Stop Procrastinating
and Just Do It!

the Tenth Stress Management Technique

in your Relaxed-and-At-Ease
Guide to Stress Management Techniques

When I learned how to stop procrastinating and "Just Do It" my life changed.

I never thought of myself as a procrastinator...

But then one day I was reading Gay Hendrick's book called Conscious Living and he suggested that if we stop putting things off, we'd feel better.

What I remember about what he said in that book is that if you don't do the things you've promised yourself you'll do, your energy decreases to the point of depression... and if you do them, your energy frees up and you feel better.

Up until then, I was in the habit of waiting until I wanted to "do it"... whatever "it" was... I knew I'd "get to it" later when I felt like it. And then later - after I had watched TV or read a book for hours - I wouldn't want to do it because I'd feel sluggish.

And then a few days later if I still hadn't done it - I'd actually feel bad.

When I read that part in the book - I thought to myself - this is speaking to ME! What if I actually felt better if I "just did it" instead of waiting until I felt like it?

How stupid would I be if didn't just do it?

So I decided to try an experiment...

I decided to see what would happen if I "just did it" as soon as the thought or urge arose...

So if I thought call my friend Jane - I'd call Jane...

Or if I thought I need to do laundry - I'd put a load in...

And I kept doing this for EVERYTHING - paying the bills, cleaning the kitchen, returning phone calls - EVERYTHING!

And guess what? I really started to feel better! A lot better.

Until then I had NO IDEA what an energy drain it was on me to NOT just do it. Now I know...

And then I read another book - The Wisdom of the Enneagram: The Complete Guide to Psychological and Spiritual Growth for the Nine Personality Types by Russ Hudson and Don Riso. It's another favorite book of mine.

Basically - if you don't know - the Enneagram is a tool for understanding the path of spiritual awakening for nine personality types.

As I read about my type - I discovered that one of the suggested recommendations for my type's evolution is - JUST DO IT!

This just added fuel to my "stop procrastinating and just do it" fire.

Not only does "Just Doing It" help me stop procrastinating... it helps me evolve as a spiritual being. WOW!

So... I don't think all types need to JUST DO IT... Some need to relax and not do anything... and others... well if you're interested - just read the book and see what your type needs.

Click this link to find out about Conscious Living - the book that helped me stop procrastinating!

Stop Procrastinating and Just Do It is on my stress management techniques list because many of the things that we feel stressed about are things we keep thinking about that we need to do - but we haven't.

For me, it feels like there's an inner good feeling switch that gets flipped on when I just do it. It's kind of like - I'm going about my day and then I have the thought - I need to balance my check book. If I can, I sit down and do it right then.

However, sometimes we can't "just do it" right then because we're in the middle of a phone call, or driving to a meeting, or we're helping our kid with homework.

So if you can't just do it right then - I suggest having a place to write it down and then decide when you will do it. That way your mind will be freed up and you won't keep thinking about it.

If I don't just do it, or write it down and figure when I will do it... then it's more likely that I'll feel stressed about what ever it is that needs to get done.

Now there is one more thing to consider... What if you don't really need to do it?

What if whatever it is that you just thought you needed to do isn't really in alignment with your Purpose or what really matters to you? Or it isn't even something you need to do to survive - like go grocery shopping or pay the bills?

There are times when it's a great idea to evaluate the things on your "to do list" and let go of anything that either you don't want to do or that doesn't really need to get done.

LET GO of whatever is on your to do list that doesn't really matter to you! Sometimes we don't need to stop procrastinating - instead we need to prioritize.

And then... Go from stop procrastinating to How to Meditate