Rewards stop procrastination

A typical reaction to eating a frog is this:

I’m STUPID. I could have done this ages ago. I SHOULD have done this ages ago!

It looks like internal shouting. And it is. A punitive voice that tells you you’re no good. Again..

Criticism doesn’t work

Emotion lies behind every almost form of procrastination. Fear of failure and fear of not being good enough are common examples. What the critical voice does, is feed these fears. It takes a success you’ve just created, and turns it into proof that you’re a quack.

Inner berating leads to more procrastination, not less.

Reward yourself

Each time you get something done that you procrastinated on, reward yourself. Acknowledge yourself for getting over yourself. Celebrate that YOU DID IT. Create physical rewards: a nice cup of coffee of tea, reading the newspaper, going out for a walk. The bigger your challenge was, the bigger the reward you create.

Your typical reaction to eating a frog, may become this:

I rock!

I’d love to hear your response to this post.  What you do reward yourself with? Or what keeps you from rewarding yourself? Or how about this: acknowledge yourself publicly. Now that’s a challenge… 🙂 The reply button is on the top left side of this post.