3 ways to overcome procrastination

The Bible doesn’t use gentle euphemisms like “procrastination” it gets right to the nitty-gritty reality with the real name “laziness.” The Bible doesn’t dance around with feel-good psycho-babble, it warns of the dangers…

• How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? … and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. (Proverbs 6:9-11)
• As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so are sluggards to those who send them. (Proverbs 10:26)
• A sluggard’s appetite is never filled (Proverbs 13:4)
• Sluggards do not plow in season; so at harvest time they look but find nothing. (Proverbs 20:4)
• A sluggard says, “There’s a lion in the road,
  a fierce lion roaming the streets!” … A sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven people who answer discreetly. (Proverbs 26:13-16)

The Bible doesn’t leave you on your own to solve your own problems, it provides a tried-and-true, proven prescription for fixing this problem…

Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest. (Proverbs 6:6-8)

There are four things on earth that are small,
but they are exceedingly wise:
ants are creatures with little strength,
but they prepare their food in the summer;
rock badgers are creatures with little power,
but they make their homes in the crags;
locusts have no king,
but they all go forward by ranks;
a lizard you can catch with the hand,
but it gets into the palaces of the king. (Proverbs 30:24-28)

It is good to meditate on these words of wisdom. Solomon said to consider the little things: ants, rock badgers, locusts, and lizards. He said everything we need to know about overcoming laziness can be found right here. These animals are very small, yet they accomplish great things. I think there are 3 things we can learn from them…

1) Get ready to start — If you are procrastinating because something seems to be too big to accomplish or something seems to be too daunting to attempt, then don’t even try to start it, just get ready to start. If it needs tools, get the tools. If it needs space, clear the space. If it needs special skills, develop the skills. If you keep getting ready to start, before you know it, you will be accomplishing great things without even noticing how it happened.

Consider the ant. It needs to survive the whole winter without any food. That’s too big. That’s too daunting. So, it doesn’t even try to survive the winter, it just starts getting ready. It gathers one leaf. It gathers one blade of grass. It just keeps getting ready. After spending all summer getting ready, it accomplishes the great things without even knowing it.

2) Sweat the small stuff — If you are procrastinating because the distance to the finish seems to be too far or the height of the goal seems to be too high, then don’t consider the end, just take the next step. Remember, “Rome was not built in a day,” and “The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” Just take one small step! Just do one small thing! If you keep taking one small step and if you keep doing one small thing at a time, before you know it, you will be accomplishing great things without even noticing how it happened.

Consider the locusts. They march across the land, avoiding predators and natural barriers, while devouring everything in their path and leaving a scorched-earth behind. That’s too far. That’s too high. But, it doesn’t even consider the master plan, it just takes the next step. Every locust just takes the next step. All at the same time. And, before they know it, they have devastated great swaths of land.

3) Measure with inch-pebbles — If you are procrastinating because progress is so slow that it seems you will never reach your great big important milestones, don’t measure progress with milestones just use tiny little simple inch-pebbles. It is much easier to stay focused when you feel like you are making progress. If you keep accomplishing one tiny little simple inch-pebble at a time, before you know it, you will have completed all the great big important milestones without even noticing how it happened.

Consider the rock badger. It has no natural defense against its ground and air-based predators, but it needs to stay alive long enough to raise a family and ensure the survival of the tribe. That’s too big of a milestone. That’s too important of a milestone. So, they don’t even worry about the future, they just handle each tiny little simple inch-pebble along the way. Get some food. Hide in the rock. Find a mate. Raise a family. By performing each tiny little simple inch-pebble, the milestones take care of themselves, and the great things are accomplished without any worry.

Please feel free to add to this list by commenting below, or writing to us.

For deeper study:

• Stop doing these things (they will destroy the joy of your salvation)
• Help for suffering from stress, anxiety, and depression