Time Management: Procrastination, Part I

I coach several of my lawyer clients on various time management challenges. For some, this includes procrastination. I have a few clients who are sure they are the biggest procrastinator in the world. I assure them they are not in the Top 10 but they are probably close. I believe there is an endless universe of procrastinators clustered just below the Top 10 worst ones.

You are not alone. Does that make you feel any better? Perhaps not. You know you procrastinate and you haven't broken the cycle.

People procrastinate for thousands of different reasons. I am not convinced it matters why you procrastinate. I believe that what matters is recognizing that you have a choice. You have free will. You can choose to do now what needs to be done.

A friend recently gave me a little book by Steven Pressfield entitled "The War of Art. Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles." Copyright 2002. http://www.stevenpressfield.com/ Pressfield, a fiction writer, wrote this book to show how he and we can identify, defeat and unlock our inner barriers to creativity.

Of procrastination, Pressfield writes:

"The most pernicious aspect of procrastination is that it can become a habit. We don't just put off our lives today; we put them off till our deathbed.

Never forget: This very moment, we can change our lives. There never was a moment, and never will be, when we are without the power to alter our destiny. This second, we can turn the tables on Resistance.

This second, we can sit down and do our work."

We can win the battle. This second, we can sit down and do our work.