Don’t go blaming the keywords for not bringing in the traffic, or your keyboard for malfunctioning. We all know what happened. We can basically smell it and it happens to all of us at some point in our lives.

Procrastination.

The dictionary tells you that procrastination means putting off doing something for later. Procrastination is most grueling. While a non-procrastinator may compile a list of competitor websites in a few hours, procrastinators take 2 weeks or never get it done.

Procrastination is a constant nemesis that hits many in the online marketing community. Agreed, many of us put off things for a while, but habitual procrastinators are people who never seem to get going even though their ability is really apparent. This is a fatalistic attitude that sets hundreds of online marketers up for failure.

There has been a lot of research done on why people procrastinate, and researchers came up with several reasons.

The Three Main Types Of Procrastinators

1) Those That Fear Failure: It’s the fear of failure that keeps these individuals from taking action. They lack confidence in their ability and fear what others think of them. They subconsciously always expect the worst to happen, and their mind tends to create a negative image and a failure situation. Procrastination is their self defense mechanism and keeps them from taking action .

2) The Indecisive: Making up their mind about something is very difficult for these people. They are pulled in different directions and they aren’t sure of the route to take. They rely heavily on others to make decisions for them. Ultimately, they end up with a lot of ideas but no action.

3) The Rusher: They have the “last-minute” syndrome. This afflicts thousands of people – they have the habit of leaving things to the last minute. They seem to get a rush of euphoria by doing things when they’re closing in on a deadline. They have hundreds of reasons to offer: I was busy resolving some personal issues.” “I was very busy at work.”

Whatever group they belong to, the problem is that most procrastinators refuse to recognize their problem. One procrastinator I came across seems to like his procrastination, and claims that his brain is making fancy connections and coming up with excellent marketing ideas so that when he gets around to not procrastinating, there will be some really great and fully formed things for him to do.

Recognize Your Procrastination

We all know how difficult it is to work when we are mentally pressurized. We know how difficult it is to make money, when we are desperately in need of money. Many a time, desperation and difficult situations lead to procrastination.

The first step to conquering procrastination and achieving success in your business is to recognize and accept that you’re procrastinating. Be honest with yourself.

You aren’t sure?

Take my procrastination self test by honestly answering some important questions.

The Procrastination Self Test

o Are you wasting time throughout the day doing things that don’t really matter?

o Are you wasting your time reading all the guru emails more than 2 times?

o Do you sit down to write a 1000-word article you wanted to publish the same day, and within a few minutes divert your attention to some unactionable stats?

o Is there an item on your priority list that you haven’t touched – even though you know how important it is?

o Do you wait for “tomorrow” or “Monday morning” to tackle the important task at hand?

o Are you in the habit of wasting all day on the computer doing nothing and then seeking relaxation in front of the TV?

You’re a procrastinator if you simply “make excuses” for not wanting to do the task. Go to any marketing forum and you’ll find hundreds of marketers complain that procrastination is a problem for them.

Marketing a business online is time consuming and with so many different facets to manage, it can get difficult to stay focused. I face this challenge on a daily basis, but we all have to ensure productivity. If your online business is effected by procrastination, you have to do something to change track.

Here are some tips to help you avoid wasting time.

Procrastination Tip #1 – Make A List Of Tasks And Goals

Trying to go about your tasks aimlessly will get nothing done, but a lot of marketers fall into this trap. Prevent yourself from getting in your own way by setting goals and tasks.

While monthly and weekly goals need to be established, it’s also extremely important to set 24-hour goals. Think carefully and make a list of things you’d like to get done over the next 24 hours.

This eliminates the need to sit at your computer not knowing where to start and discourages you from shifting from one task to another.

Procrastination Tip #2 – Choose Your Time

I find the morning hours when I wake up from a fully rested sleep, the most productive. I keep all the tough and most important tasks for the first half of the day and only then, do I touch the easy and the less important tasks. Procrastination sets in when you’re left with the difficult tasks when you’re tired, and you end up wasting time and getting nothing accomplished.

Procastination Tip #3 – Stick To The Task On Hand

Look at the list carefully and see if there are too many things you have to complete and if it’s overwhelming. Chances are, it is!

Get rid of all chaos or procrastination may set in. The thing is; it’s not easy or advisable to do more than one high-level task at the same time. Don’t plan on creating a WordPress blog as well as a Pinterest profile on the same day. Both need time and dedication.

The idea is to create lists that seem manageable and stick to one task at a time. Imagine how good it would feel to cross the task off the list.

Procrastination Tip #4 – Time-Frame Your Tasks

How long do you think it would take for you to create a new WordPress blog? How long would it take to create and post 5 Tweets? How long for a 1000-word article?

Use Excel to make a list of all the daily tasks and give deadlines for each task. But you have to be flexible as you may not get everything done exactly as planned. Give each task some additional time, so that at the end of the day, you have realistically completed the tasks as expected.

Procrastination Tip #5 – Take Action

What good is all the planning without some hard-core action to see it through?

You’re all ready to go full steam on the planned tasks. But if you’re still finding it difficult to focus on a single task until it’s completed, take a few minutes away to work on related tasks. As long as you stay connected to the project at hand, your priorities will kick in soon enough and push you forward.

Procrastination Tip #6 – Focus On “Who” or “What”

One of the best ways to get rid of procrastination is to visualize the image of the loved one you’re working for or your goal. When you’re working towards creating a bright future for your kids, your procrastination has no place. Picture giving you and your family the perfect life. After all, you deserve it. All you have to do is keep reminding yourself. Think of the consequences of a failed business if you don’t rid yourself of procrastination, the ultimate thief that is stealing from you.

One of the easiest ways of getting rid of your identity as a procrastinator is to consciously follow certain things in life until they become a habit. Your mind is like a television, where you can adjust the brightness, contrast, color etc.

Makes sense? Let’s do it!

Let’s adjust the picture quality and everything else will fall in place.

Are you a past procrastinator? Let me know how you overcame your procrastination habit.