"To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them. To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: aye, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveler returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action." ~ William Shakespeare [Hamlet]

Do you know why I make use of that passage from Hamlet? 

Because procrastination is the gap between intention and action, and it is in this gap that you - yourself operate. 

The undermining behaviour of procrastination lies in not closing the gap.

You make an intention to act, the time comes, and instead of acting you get lost in our own deliberation, making excuses to justify an unnecessary and potentially harmful delay. 

Who makes this decision? 

You do. 

You, in fact, sabotage your own intention.

There are three basic reasons you procrastinate. 

1. You most commonly procrastinate on things you find aversive. 

2. You put off things you do not like to do or that upset you in some way. 

Which makes sense - except that in life, you regularly face tasks you would rather not do, yet really have to do. 

So the first thing you need to do is recognize that your procrastination is all about what psychologist call "giving in to feel good."

3. A challenging or aversive task at hand makes you feel uncomfortable. 

You do not want to tolerate the negative emotions. 

You want to feel good now. 

So you give in to feel good by putting off the task. 

In the end, however, the delay sabotages your long-term goals.

So, you often procrastinate because your intentions are vague and weak. 

Of course, for some, ill-defined intentions are part of the problem, part of the self-sabotage. 

We do not really feel like doing the task, so you make vague declarations like...

"I'll get to that this week" or "I'll do that later." 

It is impossible to regulate your behavior against such a poorly defined standard.

Also, you are easily distracted, and some of us are highly impulsive.

"It will take me only a minute to check my email, update my Facebook page, find the recipe, read that blog..." 

Oops, where did the day go?

Overcoming Procrastination

One of the simplest and most effective solutions is to just get started—anywhere on a task. 

The moment you think...

"I'll feel more like doing this later" or "I work better under pressure," recognize that you are just about to procrastinate and give in to "feeling good."

Do not think too far ahead. 

Just aim for a little progress. 

Research indicates that establishing a low threshold to task engagement fuels motivation and changes perception of the task. 

You will find it is not as bad as you thought, and "a task begun is a task half done!"

How to transform feeble intentions into effective plans for real action? 

You need to move past general goal intentions to specific intentions for action...

 "In situation X, I will do behaviour Y to achieve sub-goal Z."

The solution to distraction lies in recognizing what distracts you and then either deciding to eliminate the menace ("Shut off Facebook while I'm at the computer") or declaring an intention to indulge it at a specific time once some work gets done. 

Again, research indicates that a little strategic planning helps "pre-empt that which tempts!"

Acting in a timely manner on tasks that requires immediate attention and focus on those tasks until you complete them. 

Recognize the enemy within and you will move forward doing what you intended, acquiring your goals and becoming the person you want to be.

Ange Fonce