Procrastination - is it an evil ?

There can be a whole bunch of reasons why you are procrastinating but before you force yourself to do something try to figure out why you are procrastinating.

Maybe you don't enjoy the task you have to do (tax returns, chasing a client for paymnet for example) perhaps you should find someone else to do it for you, then you can spend time growing your business or networking rather than stressing over something you hate doing. (I'm an accountant but I get someone else to do my tax returns - and then drive them nuts with all my questions !!)

Maybe the thing have to do is something you don't know how to do - so see if there is a suitable course or workshop running in your town or do some research on the internet - its amazing what you can learn via the internet. If you can afford to - outsource it !

Maybe you're procrastinating because you can't find the time, so draw up a list of things you have to do - assign priorities to them and then work your way down through the list. A little Excel spreadsheet is great for this - then whenever priorities change you can reassign, sort the list by priority and start working your way through the new list !

Start to watch yourself and see what tasks you are always deferring and then spend some time (maybe over a glass of wine) and figure out how you are going to either motivate yourself to get them done or delegate them. Sometimes, you just have to bite the bullet and pay someone to do them.

I read somewhere once that if you don't like to do something "delete it, delegate it, or automate it." So play to your strengths, stick to the things you enjoy doing and are good at.