First I will like to point out that Procrastination is not Laziness.
As a creative, I'll say it is straightforward to procrastinate. When I was starting as a creative I often have many self-projects lined up it becomes overwhelming and the next best thing is to say "I'll do this tomorrow" and guess what, I never did go back to it.
What procrastination does is make you feel guilty, you end up doubting yourself and your abilities, and finally, you feel helpless in the long run.
What then can I tell my younger self about procrastination and how to overcome it?
Dear younger self, procrastination may cost you a year's growth and development. From just saying I'll do it later, you wake up one day and then it's a year already.
I, for example, put off learning product design for a year, always pilling up books, videos and courses to take and never took any of them. If only I had the will power and discipline to learn, I'd have been an intermediate designer by now.
If you don't want to be like me, here is a bit of simple step advice to get you started.
Always have a plan for what you want to accomplish for the month, outline it and have it written out
Focus on what is important and urgent
Delegate what is not important and urgent
Break down the task into bits and make it more actionable.
Adopt a reward system for accomplishing a task and discipline yourself for every task not completed.
Have an accountability partner to put you on check on project accomplishment.
Follow these simple steps and you will accomplish much and create value in a very short time frame.
Joseph Kalu