Do you ever find yourself in a situation where you have a huge deadline, but before sitting down to work, you engage yourself in a number of elaborate preparatory activities. For example, you convince yourself to do a little exercise, believing that it’ll help you get into the zone; or perhaps you feel the need to prepare and eat a gourmet meal, just so you won’t be bothered by hunger later on. If this sounds familiar, then you’ve probably been guilty of procrastination at one point or another.

Contrary to popular belief, procrastination does not stem from laziness. This act of putting off a task until the very last minute is often the result of giving precedence to more interesting, easier, and less urgent tasks.

Think about it, procrastinators don’t just lie there when they have a deadline; they’re out doing everything and anything they possibly can, except of course the obvious. So what exactly is the reason for this avoidance?

Procrastination occurs for a number of reasons: the individual is a perfectionist; the individual has overestimated the time they have to complete their work; the individual feels as though the task is overwhelming, or the individual believes that they must be in the perfect mood to complete their work.

For the perfectionist, the fear of not being able to complete the task in a perfect manner holds them back. Often times, they’ll spend more time thinking about how to go about their task perfectly, rather than actually working on it.

For the ‘over estimator’, procrastination is the result of believing that they have all the time in the world. These individuals often wait until the very last minute to start working on their task. Not only do they overestimate their time, but once they start working, they realize that they’ve underestimated the work, and don’t have enough time to complete the task successfully.

For those individuals for whom the work seems overwhelming, it is often their fear and anxiety of not being capable enough to complete the work that holds them back. Rather than tackling the issue head on, they continually push it aside and avoid it until the very last possible minute.

Finally for those individuals, who believe that they must be in the perfect mood or in the perfect setting to work on their task, they often find themselves against the wall trying to meet their deadline. By waiting and waiting for the perfect moment, they come to a time where they have no choice but to work on their task. Often times, this moment is more stressful than pleasant.

Regardless of why procrastination occurs, it yields the same result: not being able to work on a task until the very last minute. So how can one overcome this problem?

According to Gregory Burrus, a former Director of a Fortune 500 Telecommunications company, “procrastination is deadly to your success”. Gregory was responsible for the management of million dollar projects and led large cross functional teams, comprised of internal and external team members. Now consulting and coaching for many corporate companies across North America , Gregory lists his daily dozen tips as part of his procrastination avoidance arsenal that leads to success.

1. Write it down, Write it down. There are many details that you have to remember in any given day. Why should you try to keep it all in your memory? The very moment you remember something needs to be done, write it down! That way, when you need to consult information about a task, the information will be available to you in an instant.

2. There Can only Be One! Keep all your notes in one place. Once you’ve developed the habit of writing everything down, your next step will be to keep all your notes in one place. Otherwise, you’ll end up spending your precious time procrastinating. Notice while you are searching for your notes, you are in fact procrastinating.

3. Stay fit, stay healthy. A keen memory is a well-nourished mind. Eat healthy; get plenty of sleep and lots of good exercise. These will all see you through to having the energy to do more and to having a good memory that stays focused and alert.

4. Get it out of your head. Record your every thought. You might find yourself driving when a good idea comes to mind or you might recall something that you really need to write down. No need to pull over and start writing, record the idea instead on that wonderful mp3 player that you received over the holidays. If yours doesn’t record, well get one that does! This will help you become better organized. Use your handy recorder as your second eyes and ears.

5. Deliver advance warning. Step into the future and call ahead to yourself. Let’s say you have an important task to do the next day. Call ahead to your answering device and leave yourself a message. That way when you listen to your messages the next day, you’ll be reminded of what needs to be done, and execute your task ASAP.

6. Have confidence in yourself. Avoid the perfectionist mode. Not everything has to be perfect. Notice that despite all its imperfections, that world has kept on moving. Another important point is to keep up your self-esteem. If you keep thinking ‘I have a really bad memory, I always forget everything,’ then chances are you’ll probably continue to have a bad memory. It is important to have a motivated, I CAN remember and I CAN DO attitude. Remember, some procrastination is a result of a lack of self confidence that is being covered up by the perfection syndrome. You end up feeling like you can’t get the job done. There is a simple solution to this: stop the excuses, have faith in yourself and stay motivated!

7. Build email reminders. Use your email to type in reminders for deadlines, tasks, and special occasions. Couple of days prior to the event, you will start receiving email reminders. This is terrific way to jog your memory by using internet technology.

8. Love those sticky notes. Want to remember something prior to leaving your home? Just mark it down on a Post-It Note and stick it to the inside of your door. Get the ones with the bright, neon colors; post them where you have to see them. Need to make an urgent call first thing in the morning? Leave a Post-It Note on your telephone. Need an oil change, need to pay a ticket; leave a Post-It Note on the windshield.

9. Create Visual memory joggers. Visual reminders will help you remember and stay focused. Use visual reminders for remembering your goals. If your goal is to take a trip to a Barcelona or Tahiti in a few years, keep a magazine photograph of Barcelona right on your desk or on your refrigerator. If your goal is to lose 25 lbs. in five months, use a picture of that outfit that you’d like to fit into. The point is, use visuals as a tool to motivate you to stop procrastinating and move towards your goals.

10. Use timers and alarms. Take advantage of all the electronics that you carry with you. Who doesn’t have an alarm on their cell phone? Do what I do, set alarm clocks and timers throughout the day. Have a 30 minute activity planned? Make sure it doesn’t run over its allocated time for the day. What I do to avoid this, is that I set my cell phone to beep a few minutes before the 30 minutes are up. This helps me mentally prepare myself for the next course of action planned, and helps me get to my next task on time.

11. Multi-task better. Not enough time in the day, but you need to get more done. The key to successful multi-tasking is to plan two activities in advance and to avoid giving precedence to all other tasks, no matter how easier or more interesting they may seem. Look at your to do list and combine activities to save time. For instance, you’ve included laundry and exercise on your task list. Instead of waiting for one to complete, to start the other; start exercising while your clothes are in the machine. The key to successful multi-tasking lies with planning

12. Don’t forget time is money. Time is a precious commodity. We use our time to work, which in turn makes us money and give us a sense of accomplishment. Stop waiting until the very last minute to start working. Why not make the most efficient use of time and improve your chances of making more money in less time. Procrastination means you are being inefficient and therefore stopping yourself from reaching your goals.

Remember, if you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it twice; it only makes a difference when you take action. Avoidance, procrastination, anxiety, perfectionism are all the daggers in the heart of efficiency. Learn to use your mind, your friends and your colleagues to help you stop procrastinating. We need to force ourselves to use the tools and technologies of the day to support us in reaching our goals. Want more advice? Greg has produced a special report called “101 Ways to Avoid Procrastination”. Tips like these and others can be found at the Coaches Corner over at www.techoss.com

Most people associate health with food, nutrition, vitamins, minerals and some physical activities.  Thus a direct relation between the body and food and physical activity are made.

But is that really it?  Is that what we are?  Bodies?  Who must consume in balance what we expend? Does that make a healthy person?  Well what is missing in this puzzle is the understanding that human beings are not just bodies, yes we do have bodies and some nicer than others, but that isn't it. That isn’t health.  Full health is when we as humans have fulfilled our necessities and needs. What does this mean?  Well lets step back for a second and think what a human being needs in order to survive.

We need water;
We need air;
We need food, in the form of carbs, proteins, fat, vitamins and minerals;
We need physical exercise.

But wait does it really stop there?  If all these needs are fulfilled, does that mean that a person is healthy?

Well my answer is NO.  Yes it’s true, if you satisfy all these needs, then physically you are in good shape, and yes your organs are functioning properly, and yes your body is receiving what is needs in order to perform its daily functions.  So from the neck down, yes you are in a good state of health.

But that isn’t it.  What about everything from the neck up?  We are forgetting about a little something called the brain, which plays a huge role in our lives, and unfortunately sometimes we neglect what it needs in order to be truly healthy.  Yes I said it, YOUR brain needs to be healthy.

Those emotions, feelings, obstacles, and accomplishments that we endure, are actually things that our minds feeds off of, and causes it to grow. 

So again I ask you, are you healthy?  Next time you sign up for a gym class, or buy some groceries, ask yourself do I have everything I need to be healthy?  Cause remember, if we only feed and nurture our bodies and neglect to take care of our minds, then that’s what we become.  Just a healthy body, with nothing to make us a person