong journey for me. I don't plan on ever stopping, as long as I can keep on going.

What's your sleep schedule like?

I try to get to bed by 10pm every night. I get up at 6am every morning. So I get about 8 hours of sleep most nights. I try to stick to that schedule on weekends, although I don't sweat it if I stay up late for a show or something and sleep in a little. But I rarely stay in bed past about 9am, even on weekends.

What's your workout schedule like?

Currently it's this:
Monday: Deadlifts before work, 6-8 miles run after work
Tuesday: Deadlifts before work, 4 mile run after work. Karate
Wednesday: Deadlifts before work, upper body lift after work. Rest day from running.
Thursday: Deadlifts. Run. Karate if my assistant instructor is unavailable.
Friday: Deadlifts. 8-10 mile run after work.
Saturday: Upper body lift. Long run (12+ miles). Rest day from deadlifts!
Sunday: Deadlifts with attempted max. Medium length run.

I also walk about 20 miles a week, mostly at work.

Your friends should dump you.

Probably! But for some reason they stick around. And thank goodness! Because doing this journey on my own would be very hard. I really value my friends and family. They're extremely important to me. Without them, I'd have no reason to push myself. When I was younger, I fancied myself a lone wolf. But I'm not. I know now how important love and companionship is.

Working out twice a day is not possible for most people.

I agree that it can be very hard to find the time. I teach, I write, I do photography, I spend time with people I care about, I draw a webcomic, I study languages, and have a lot of other hobbies.

That's why I lift in the morning before work. It just means I have to get up earlier. It sucks at first, but you get used to it. And if I don't have time after work to run, I run on my lunch break. If I have to, I'll run late at night. I've had people at my house for a party, and gone running in the middle of the party It's a priority for me. I make it happen.

Why so much stress on deadlifts?

It's my current challenge. Going all in like this works for me. After my challenge is done, I will pick a difference exercise (but I will still do deadlifts at least once a week).

How old are you?

I'm 35

Thanks all! I'll try to keep up on any other questions that arise.
Written 5d ago •

 

[CinnaSlim]

I'm getting better at it.

I started on a journey of mental hygiene/spirituality. Basically, just focusing on bettering myself holistically. I have less tolorance for the distractions I used to deal with. I'm now about radical action and getting stuff done.

Meditation helps you monitor and clear your thoughts so you can focus on what's necessary and beneficial. I always ask myself. How does this serve me? I have dreams and desires and I focus on how to reach them, and what things or actions will help me grow.

 

[tripleaamin]

It all started when I got my first job at walmart starting last March. Basically adding working anywhere from 25-32 hrs per week made me realize that I can't mess around with the free time that I have available during the school year. It suks because now I have to be very efficient with my gym time. And my social life feels really non existent

But at the same time I understand what the long term goal is for me. It seems when I had more responsibilities thrown my way and I had to be disciplined I made that adjustment. But I wouldn't tell anyone to do this because it honestly it is too much. And I plan to continue to do this I starting going to school full time next semester at Uconn.

 

[NSSVO]

Drugs plus confidence.

I think a lack of confidence in what you're doing causes us to procrastinate

True, starting over at my job after being in another section had me procrastinate like hell.

 

[Serious]

It all started when I got my first job at walmart starting last March. Basically adding working anywhere from 25-32 hrs per week made me realize that I can't mess around with the free time that I have available during the school year. It suks because now I have to be very efficient with my gym time. And my social life feels really non existent

But at the same time I understand what the long term goal is for me. It seems when I had more responsibilities thrown my way and I had to be disciplined I made that adjustment. But I wouldn't tell anyone to do this because it honestly it is too much. And I plan to continue to do this I starting going to school full time next semester at Uconn.

That grind
Just stay focused and you'll reach your goals in no time...