Does this often happen to you: You are handed a task or project straight after lunch that you have to complete by the end of the day. No later. What do you do? Do you mumble, groan or perhaps even curse under your breath? Do you think, How on earth can I get this done?

Then you get up, push the chair back and head for the coffee machine and complain to your colleagues and put yourself into such a frenzy that when you get back to your desk you push the task aside, or you might attempt to start it yet end up putting it on top of the other tasks that you should complete. In your frustration, you decide to work on another project and end up putting that aside, too.

Rest assured you are not the only one who feels and reacts like that. Not taking action has developed into a huge problem in today’s society. Many people tend to avoid working on tasks or projects that need to be completed due to several reason, some of which are: they are distracted by a personal problem that they have, they lack interest and enthusiasm in the given task, they cannot seem to focus and concentrate because of the surrounding atmosphere, they do not have the self-esteem or self-confidence that they can complete the project, or they are such perfectionists that they feel they cannot finish the task within the time allotted to them.

Overcoming procrastination, the lack of taking action, is possible with the right strategies and preparation. You can condition yourself to take action by following the five steps below:

1.    Get yourself organised before you even start the task. Make sure you have all the necessary tools: sharp pencil, rubber, highlighter, reference materials, and anything that you may require.

2.    Decide upon a goal that you intend to accomplish; what is the desired outcome. Do you intend to finish it by a certain time or complete a certain amount? Decide upon your intention and set it as a goal to achieve.

3.    Be disciplined and committed to follow through with your goal. Ask yourself, What do I have to do to finish the task? Find out the actions that you need to take in order to complete the project.

4.    Once you have identified the necessary actions, make a ‘priority list’ of the items that need to be completed first; from the most important down to the least important. Or, from what you enjoy doing most to the least fun item.

5.    And the best for last, reward yourself when you complete every task or project. This will place you into a strong achieving mood. You will feel happy, motivated and ready to jump to the next task. And as you file away the completed project place the biggest smile you could muster on your face. Feel it and enjoy it. You earned it.

Beating procrastination and taking action can be achieved once you have the strategies in place and you have the correct achieving mind set; the take action mind set: ‘I am free of the habit of putting things off. I easily get things done no matter what is asked of me. I release any anxiety over having deadlines.’

Have the successful thoughts patterns and take all the necessary action to get things done.