Punch Procrastinations Lights Out

by: Pm - July 20th, 2007

While everyone procrastinates sometimes, I’m probably worse than most when it comes to working on something that doesn’t really interest me.

Studies show that 1 in 4 people chronically put things off and that over 9 out of 10 procrastinate on occasion. Thanks to technology, which bogs us down with information overload and just-about-anywhere-accessibility, the habit of delaying (or simply not-doing at all) important tasks is only going to get worse.

The problem is, the task – whatever it may be – isn’t likely to go away. If anything, as the deadline looms closer, the stress level builds. And with STRESS comes adrenalin and cortisol; and along with these two hormones come catabolism, emotional eating, and nasty abdominal body fat. All of which are detrimental to your physique and health.

To combat my own personal procrastination tendencies, I use the following techniques:

(1) Set my course
(2) Set specific goals
(3) Follow-through

Let me elaborate more on these…

Setting the Course …and Specific Goals/Objectives
With every intension there are bigger and smaller picture components. The bigger picture components are more general; they’re called goals. Goals outline a priority, but don’t really tell you much about how you’re going to go about achieving it. That’s where the smaller components (objectives) come in. Objectives are much more specific than goals; they help you organize the steps that you must take to achieve the much loftier goal. Here’s a quick example of what I mean:

Let’s say your goal is to “get in shape for your high school reunion,” which, by the way, happens to be just 12 weeks away.

You might plot your objectives like this:

Weeks #1 & 2: Wean myself from all “junk” food, perform full-body, at home workout from Muscle & Fitness Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Weeks #3 & 4: By calorie counting guide to learn more about the nutrients in the foods that I eat; switch from the standard breakfast, lunch, and dinner meal plan to one that has me eating 5-6 smaller meals each day; take Opti-Men multivitamin with morning meal.

Weeks #5 & 6: Increase daily protein and fiber intakes by 25 and 10 grams, respectively; add 30 minutes of cardio (eliptigilder) on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Hop on scale and measure midterm progress; make changes as needed.

Weeks #7 & 8: Limit starchy carbohydrates to morning, early afternoon, and post workout meals; increase protein consumption to “fill in” for starchy carbs; drink Speed Stack energy drink 30 minutes before workouts.

Weeks #9 & 10: Add Sunday cardio and increase the duration from 30 minutes to 45 minutes all three days; reduce rest time from 60 to 45 seconds between sets during M/W/F weight training.

Weeks #11 & 12: Replace mid-morning and mid-afternoon meals with high-protein, low-carbohydrate meal shake; add 45 minutes of cardio to T/S/Su routine; go to bed 1 hour earlier each night to increase average sleep time from 7.5 hours to 8.5 hours.

Following Through
Don’t wait to be “in the mood,” until all the stars are aligned, or until you’ve learned everything that there is to know about something to get started… or you’ll probably never get started. Nike had it right when they told us to: “Just Do It.” Get started – even when you don’t necessarily feel like it. More often than not, you’ll build momentum that will encourage you to keep going.

Happy Heaving,

PM

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