Conquering Procrastination

• Movement
• Mental Focus

Here is how it works.

Movement

When I tell myself that it is time to clean the kitchen, the mental resistance starts.

But rather than continuing to sit on the sofa, trying to convince myself to move, I get up immediately and move to the kitchen, facing the very thing I’m resisting.

This strategy reminds me of the story of how David faced Goliath.

Rather than running from the giant as the other men in the Israelite army had done, David did the opposite. 1 Samuel 17:48 says:

So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.”

The biggest energy you ever have to exert is moving from rest to motion. So just the act of moving toward the thing you’ve been resisting is a big win!

Next, as you start doing the thing you’ve been resisting, you may start feeling physically tense or thinking, “I don’t feel like it” “It’s so hard” and other “whining” thoughts.

To combat this in myself, I shift my mental focus.

Mental Focus

In the case of cleaning the kitchen, the biggest mental resistance I face is unloading the dishwasher and putting the dishes back into the cabinets.

So when I start to whine mentally, “I don’t feel like doing this,” I open up the dishwasher and start reciting scriptures out loud as I’m moving to complete the task.

When you speak out loud, you’ll notice that your thoughts pause to listen to what you are saying automatically. So use reciting scriptures to your advantage!

This strategy puts your mind to work on useful mental activity rather than on useless mental activity. Mentally complaining and resisting the activity is useless since the task has to get done.

On New Years, I set a goal to memorize the entirety of Psalm 119 by the end of this year, God willing.

As of this writing, I’m on stanza #9 (Teth) out of 22. So while I am cleaning up the kitchen, I will recite the stanzas I have memorized so far out loud.

As I recite God’s word, it becomes a form of Christian meditation, a way to focus on Him even in the midst of work.

This practice demonstrates the truth of Isaiah 26:3:

You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.”

I’ve discovered that as I use the combined powers of movement and positive mental focus, I procrastinate less.

As you put this strategy into practice, you’ll discover an amazing thing:

The procrastination “weighs” more on you than actually doing the thing that you are resisting!

Here are two reasons you must conquer procrastination in your life.

1. Procrastination wastes your energy.

The energy that you could be using to accomplish your goal is instead being used in a negative way – to resist doing something you may want or need to do.

It’s like pushing against a brick wall. Yes, you did something. But did you move anything forward?

2.  Procrastination wastes your time.

The root word of procrastination means “forward to tomorrow.” So the person procrastinating assumes that they will have a tomorrow to which you can forward things!

But that is presumptuous thinking because tomorrow is not promised to you.

Jesus valued His time on Earth. John 9:4 records Him as saying:

I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.”

It’s best to embrace today while it is today, in appreciation for the gift of presence the Lord has given you.

Procrastination is a response to fear – real or imagined. Unconsciously, you are thinking the thing you are resisting is going to be painful. So you don’t do it.

The truth is, you can do all things through Christ, who strengthens you!

However, the only way to prove that to yourself is to do the thing. So practice your movement and mental focus and see if you start getting more things done.